Our second, longer walk meanders round a double loop close to the centre of the city. It covers a number of the major historical and architectural sites, but it also takes in a variety of more unusual, and less well known attractions. Wherever possible we use back lanes to avoid major roads. And we cross the first walk in four different places, so it is easy to mix elements of both walks.
In area we cover much of the medieval walled town, extending somewhat beyond the old walls to the north. The description starts at the corner of Boar street and Catte street, under the bridge of sighs.
The Bridge of sighs is easily identified, lying between the Clarendon building at the end of Broad Street, and the Radliffe Camera.
It can be reached from Broad Street itself, Park Road, or Holywell Street.
The shortest link from the High Street is Catte street.
I have often heard Italian tourists being asked if they recognise it, but I have yet to hear one admit that they do.
Conventional, grown-up, walkers can choose to proceed down New College lane, under the bridge of sighs.
On the left is a small alley now called St Helen's Passage, but originally named Hell passage. This leads to the Turf Tavern, and beyond to Bath Place and Holywell Street.
For a more quirky start to the walk, retrace your steps round the northern part of Hertford colllege, round the history faculty building, and down Holywell Street.
You are looking for Bath place on the right. Go confidently down the lane, even though it doesn't look as though it leads anywhere, and follow it past the Turf Tavern, and back out onto New College lane.
The Turf Tavern dates originally from the 13th century, but most of the present building is 16th century. It lies snugly alongside city wall. The pub is very small, with low beamed ceiling. Although popular and often crowded, it is the only pub in central oxford with a beer garden so there is some room for overflow - even in winter when they light the braziers.
The pub is generally rated highly, and as one of the three essential "visitors pubs" in Oxford.
Its name comes from associations with gambling and horse racing.
Edmund Halley (1656-1742) studied at Queen's college, but left without gaining a degree. His interests were widely spread - he studied the earth's magnetic field, barometric pressure, salinity of the oceans, and rainbows. He translated Apollonius. He pressed Newton to publish Principia Mathematics, and paid for its printing. But he is best known for discovering the orbit of his comet.
New college was founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham, the bishop of Winchester.
He also founded Winchester College, with the intention that together the two would cover the education needs of the time.
The main entrance to New College is in Holywell Street.
As we will see in the next walk, the atmosphere inside is very different to the forbidding exterior - which continues to illustrate the exclusivity of college life, and the need, at the time of the Peasants revolt, for a formidable defensive wall seperating college and town.
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William Spooner was warden of new college from 1903 to 1924. In all he spent 62 years of his life here, and became one of Oxford's best loved characters. He was an albino, with poor eyesight, famously remembered for "spoonerisms" - accidently transposing the inital letters of words.
But the affectionate memories are better understood from the fact that he was instrumental in erecting a memorial in New College Chapel after the first world war: |
"Kinquering Kongs their Tikles Tate"
"You have tasted two whole worms, you were found fighting a liar in the quad, you have hissed my mystery lectures, and you will leave at once by the town drain" When a letter didn't arrive he asked two serving girls "Which of you maids has pissed the most" And he is said to have proposed a toast to Victoria: "To our queer dean" In a different vein: "Now let me see, was it you or your brother who was killed in the war?" |
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Just before the gate we turn right, as New College Lane turns into Queens Lane.
The church is now the library of St Edmund Hall, and is no longer open to the public.
In the churchyard are the graves of Jacob Bobart (the first keeper of the botanical gardens) and James Sadler (the ballooonist commemorated by a plaque in Deadman's Walk).
Another grave records the date of death as being 31 February.
On left.
As an institution St Edmund Hall dates from 1190: the only surviving example of one of Oxford's medieval halls.
Controlled by Queens, but became independent in 1957.
On the right is Queens college.
Founded in 1341, by the chaplain of Edward III. It is Edwards Queen Philippa who gives the college its name, but the statue at the front is of Queen Caroline, wife of George II who provided funds for rebuilding.
On the opposite side of the High Strret, number 84 is where Frank Cooper first sold his wife's famous "Oxford" marmalade.
Oxford marmalade is traditionally dark, bitter, and contains large chunks of orange peel.
| Oxford Marmalade - a brand which carries a rich set of associations. | |
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"When he was stationed in London it was always the same. It consisted of very strong coffee, from De Bry in New Oxford Street, brewed in an American Chemex, of which he drank two large cups, black and without sugar. The single egg, in the dark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the top, was boiled for three and a third minutes.
