Miles' Brief Guide to Central Oxford
Note: this was part of a letter I wrote to Robert/Silas a while ago,
when he asked me to show him around Oxford. If you're thinking of coming to
visit, you may find this useful for getting an idea of the kind of thing I can
show you. The stuff here is based on the tour I used to do while working for
Guide Friday, but unfortunately my memory of it isn't perfect any more.
The route we took was railway station-> Hythe Bridge St->
Nuffield->
Westgate-> Castle St -> Christ Church-> Carfax-> High St ->
Magdalen Bridge -> circuit of the Plain -> Magdalen Bridge again ->
Longwall St -> St Cross Road -> Science area -> Broad St, Sheldonian
etc -> Natural History Museum -> Engineering triangle -> Banbury Rd
-> Canterbury Rd -> Woodstock Rd -> St Giles -> Beaumont St ->
Canal Basin -> Park End St -> railway station. Obviously you're not going
to want to do that lot on foot or even bike. But here's a precis of my tour:
work out which bits you want to take. There's a rather good map at
http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/maps/colls.shtml . Apologies for all the bits
you know of this lot.
THE RAILWAY STATION -> CASTLE ST
Leaving the railway station, natter about the early history of Oxford as a
Saxon cattle market, and mention the story of St Frideswide, our patron saint,
who, in spite of running away to Bampton, was forced to marry someone but
prayed to various saints until he was struck blind, and she bathed his eyes in
water from a holy well (origin of the treacle well in Alice) and he gave up on
the idea of marrying him and she became a nun. Body allegedly in ChCh
cathedral. Point out Royal Oxford Hotel (Charles I's garrison headquarters),
red brick building opposite (Frank Cooper's Oxford Marmalade factory). Go down
Hythe Bridge St. When you reach the end, point out St George's tower on the
right (oldest Norman tower in the country). On your left is Nuffield college
(1937, money donated by William "Lord Nuffield" Morris the car manufacturer,
co-ed from 1937 on, but only for postgrads). On your right is the motte from
the Norman castle, now part of the prison. Tell tale of the Empress Maud who
was beseiged here and escaped by wearing a white cloak (it was December, and
they had snow in those days). Remark that the prison is now being turned into a
luxury hotel. Pause for laughter. In front of you is the Westgate Centre: this
is built on top of the West Gate of the city, hence the name. Walls built by
Edward the Elder: current walls (as seen at New College) date from about 1200
odd. At this point the bus goes down Castle St and past the car park, while
talking about the university's beginnings (1167 UK students expelled from the
University of Paris, many come to Oxford because of jobs being available at
Beaumont Palace, 1203 charter from Pope, third in Europe after (I think)
Boulogne and Pisa, first colleges founded in mid C13). Mention Francis Bacon
and Duns Scotus, both Oxford men. When you get to St Aldates, point out the
Bates collection of antique musical instruments in front of you, including
Haydn's harpsichord, and the police station where they film Inspector Morse.
ST ALDATES AND CHRIST CHURCH
Turn left up St. Aldates (originally known as Fish Street after the street
markets: all sorts of stuff was sold out in the open in the Middle Ages, and
the covered market was mainly set up to deal with the traffic problems), past
Pembroke and Christ Church, our larges college in terms of area (Keble has most
students). Mention Ch Ch memorial gardens and Ch Ch meadow (might be a good
place to walk around). Pembroke is broke, and was bailed out a couple of years
ago by their boat club. Dr. Johnson, also perennially broke, went there. Christ
Church, founded in 1520 by Wolsey and called Cardinal College, taken over in
1529 by Henry VIII for reasons you could explain better than me and renamed
Henry VIII college, Oxford cathedral moved there in 1531, college renamed to
Aedes Christi, hence "Christ Church" and "the House". Alumni include 13 prime
ministers, 11 rulers of India, Edward VII, Prince Leopold (son of Victoria),
Fox, Peel, Gladstone, Godfrey, you get the idea. Lewis Carroll (aka Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson) mathematics fellow there. (side note - Alice Liddell was the
daughter of the Liddell of "Liddell and Scott" Greek dictionary fame. Allegedly
she had an affair with Prince Leopold, and she certainly named her son after
him, and he named his daughter after her). Also a bloke who used to feed mice
to his students and dug up a panther so he could cook it and have panther
chops. Tom Tower (big bell tower thing, can't miss it) built by Christopher
Wren in about 1680. Rings 101 times at 9.05pm every day, for the 101 scholars
of the original foundation. 9.05 because Ch Ch has its own time zone - they
obtained a special exemption when UK time was unified to GMT. Not as mad as the
Merton Time Ceremony, during which people walk backwards round the cloisters
for an hour drinking port to prevent the universe being destroyed by the shift
to Summer Time. Ch Ch was where the King had his court during the Civil War -
the Queen was at Merton, as was Charles' mistress.
