Oxford Visit
Rhian and I visited Oxford for the day
today. Neither of us had been here
before so we didn’t really know what to expect, only what we had seen on TV in
the Morse, Lewis and Endeavour series.
Rhian drove down to Newport and we left at 9.00am. We decided to go across country and had a
really nice journey alongside the River Severn up to Gloucester and then across
the Cotswolds’ through lovely villages until we arrived in Oxford.
The first surprise was just how busy it was
for a Sunday it was heaving. The second
surprise was where we had to go to park but eventually we did and we walked
back into the town.
By now it was getting on for lunchtime so
as well as trying to see where we were heading we also were looking for
somewhere to eat. As we walked through
the throngs of people it eventually arrived at the Town Hall and the crowds
were getting thinner.
A little further on from the Town Hall we
came to Oxford’s largest University, Christ College, in the grounds of which is
to be found Oxford Cathedral.
After discovering that the grounds were not
open until 2.00pm we decided to stop for lunch.
We tried the roof top restaurant at the TVC pub (The Varsity Club) that Sam had recommended
to me earlier in the week but it was too crowded so we moved along the road to
the Mitre where we found a table and had a really nice lunch.
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| The view from the Varsity Club roof |
After lunch we went back to Christ College,
or to use its proper name, Christ Church, and walked around the grounds.
Christ Church
Christ Church is a constituent college of the University of
Oxford. The college is associated with Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, which
serves as the college chapel and whose Dean is the college Head.
It is the second wealthiest Oxford college
by financial endowment (after St John's) with an endowment approaching 500m
Christ Church has produced thirteen British
prime ministers, more than any other Oxbridge college.
The college was the setting for parts of
Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, as well as a small part of Lewis Carroll's
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. More recently it has been used in the filming
of the movies of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and also the film
adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel Northern Lights, the film bearing the
title of the American edition of the book, The Golden Compass
There is a really well maintained cricket pitch here. but it has a tree growing inside the playing area.
We continued our walk around the grounds and found ourselves out on the street again, but near to the famous college Picture Gallery.
While there we decided to go into the picture gallery and the near grounds. the famous Picture Gallery.
We continued our walk around the grounds and found ourselves out on the street again, but near to the famous college Picture Gallery.
While there we decided to go into the picture gallery and the near grounds. the famous Picture Gallery.
We then moved on to Jesus College and it
really began to feel like Morse or Lewis as the grounds all had a familiarity
about them which could only have come from the TV series.
Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the
University of Oxford. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl
Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street. The college was
founded by Elizabeth I on 27 June 1571 for the education of clergy, though
students now study a broad range of secular subjects. A major driving force
behind the establishment of the college was Hugh Price (or Ap Rhys), a
churchman from Brecon in Wales.
The oldest buildings, in the first
quadrangle, date from the 16th and early 17th centuries; a second quadrangle
was added between about 1640 and about 1713, and a third quadrangle was built
in about 1906. Further accommodation was built on the main site to mark the
400th anniversary of the college, in 1971, and student flats have been
constructed at sites in north and east Oxford.
We were fast running out of time but we
next came to Oriel College
Oriel College
Oriel College is a constituent college of
the University of Oxford in Oxford. Located in Oriel Square, the college has
the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title
formerly claimed by University College, whose claim of being founded by King
Alfred is no longer promoted). In recognition of this royal connection, the
college has also been known as King's College and King's Hall.] The reigning
monarch of the United Kingdom (since 1952, Elizabeth II) is the official
Visitor of the College..
The original medieval foundation set up by
Adam de Brome, under the patronage of Edward II, was called the House or Hall
of the Blessed Mary at Oxford. The first design allowed for a Provost and ten
Fellows, called 'scholars', and the College remained a small body of graduate
Fellows until the 16th century, when it started to admit undergraduates. During
the English Civil War, Oriel played host to high-ranking members of the King's
Oxford Parliament.
The main site of the College incorporates
four medieval halls: Bedel Hall, St Mary Hall, St Martin Hall and Tackley's
Inn, the last being the earliest property acquired by the college and the
oldest standing medieval hall in Oxford. The College has nearly 40 Fellows,
about 300 undergraduates and some 160 graduates, the student body having
roughly equal numbers of men and women.
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| I've definitely seen Morse and Lewis walking around here. |
On our way back to the car we passed the Ashmolean
Museum. We did not have time to enter, but I think it certainly calls for future visits to this city to catch up on loads that we have been able to take in today.
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, is the world's
first university museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house
the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford
in 1677. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment. In November
2011, new galleries focusing on Egypt and Nubia were also unveiled. In May
2016, the museum opened new galleries of 19th-century art.
Then it was back to the car for another
cross country trip home, this time via Rockhampton, my old Cricket Club in
Gloucestershire.
We finally came back into wales over the
original Severn Bridge, a much more spectacular structure than the second Severn
Crossing nearby.
