Oxford July 2005

Korina and I spent a lovely day out sightseeing in the delightful old English University City of Oxford. We both spent a very enjoyable day wandering around the multitude of Colleges and a few traditional public houses too. I have tried quite hard to ensure that I have named the locations below, but it can get kinda difficult with so many of the Colleges looking alike.

The Royal Oxford

Robert & Korina in the Uni City at Oxford Castle

Shop til ya' drop

City Centre

The Carfax Tower

The name Carfax is derived from the Latin word 'quadrifucus', meaning 'four forked'. This is where the four ancient routes into Oxford meet at a crossroads and the place King Edward the Elder of Wessex chose to build a lookout tower when the town was fortified in the 9th century.
The tower still affords outstanding aerial views of Oxford and the surrounding countryside and, in particular, affords the best view in Oxford of the gently curving High Street to the East

St ALdates

The Outer Christ Church

The Memorial Gardens are surrounded by Christ Church Meadow, running down to the rivers Thames to the South and Cherwell to the East. It is hard to imagine how town planners in the 1960s could have proposed driving a relief road through these meadows to solve Oxford's traffic problems!

Culham College

Tom Tower at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

This twelfth century church is amongst the oldest buildings in Oxford, and one of the smallest Anglican cathedrals in England. It is also the only church in the world to be both a cathedral and a college chapel.

Christ Church is one of the largest colleges in the University of Oxford and, at the same time, the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford

CHRIST CHURCH (St Aldate's)
f. 1526 (Cardinal Wolsey) Refounded 1546 by Henry VIII
www.chch.ox.ac.uk

The largest and wealthiest Oxford college, Christ Church is also home to the smallest cathedral in Britain. With Henry VIII as a founder, the college has always had a royal heritage and played host to court and parliament during the Great Plagues and Civil War of the 17th century. One of the most recognisable landmarks in Oxford, Tom Tower, stands at the from of Christ Church's great quad. Like the Sheldonian Theatre in Broad Street, it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It houses a seven and a half ton bell called Great Tom which is still rung 101 times each night at 9.05pm to announce curfew to its students, though little attention is paid to it these days, of course! Why does in sound at 9.05pm? Because that is 9pm Oxford local time

Former Members: Sir Philip Sidney, Robert Hooke, William Penn, John Wesley, C. L. Dodgson (alias Lewis Carroll), William Walton, W.H. Auden, Auberon Waugh, David Dimbleby and 14 British Prime Ministers including Robert Peel, William Gladstone and Anthony Eden

The Towers

Christ Church Cathedral

The Famous Dining Hall at Christ Church College

The dining hall at Christ Church is a really beautiful enchanted hall. The dark wood room is full of long tables, the walls are covered with old paintings of former famous students. A grand hall like this makes it hard to imagine that students actually have dinner here. It probably helps to know that everybody who has dinner here has to dress to fit the surroundings. Apparently the Harry Potter film was shot here. Probably that's why this was full of tourists when I was in Oxford

Dinner for Two

The Tom Quad

Library bound

All Square

Merton Route

Merton Street

Picturesque Merton Street was home to many of the 11th Century Academic Houses that existed before the colleges came into existence. Today it boasts some of Oxford's most beautiful architecture, including the colleges Merton and Corpus Christi and the grand Canterbury Gate entrance to Christ Church

Robert cobbling along

Korina outside a Church... well that is unusual!

Entrance to Merton College

The one three things that you notice about all of the individual colleges that make up Oxford University, is that they are all greatly historic, look absolutely fantastic although similar, and you have to pay an entry fee... that is if they even let you enter!

Robert at Merton College

MERTON (Merton Lane)
f. 1264 (Walter de Merton)
www.merton.ox.ac.uk

Since University College dropped their long standing claim to have been founded by Alfred the Great in the 9th century, Merton College is recognised as the oldest college in Oxford. The idea of a self-governing community of scholars with buildings laid out in quadrangles became the model upon which all future Oxford colleges (and those in Cambridge, for that matter) would be based. Merton also has the oldest college library, with precious medieval manuscripts chained to the walls.

Former Members: John Wyclif, Thomas Bodley, Lord Randolph Churchill, Max Beerbohm, T.S. Eliot, Kris Kristopherson

The Gardens

It feels like being in an episode of Inspector Morse...