It was a very fresh, speckled brown egg from French Marans hens owned by some friend of May's in the country. (Bond disliked white eggs and, faddish as he was in many small things, it amused him to maintain that there was such a thing as a perfect boiled egg.) Then there were two slices of wholewheat toast, a large pat of deep yellow Jersey butter and three squat glass jars containing Tiptree "Little Scarlet" strawberry jam; Cooper's Vintage Oxford marmalade and Norwegian Heather Honey from Fortnum's. The coffee pot and the silver on the tray were Queen Anne and the china was Minton, of the same dark blue and gold and white as the egg cup." Ian Fleming: From Russia With Love, 1956 |
"RUTH: Honestly, Cal, if you weren't forever booking everything at the last instant, we could have gone through the terminal instead of running along the dock like some squalid immigrant family.
CAL: All part of my charm, Ruth. At any rate, it was my darling fiancee's beauty rituals which made us late. ROSE: You told me to change. CAL: I couldn't let you wear black on sailing day, sweetpea. It's bad luck. ROSE: I felt like black. Cal guides them out of the path of a horse-drawn wagon loaded down with two tons of OXFORD MARMALADE, in wooden cases, for Titanic's Victualling Department. CAL: Here I've pulled every string I could to book us on the grandest ship in history, in her most luxurious suites... and you act as if you're going to your execution." Titanic Screenplay, James Cameron |
Turning left along the high street we come to number 48, now a shoe shop.
William Morris, later Visount Nuffield, established one of the great industrial organisations of 20th century England. He was born in 1877, grew up in Oxford, and at 14 was apprenticed to a bicycle repairer. Within months he set up his own business, and by 1901 opened a bicycle sales shop at 48 High Street, with a workshop in Queen lane. Nine years later he was building his first car, at his garage in Longwall Street, which we visit in the third walk. Full scale production moved to Cowley, where the Rover plant remains.
We cross the High Street and turn right down Merton Street.
To our right are the gates and the astonishing east front of the Examination Schools building.
Built in 1882, on the site of the old Angel Inn, it was designed by Thomas Graham Jackson in his idiosyncratic "Neo Jacobean" style.
In 1850 the university introduced a new system of written examinations to replace the oral examinations which had become discredited. The Examination Schools were built to accommodate the examinations, as well as to provide additional space for lectures, which could no longer be accomomdated by the old schools building.
The building is lavishly decorated, cost three times the original budget, but launched Jackson's career.
He went on to design the Cricket pavilion in University Parks, did work in the same block on the Ruskin School of Drawing, and for the Oxford local Examinations Delegacy, worked on Lincoln College, Corpus Christi, Trinity, and Brasenose, and Oxford High School (now the university Social Studies Dept in George Street)
Founded 1264 by Walter de Merton to "make some return in honour of God's name for the abundance of his bounty towards me"
Merton has the best claim to be the earliest Oxford college, and its layout pre-dates any established idea of how a university college woould work.
As a result the layout of the college developed organically.
Front quad formed when the hall was built behind existing houses in 1266.
Mob Quad was built in two stages: the treasury in the North East corner in 1288-91, and the South West ranges in 1373-8.
Oxford's oldest quadrangle.
Fellows quad was added in 1608.
Library is one of the oldest in England - chained books.
One of Oxford's smallest colleges.
It was founded in 1512 by Bishop Fox of Winchester.
The earliest buildings at Corpus Christi college have hardly changed since they were originally built in 1517.
The Fellows building was added in 1706-12.
Even if the college is not open to visitors, its worth peering through the gate for a sight of what must be the world's most complex sundial, stood in the middle of the quad. It dates from 1581, and is capped by a Pelican, the symbol of the college, and its founder.
Apparently Corpus Christi has always had a reputation as being somewhat radical. It might say something of the nature of Oxford that this reputation is supposed to derive either from Archbishop Fox encouraging the study of Greek texts in the 16th century, or from from being the first college to allow women to dine as guests in 1963.
Original medieval buildings swept away and replaced in 1620-2 (west and south ranges) and 1637-42 (north and east ranges).
Oriel square is Oxford's last cobbled street.
Leading to the North is King Edward Street - a dismal parade of yellow brick houses.
But one has a plaque to Cecil Rhodes, a major player in colonial Africa.
Rhodes went to South Africa at the age of 17 to become a farmer. Instead he made a fortune in the diamond mines, and returned to Oriel college to take a degree. By the time he returned to Africa he controlled around 90% of the worlds diamond resources, and was one of the worlds richest men.
His dream was now to unify Africa under British Rule.
| "I contend we are the first race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race. ....... I will work for the furtherance of the British Empire, for the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for the making of the Anglo Saxon race but one Empire. What a dream! But yet it is probable, it is possible" |
However, he was increasingly hampered by ill-health, distrust of his personal power, financial difficulties, scandal, and failed military initiatives - particularly the notorious Jameson Raid on Transvaal.
