Monday 17 October 2016

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.


24 comments:

  1. The filming diversion may had lead to you seeing more interesting places than the regular route. I thought the cars for the films were cars belonging to Oxford students. Oxford is certainly a place oozing history.

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  2. You visit the most impressive places! Thanks for the interesting pictures, too. :-)

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  3. The architecture is amazing. Thanks for the tour.

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  4. Oxford is beautiful. A few years ago I had a conference there and I stayed in one of the colleges. It felt very special!
    Great post!

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  5. I stayed in Oxford for 3 days in the Belliol College they rent student rooms during the summer holidays. It was so nice ! I really loved Oxford and had 3 wonderful days there.
    http://gattinatravels.blogspot.be/2011/08/oxford-uk.html

    http://gattinatravels.blogspot.be/2011/08/balliol-college-in-oxford.html

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  6. I have never been to Oxford, tourist or student. Just one of those places I never reached. I think your "tour" with the photographs and your commentary is as good if not better than anything I could have found myself.

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  7. Great tour through Oxford, it is a long time ago I was there.

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  8. Wonderful guided tour of the place. So many beautiful structures.

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  9. Loved the tour! Those buildings and cathedrals are magnificent.

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  10. What a magnificent photo tour and post ~ fascinating ~ lovely shots!

    Wishing you a Happy Week ~ ^_^

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  11. It's been so long since I visited Britain but some places (like Oxford) still look so familiar, as one has seen them so often on film etc.

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  12. Great photos! You captured a lot of details. I was taken off by the pictures were all the modern cars are featured (until you explained why they were there).

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  13. You are having quite the tour! I scrolled down and saw the rest of your Paris photos. I didn't know people actually swam in the river! thanks for the excellent tour of Oxford too. I would love to see that Great Hall in person.

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  14. We've been to Oxford a few times but usually to deposit or collect our son from St. Catherine's so we never got to tour. He spent a year there as a student and it was an experience for him but not the right one. He subsequently went to Nottingham and loved it and that's where he met his wife so all's well that ends well :)

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  15. I visited Oxford in my early twenties. The first time I drove my own car anywhere! The only thing I remember from that visit is the rain. The never ending rain. And I wasn't that into history or old buildings yet either, so it was quite a boring little stay. I will need to go back there and visit properly.

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  16. We used to live not far from Oxford and in fact returned there last month to meet distant relatives. We went to many of the same places as you did and had lunch in The Eagle and Child. It made me want to spend a weekend there as tourists - there was so much to see that I never really took advantage of when we lived in Oxfordshire. Lovely to see it all again in your photos.

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  17. I also visited Oxford in July.. an amazing place..

    Please visit: http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com

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  18. Every single spot is full of history there! Wonderful tour. Seems wrong somehow hat they were filming "Transformers there -- although Harry Potter was just fine with me (not sure what that proves).

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  19. What a great visit, well, except for the rain maybe.

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  20. We were in the UK this April. It seems like a dream now. It looks as if we visited some of the same places. My posts are mostly photos as I could not find the words......you have done an incredible job of describing and painting the pictures with your words. Thanks for sharing. I am off to subscribe to your blog. Jackie

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