Korina in the courtyard

Another of the 32 colleges that make up the University of Oxford

Crown Green

Very Quaint

In the midst of a busy city, New College Lane is a secluded alley leading to one of the two entrances to New College. It runs between the outer wall of the Cloisters on one side and the Warden's Barn on the other. It's hard to believe this is the front gate of the college and hard to find as well in the labyrinth of Oxford streets. Above the Front Gate is the statue of the Virgin, as the true name of the college is 'the St Mary College of Winchester in Oxford'. To the right of the Virgin is the statue of William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England, who founded New College in 1379. The gate leads to the Front Quadrangle, where, on paying the entrance fee, a very nice warden will give you directions where to go next. I have heard this gate is closed most of the time but on my three visits to the College it was always open

The Pearly Gates

The Botanical Gardens

University of Oxford Botanic Garden
Garden/Arboretum, Oxford

Founded in 1621 as a physic (healing) garden, this is the oldest of its kind in the British Isles. The compact but diverse garden displays 7,000 species from lilies to palms in greenhouses, a small walled garden, and special gardens (such as rock and bog gardens) outside the walled area

Just Botanic

On Mandalen Bridge

Robert in Magdalen

Magdalen Bridge Boathouse

A View to the University Church

Queens College

QUEEN'S IS ONE OF THE OLDEST constituent Colleges of the University of Oxford. Our College motto is 'Reginae erunt nutrices tuae' or 'queens shall be thy nursing mothers' (Isaiah 49:23). The queen in whose honour the College was named is Edward III's wife Philippa, whose chaplain Robert de Eglesfield founded the College in 1341. Several other Queens of England have played a significant role in our history. Elizabeth I granted the College a new Charter in 1584, and George II's wife Caroline contributed towards the building of the Front Quadrangle in the mid-eighteenth century. By tradition, the female consort of the reigning or former king serves as Patroness of the College

Nowadays, we are a medium sized but vibrant academic community, admitting students in most undergraduate subjects and all postgraduate courses. This website provides an introduction to the College's history and to how we work today. Most of what we can offer to potential students should be evident from the sections dealing with admissions and College life. However, our most distinctive feature is perhaps not so tangible: Queen's has its own special atmosphere, which - we think - involves a unique and valuable combination of academic rigour alongside friendliness and lack of pretension.

Back to front

Very Cheesy

Stoney Front

Magdalen College was founded originally as Magdalen Hall half-way up the High Street in Oxford in 1448. The founder, William of Waynflete, was Bishop of Winchester and had already had a hand in the foundation of schools (he had also been Provost of Eton) in which new educational ideas of the Renaissance era as well as new methods of teaching were tried out. For example, he introduced the teaching of Latin in the English language, and later pioneered the teaching of Greek. Waynflete was greatly influenced by Renaissance ideas about education and as his ambitions grew he managed to acquire a large tract of land beyond the walls of Oxford on which to build an entirely new College, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen. He obtained permission from Henry VI to take over the buildings and lands of an ancient and decaying Hospital, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, where he established Magdalen College and its associated Hall and School. Centuries later, the Hall become incorporated into Hertford College and Magdalen College School flourishes to this day, two hundred yards from its original site. Both the School and the College adopted and retain the arms of Waynflete as their own

Magdalen was among the first colleges in Oxford to teach science. It established in the 17th century its connection with the Physic Garden on the south side of Magdalen Bridge, which is today the Oxford Botanic Garden. In the 1990s Magdalen continued this pioneering tradition in science by establishing the Oxford Science Park which it manages in collaboration with the Prudential

I Aspire to be

The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford, was founded by Henry VI and Henry Chichele (fellow of New College and Archbishop of Canterbury), on 20 May 1438. The Statutes provided for the Warden and forty fellows - all to take Holy Orders; twenty-four to study arts, philosophy and theology; and sixteen to study civil or canon law. Today the College is primarily an academic research institution at the University of Oxford, having strong ties to the public domain. Traditionally, there are no undergraduate members

Oxford has some intuition-defying pronunciations. If you really want to sound like a native you'll have to say Bay-lee-ill for Balliol (college), Bod-lee-inn for Bodleian (library), Maud-Lynn for Magdalen (College & Street), Wuuster for Worcester (College)

The Bridge of Sighs joins the two sections of Hertford College located on either side of New College Lane. Modelled on the famous Ponte dei Sospiri in Venice, it has become one of Oxford's most photographed buildings. But its construction was vehemently opposed when it was built in 1913, not least by the Fellows of New College who thought it would spoil the views of their college from the Sheldonian Theatre

The Broad Street entrance to the Sheldonian Theatre is notable because of the carved heads, or terms, that tower above the railings. Often referred to as the twelve Caesars or Apostles, they are actually anonymous but, nonetheless, curiously photogenic!

A beautiful building built in 1664-8 from plans by Sir Christopher Wren who died some years earlier. A Domed round building, it is surrounded by great stone heads outside & these give the exterior a character all of its own. It is known here both for concert & conference & is available for hire - a prestigious place to hold such an event as a conference. As such, it seats 800 for concert, 1,000 for conference. A most beautiful & impressive piece of architecture

Hertford College is one of the 45 constituent colleges and halls of Oxford University. It is a self-governing corporate body consisting of senior (Fellows) and junior (graduate and undergraduate students) members who are engaged in academic study at the University.