Proceeding up St Aldates past the museum of Oxford, the Town Hall and the
offices of Tim Henman's father, we come to Carfax, the centre of the medieval
city (which reminds me - Ch Ch built on site of South Gate). See that Abbey
National? Used to be the site of the Swindlestock Tavern. On St Scholastica's
day, 1352, some students were drinking there, decided the beer was too weak,
threw it in the landlord's face, causing the landlord to run across to Carfax
tower and ring the bells, which was the accepted code for "kill the bloody
students". "Oh dear," thought the students, and ran to St Mary the Virgin and
rang the bells there, which was code for "kill the townies". A six-day riot
ensued, with several colleges being besieged, twenty-three students being
killed, and the town having to pay reparations to the university until the C19.
THE HIGH
Carry on down the High St. On your left is the covered market - built in 1774
to relieve traffic congestion. Past it is the Mitre, which you already know
about. Next to that is Lincoln College Library, formerly the church of All
Saints, deconsecrated in 1974. Carrying on you come to Brasenose on your left
(named after the brass gargoyley doorknocker which used to be on the door -
nicked by some Americans and BNC students used to have to swear an oath never
to teach in a particular town in America). BNC was founded in about 1530-ish,
but was previously one of the medieval halls. Opposite (I think) is Oriel, Sir
Francis Drake's college. 1306, if memory serves: it was the original St Mary's
college, (New is the new College of St Mary) but it's now better known by the
name of its window style. Next you come to the church of St Mary the Virgin,
the centre of the medieval university, and where a lot of the teaching used to
be done - though the current one only dates from about 1400 or so. Note the
working gargoyles in the shape of a lion. Next to it is All Souls (1432),
founded by Henry Chichele to honour the dead of the Hundred Year's War. Has no
students, only fellows. You sit a very weird set of exams, write essays on
"Green" or "Diversity" (last year's topic), and if you get in everything is
free and you have no commitments. A very high proportion drive themselves to
nervous breakdowns with self-imposed overwork. Next is Queens (1342, founded by
Robert de Eglesfield, chaplain to queen Phillipa, wife of Edward III) which
gave the world Rowan Atkinson and Edmund Halley. The statue is of Caroline (of
Brunswick?) who put up the money to have Hawksmoor rip the old one down and
build what you can now see. Opposite is Univ (1249, claims to be the oldest:
claim somewhat undermined by the fact that they only started actually teaching
in about 1280. Merton (1273) claims to be the oldest because they have the
oldest statutes: who cares? Balliol were founded in 1263, started teaching in
1266. St Edmund's Hall (1238) are keeping quiet because they only attained full
college status in about 1965). Next to Queens is Queen's Lane - this is a
shortcut to New and Broad Street if you want to go that way. Also has Teddy
Hall on the right. At its entrance is the Queen's Lane coffee house, the oldest
coffee house in Britain. Charles II tried to ban them for spreading sedition
and free-thinking, but had to give in after 14 days. The stock exchange and
Lloyds both started as coffee houses, but you probably knew that. Next to Univ
is the Exam schools, finished in 1868 six days before exams were due to start.