He never achieved his dream of a railroad from Cairo to the Cape.
He died in 1902, at the age of 49, leaving a considerable proportion of his wealth to Oxford University.
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Whereas I consider that the education of young colonists at one of the universities of the United Kingdom is of great advantage to them for giving breadth to their views, for their instruction in life and manners, and for instilling into their mind the advantage to the colonies as well as to the United Kingdom for the retention of unity of the empire...
And whereas I also desire to encourage and foster an appreciation of the advantages which I implicitly believe will result from the union of the english speaking peoples throughout the world... And whereas a good understanding between England Germany and the United States of America will secure the peace of the world... Now therefore I direct my trustees... to establish for male students the sholarships hereinafter directed to be established, each of which shall be of the yearly value of £300 [£200 for German Scholars] and shall be tenable at any college in the University of Oxford for three consecutive academical years Rhodes' will |
He funded re-building at Oriel college, which included a controversial statue of Rhodes above those of Kings Edward VII and George V.
And he also founded Rhodes Scholarships.
His intent was no less than to promote harmony among nations by producing an international ruling elite: under British influence, but drawn from the commonwealth and other leading nations, such as the United States and Germany.
Men were to be selected, not only on academic qualifications, but also for ability at sport, integrity, and for demonstrating qualities of leadership.
John Wesley was a fellow.
Founded in 1314 by Bishop of Exeter.
The buildings are mainly victorian remodelling, but it is worth exploring for two reasons.
Firstly, the "Fellows garden", which rises in the far corner to an elevated walkway which provides fine views over Radcliffe Square, and Radcliffe camera.
And secondly, for George Gilbert Scott's chapel which was built 1854-60, loosely modelled on St Chappelle in Paris.
The chapel contains a tapestry (to the right of the Altar) which was designed by Burne Jones, and manufactured by William Morris, who met here as students.
At the end of Broad Street, turn right, beside the overgrown churchyard of St Mary Magdalen.
The church dates from the 14th century, was restored and extended by Gilbert Scott. It is a centre of Anglo Catholicism, and the interior is apparently highly embellished, but it is usually locked.
So into St Giles, a broad thoroughfare feeding traffic into Oxford from the North.
This is the site of St Giles's fair every September.
In 1841 a memorial was erected to commemorate Cranmer Latimer and Ridley, the three martyrs.
It was designed by Gilbert Scott.
The story goes that gullible tourists can be persuaded that this is really the spire of a sunken church.
Further up St Giles, on the left, is the Eagle and Child. This pub is known locally as the "Bird and Babe", and dates from 1650.
It was frequented by J. R. R. Tolkein and C. S. Lewis and their group of fellow writers known as the Inklings.
The pub is quite narrow, and gets very crowded. The rear has been modernised and extended, but the two snugs at the front retain a considerable amount of atmosphere - if you can find room.
Not reviewed altogther positively, but probably one of the three pubs every tourist to Oxford should visit.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkein was Oxford professor of Anglo Saxon, then professor of English Language and Literature at Merton. He was fascinated by saga and mythology, published academic studies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf, but is most famous for the mythological worlds that he created in "The Hobbit" and "The lord of the rings"
Clive Staples Lewis is best known for the seven books which make up the "Chronicles of Narnia", popular children's fantasies with a christian theme about four children, and their adventures in the land of Narnia. Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898, was a student at University College, and a fellow of Magdalen College. He embraced Christianity as an adult, became professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, was a prolific author and broadcaster. He died on 22nd November, 1963: the day that John F Kennedy was assassinated.
His marriage to Joy Davidman Gresham was portrayed in the film "Shadowlands".
The Randolph Hotel was built between 1863 and 1866 at a time of great commercial redevelopment.
The architect was William Wilkinson.
In "Oxford, an Architectural guide" Geoffrey Tyack says "Its ponderous bulk and lumpish form expose Wilkinson's limitations as an architect, but the interior, with its vaulted vestibule, vertiginous staircase, and spacious, high-ceilinged dining room and drawing rooms is brashly impressive".
And Pevsner: "If the Randolph snaps its fingers at the beautiful smoothness of the even ashlar facades of Beaumont Street.... that must be forgiven.
The hotel has been used a a location in several episodes of Inspector Morse, and in the film Shadowlands.
The Ashmolean museum moved here from its previous home in Broad Street (first walk) in the middle of the 19th century.
The buildings were erected between 1841 and 1845, to serve a number of purposes.