The College is centrally located on Catte Street, directly opposite the Bodleian Library and within a few minutes' walk of all the other principal libraries and laboratories of the University. The main College site is composed of three intimate quadrangles -- Old, New and Holywell Quads -- whose buildings date from the 15th to the late-20th centuries. The majority of the architecture, however, dates from the late-19th/early-20th centuries and is due to Sir Thomas Jackson whose designs include the Hertford Bridge which links Old and New Quads.

Hertford has enjoyed a colourful history since its foundation in 1282 by Elias de Hertford, having been dissolved and recreated on a number of occasions. The modern-day College, created by Act of Parliament in 1874 after a very substantial benefaction by Thomas Baring MP, exists on much firmer financial foundations and provides excellent facilities for its 38 Fellows, 170 MCR members and 370 JCR members.

A City of Cycles

Tranquillity and Madness

The Saxon Tower

Oxford's oldest building is one of the Saxon Towers that made up the city's fortifications. Built in about 1040 it was part of the Church of St Micheal of the Northgate, though the East Gates & West Gates are long gone except for the name Westgate which is a shopping centre off Queen Street. The Tower was also part of Bocardo Prison where the Bishops Cramner, Latimer & Ridley were imprisoned there until their execution (see entry for the Martyrs memorial) The current Tower has a gift shop & a fee is charged to enter & climb the tower itself

Just a matter of History

Downtown

The Museum of Oxford

River View

The Fullers "Head Of The River Pub" at Folly Bridge

This is a truly fabulous pub with a fantastic location, though rather expensive. It is a must visit on a sunny relaxing stroll along the river, and ensure to take a seat at the riverside beer garden

On the banks of the Isis stands the Head of the River. It is an enduring, popular pub, and with good reason; the riverside patio, complete with canopies and gas heaters, is quite possibly Oxford’s finest beer garden and is an extremely pleasant venue for a pint of one of the usually well-kept Fuller’s ales. A selection of meals is also served

Slow River

Punting in Oxford is one of the 'must do' avtivities. Hire the punt at Magdalen (pronounced - Mawdelin) Bridge and go north between University parkland, The Parks - and meadows. You will be on the River Cherwell (pronouced Charwell). You can get an experienced student to punt for you, or do it yourself

Rowing is one of the most popular sports at Oxford, and amongst the colleges the competition is fierce. Whilst the drawbacks of rowing are all too obvious - early starts at 6am, training 7 days a week, early nights, cutting back on study and/or a social life, and counting calories (in some cases), there is something about the sport that continues to draw people in. The best known rowing event is the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race, for which selection is a huge achievement, but even within Oxford, the competition between colleges, and the lengths they are prepared to go to in training and preapration is amzing. The biggest internal competition is the Head of the River, held just before finals in May.

The home of the Oxford Boat Teams

Christ Church Meadow

A View of the Historic City across Christ Church Meadow

England's Green and Pleasant Land

I saw the sign

Radcliffe Square lies at the very heart of the old University. The Radcliffe Camera was funded from the estate of the Royal Surgeon Dr John Radcliffe. The building was designed by James Gibbs and was completed in 1749. Originally conceived as a library of science and medicine, it is now part of the Bodleian Library and houses a collection on History and English Literature. One of the best views of Oxford, All Souls and the Radcliffe Camera in particular, can be obtained from the top of St Mary's spire

One of the largest domes in Britain tops Oxford's most spectacular building, built in 1737-49 by James Gibbs in Italian Baroque style. The Camera contains part of the Bodleian Library's collection, which was begun in 1602 and has grown to more than 6 million volumes, including a copy of every book ever printed in Great Britain. Although visitors are not allowed in the Camera, the general public may stop into another part of the Bodleian, the Divinity School, a superbly vaulted room dating back to 1462. In the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, some interior scenes at Hogwarts School take place in parts of the Bodleian, including the Divinity School

The University Church has been in existence since the late 13th century. In the early days of the University, the Church was a centre of administration and teaching, with the side chapels acting as lecture theatres where students studied mainly Theology. In 1556, it hosted the trial of the protestant Bishops Ridley, Cranmer and Latimer. The 'Oxford Martyrs' where subsequently burnt at the stake for heresy by the Catholic Queen of England, Bloody Mary. The Church is open every day and visitors can climb up the 127 stairs to the top of the spire to get another classic aerial view of Radcliffe Square and the spires of Oxford. Entrance to the church and spire is via Radcliffe Square