We sit exams in sub fusc - suit, white shirt, white tie, gown, carrying hat for
men, and white blouse, black skirt, silly black ribbons and gown and hat for
women. See the East Gate Hotel? East gate of the city used to be there,
unsurprisingly. If you go down Merton St (between the Exam Schools and the
Merton Bar) you can get to Merton, the back entrance of Ch Ch and the
Philosophy subfaculty. When people finish exams we congregate there to throw
champagne and glitter at them. Carry on past Magdalen (on your left, 1538 I
think, founded by William of Waynflete of PSTW/PMM fame, Oscar Wilde, Edward
III, several others who escape me, tower built by Wolsey with money he'd
embezzled, hence him being sacked and founding Ch Ch to show them). Tower used
as look out post in Civil War, choristers go up there and sing at 6am on May
1st, students stay up all night and have champagne breakfast, though we no
longer jump in the Cherwell owing to spoilsport attitudes of Thames Valley
Police. NB Magdalen deer park is a lovely spot for a walk, but they charge
several quid for the privilege.
THE PLAIN -> NEW & MAGDALEN
Carry on over Magdalen Bridge across the Cherwell. The roundabout is called The
Plain, and has a little fountain from Victoria's jubilee - not enough to
encourage her to visit: she came only once, and called Oxford a "dark, damp and
monkish place". Yeah, and we love you too. Point out Iffley Road, where the
four minute mile was run. The building with blue shutters is St Hilda's, our
only women-only college. The building next to it is Magdalen College school,
where they get their trebles from. Now, go back across the bridge, and turn
right up Longwall St. Talk about the 1912 Olympics when Magdalen robbed us of
our Gold Medal. The Olympics being seriously amateur in those days, the
side-by-side VIIIs final was between Magdalen and New. Huge bend in river. New
wins the toss, and being gentlemen say "Oh dear, we seem to have won the toss.
How frightfully embarassing. You choose sides, old boy". Magdalen expected to
say "Not at all, you choose", but instead said "thanks, we'll take the south
bank," and won the race by a narrow margin. New didn't complain, and so were
awarded right to wear colours of Swedish royal family (purple and gold). Since
our other college colours are brown and cream, we're quite happy about this.
Nevertheless, our toast is still "GDBM", standing of course for "God Damn
Bloody Magdalen". Anyway, on your left is New's spectacularly ugly graduate
acommodation. Look through the iron gate at the end and you can see the 1200ish
city wall. After that is the original Morris car factory. If you turn left down
Holywell St you can get to New (1379, William of Wykeham, joint foundation with
Winchester, Kings/Eton direct rip-off, built on top of plague pit, or at least
in the really dangerous plague-and-crime-and-prostitution ridden part of the
city because the land was cheap, formed template for all subsequent colleges
owing to students actually living in; alumni include Senator Fulbright, Tony
Benn, Hugh Grant, William Spooner, Angus Deayton - yes, a complete bunch of
nonentities, I know).
SCIENCE TRIANGLE
Carry on down Longwall St, you get to the church of St Cross (Kenneth Grahame
buried there, next to his 21-year old son). Law library (largest outside the
US), my house, New College sports ground. Carry on up the road until it turns
sharp left. In front of you are the University Parks: another possible site for
a walk. Free, which is always nice. On your right is Linacre (graduate college,
Henning's there), on your left is the faculty of Experimental Psychology - it
won awards, believe it or not, and it's meant to look like an ocean-going
liner. Turn left, and you're in the science area. On your right is the place
where Howard Florey cultivated penicillin - yes, Fleming discovered it, but
Florey did it in clinical quantities, and the first injection of the stuff was
given in Oxford in (?) 1916. Further on is Chemistry and other such stuff, and
(on your left) Rhodes House, where the Rhodes scholarships are administered
from. I think there's 30 a year, half from the US. The bird on the house is the
Zimbabwe bird, symbol of... Zimbabwe! At this point, slag off Rhodes for being
an imperialist. Well, that's what I used to do, anyway. On your left is the
Radcliffe Science Library. Turn left down to Wadham, the King's Arms and Broad
St.
