Oxford

Our first morning in Oxford and it was raining but we went into the city and joined a guided tour. I have been on these tours before and have always found them interesting, Today was no exception with our guide being a graduate of Oxford University she was well versed in the history and rituals of the University. There are 38 colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation that make up Oxford University. All  students and teaching staff must belong to one of these colleges or Halls. The majority of colleges are of a similar design with a dining hall,chapel, library and lodging rooms  built around a quadrangle. Many of them dating back to Medieval times. We visited Exeter College, originally founded in 1314 as a school to educate clergymen. This quadrangle is on the site of the original medieval college.

The only remaining building from that time is this tower. Constructed in 1432, it used to be the main entrance into the college, now it houses various offices and rooms for Fellows.

The quadrangle is dominated by the chapel which was constructed in 1854-60.

Having just come from Paris it was of great interest to see the windows which had been inspired by the Sainte Chapelle church in Paris.

A few places in the city were closed as they were filming Transformer 5 so our guide took us through some of the backstreets and alleyways with a story to tell around every corner.

The Turf Tavern has featured in a number of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse novels.




The Turf  Tavern is probably the oldest pub in Oxford as a drinking tavern here can be dated back to 1381.

At the end of the walk we went into The Grand Cafe to dry off. According to Samuel Pepys' diary of 1650 this is the site of the first coffee house in England. 
We then went in search of Christ College and came across the boatyard next to Magdalen bridge and thought about going punting but there was quite a queue so we walked by the Botanical Gardens and across Christ's Church meadow to go and have a look at Christ College.

By the time we got there it was late afternoon and there was no queue. It was well worth a  visit as the Great Hall was open to visitors.

The Great Hall of Christ Church college is perhaps more well known  as the dining hall in the Harry Potter films hence the number of youngsters looking around.

It has the largest quad of the Oxford colleges.

It has a very impressive cathedral (not a chapel like the other colleges).

We were so impressed that we returned in the evening for evensong so that we could hear the magnificent choir sing which was very special.

After evensong we visited The Eagle and Child pub for a meal and drink. It turned out that this pub was the meeting place of Lewis Carrol and his cronies including J.R.R.Tolkien.