The basis of the exhibits was created by Ashmole who acquired collection of curiosities built by John Tradescant I, and his son John Tradescant II. Ashmole persuaded the Tradescant's to leave him the collection, disputed counter claims by the widow of the younger Tradescant, and subsequently left the collection to the university in return for an honorary degree.
The buildings were designed by C. R. Cockerell, described as the most scholarly classical architect of his generation. They are based on the Temple of Apollo at Bassae which he had studied in Greece.
The Taylor Institute faces St Giles. It was founded for the study of modern languages, and so the four statues on top of the columns represent France, Italy, Germany, Spain.
The Ashmolean museum contains one of the finest provincial collections of art in the UK.
It covers ancient times to the modern day.
It includes works by Blake, Constable, Corot, Degas, Durer, Gainsborough, Holbein, Manet, Michelangelo, Millais, Picasso, Pissaro, Raphael, Rossetti, Rowlandson, Rubens, Ruskin, Titian, Turner, Van Dyke, Van Gogh, among others.
So it seems churlish to select just a few items.
There are plenty of guidebooks which point out the most famous exhibits, or those with exceptional artistic merit.
So I will pick some personal favourites, more for their contribution to human happiness, than from any aesthetic quality.
Turning right outside the museum we go down Beaumont Street.
By the beginning of the 19th century there was a growing middle class in Oxford. The housing in the centre of the town no longer catered for their needs.
Beaumont Street, and neighbouring St John's Street were built between 1822 and 1833 to provide the improved accommodation demanded by the emerging professional class.
The Playhouse theatre dates from 1938.
It was financed by public appeal to rehouse a theatre company established 15 years earlier.
It thrived during and after the war, and was taken over by the university in 1961.
Closed in 1987, but was rescued by the Playhouse trust, refurbished with the help of lottery funds, and continues to present a mixture of productions by professional companies and the Oxford University Dramatic Society.
Worcester college lies across the end of Beaumont street.
The college was founded in 1714, and the buildings date primarily from the 18th century.
It is particularly noted for its gardens, and for the Sainsbury Building (1979-83) which is probably the most highly rated 20th century building in Oxford.
At the corner of Beaumont Street and Walton Street is a plaque marking the location of Beaumont palace. Richard the Lionheart, and possibly his brother, Robin Hood's arch enemy, King John were both born here.
To the right, further up Walton street is Ruskin College.
Ruskin college was founded in 1899 by two American admirers of John Ruskin so that working men could study history, sociology and economics in Oxford. It has no connection with the university.
Its history sounds interesting, but at present I have insufficient background.
In any case, it is a remakably plain and uninteresting building, and not worth the diversion.
Beyond Ruskin college things get much more interesting as Walton Street leads into the district of Jericho.
But more of this in the third walk.
It also included a main bus station for Oxford.
This whole area provides a good choice of places to eat.
We pass through Gloucester Square onto George Street, where we turn left.
Further south, Hannington Hall, was built in 1832 on the site of New Inn Hall, after which the street is named.
Back, and right down St Michael street.
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Rule 50: Dogs |
Any Member introducing or causing to be introduced a dog into the Society's premises shall be liable to a fine of £5 inflicted by the Treasurer. Any animal leading a blind person shall be deemed to be a cat. Any animal entering on Police business shall be deemed to be a wombat. |
Although it also acts as a social centre for students and ex-students, in essence this is, on its own (fair) assessment, the world's most famous debating society.
It has a complex constitution modelled on parliament at Westminster. It sees itself, with justification, as a training ground for tomorrow's politicians - and attracts pretigious external speakers from around the world for its debates. With a little too much enthusiasm, in 1979, the former prime minister Harold Macmillan described it as "One of the last bastions of freedom of speech in the Western World".
The present library was built in 1857 as debating room, and a new debating room added in 1878. The buildings are not normally open to the public. The union's own web pages describe them as "Glorious Victorian". Who are we to argue.
They have an excellent web site, which includes some video clips of boisterous debates.
On the left: North Gate Methodist Hall, 1870-71
Face built by Bartholomew Peisley, who with his father, another Bartholomew Peisley, was one of the leading masons in Oxford, and one of the contractors working on Blenheim Palace.
The house is named after the architect of Blenheim - Vanburgh.
Opposite Ship street, across Turl street and into the narrow Brasenose lane.
This is not an attractive strret in itself, trapped between the high walls of Lincoln and Exeter colleges.
However, a fine vista unfolds as we approach Radcliffe square. The dome of Radliffe Camera gradually appears over the roofs to the right.
Bringing this section to a close, as we return to the starting point of our walk.