THE BROAD
Point out the Sheldonian (Chris Wren's first ever architectural commission),
the Roman Emperors (if that's what they are: the originals are long gone, and
the most recent sculptor described them as "a history of beards throughout the
ages"), the Old Bod (the hospital in Harry Potter, copyright library since
1603, holds 12 million books and 1 million maps, mostly underground), the New
Bod (1942, but not opened until after the war - ceremonial key broke in lock,
to embarassment of royalty), the History Faculty (formerly the Indian
Institute, hence the elephants), Blackwell's, the Clarendon Building (original
home of OU press, built with proceeds of Clarendon's "History of the Revolution
in England"), and Exeter (13-something, college of Richard Burton the actor).
You've got a bod card, haven't you? You might be able to show them round inside
the Bodleian or something. Even if not, wander up to Radcliffe square and look
at the Radcliffe Camera and the back end of Mary the Virgin. This all used to
be slum dwellings, and took twenty years to clear after John Radcliffe put up
money for a scientific library. As you no doubt know, all the science books are
now in the Hooke and the RSL, and the Rad Cam is mostly History. After
contemplating people being thrown out of their houses for the greater comfort
of undergraduates, wander back and look at the Bridge of Sighs and the former
New College sanatorium (aka my old room).
NATURAL HISTORY, KEBLE etc
Head back up to the science area, past the New Bod (statue of Thomas Bodley
above door), the KA, Wadham (1609, alumni include Christopher Wren), the backs
of Trinity ("We have got more lawns than you"; college of Richard Burton the
explorer) and St John's (richest college in Oxford, founded C16, graduates
include Tony Blair and Jethro Tull), past the Natural History Museum (go in
here, go on, it's great. It's got dinosaurs and stuff. At the back is the Pitt
Rivers museum of anthropology, which has got loads of cool stuff in) and Keble
(1868, or is that the Meiji restoration? Condemned by John Ruskin as "a
dinosaur in a Fair-Isle sweater). Carry on up past the parks, and you'll get to
the engineering triangle. At this point the buses turn right up Banbury road
past the careers service (formerly the house of Prince Leopold), but that's
dull and so you'll want to avoid it. Turn onto St. Giles by the Maths Institute
instead.
ST GILES
Church of St. Giles is ahead of you - patron saint of beggars, lepers,
vagabonds and blacksmiths. On the far side is Somerville (Maggie Thatcher,
Benhazir Bhutto (sp?), Dorothy L. Sayers, Esther Rantzen), the Radcliffe
Infirmary (first ever injection of penicillin) and Green College (clinical
medical college, founded by the Texas Instruments people). Carry on down St.
Giles. On your left, St Johns; on your right, St Cross, Blackfriars, the Eagle
and Child (where the Inklings used to hang out) and the place where the OED was
first edited. Head on down to Martyr's memorial: I'm sure you know the story
and can tell it better than I can. Did you know that students used to climb to
the top and hang stuff off it? You did? Bugger.
BEAUMONT ST
Turn right down Beaumont St (built on the site of Beaumont Palace, possibly the
birthplace of Kings John and Richard I, now the abode of doctors, lawyers,
dentists and similar lowlifes). On your right is the Ashmolean, and on your
left is the Playhouse and the Burton-Taylor theatre (named of course after
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor). In front of you is Worcester (bits date
back to the C13, the college itself is C18, I think: graduates include Rupert
Murdoch, Lord Sainsbury, and Thomas de Quincey), and to your right is Jericho
(yes, I know you know this stuff). Turn left past Gloucester Green bus station:
the car park in front of you used to be the canal basin for the Oxford -
Coventry canal, which was how Oxford used to get all its coal. Cross over the
bridge onto Hythe Bridge Street. The Thai restaurant on your right used to be
the bargee's chapel. The big glass building on your right is the headquarters
of Blackwell's. Pass the Said Business School (first tower to be built in
Oxford in fifty years - you would have thought they'd have made more of the
opportunity) and return to the lovely railway station. We used to have one by
Brunel, but it got torn down. You'd remember that better than me, though.