Oxford
City of Dreaming Spires and Bicycles
Oxford is known the world over for its prestigious university which is the oldest in the English speaking world. The stunning architecture of the beautiful university buildings prompted the poet Mathew Arnold to describe oxford as the City of dreaming Spires in his poem Thyrsis.
The tender purple spray on copse and briers
And that sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not June for beauty's heightening,
Oxford is a collegiate university, made up of 38 colleges and six permanent private halls. The oldest of Oxford’s colleges are University College, Balliol, and Merton, established sometime between 1249 and 1264. Christ Church Founded by Henry VIII with Cardinal Wolsey is the largest Oxford College and also the Cathedral seat of Oxford.
Most of the colleges are open to the public, but visitors should check opening times. As the colleges are in use by students, visitors are asked to respect the areas marked as private.
The historic centre of Oxford is small enough to explore on foot, which is a good way to see the beautiful buildings and sites such as the bridge of sighs, which is actually the Hertford Bridge that connects two sites of the university.
Oxford’s most iconic building is The Radcliffe Camera in Radcliffe Square with its distinctive circular dome and drum. Built in 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library, the Radcliffe Camera (camera is another word for 'room') is now a reading room for the Bodleian Library.
Oxford is also home to the superb Ashmolean museum on Beaumont Street, Officially opened in 1683; it is Britain’s oldest public museum and possibly the world’s oldest museum. It is home to Oxford University's art and archaeology collections and admission is free.
Oxford has been used as a film location for both film and TV, in the Harry Potter films the Bodleian library was used as the Hogwarts infirmary. Perhaps most famously however for the TV series Inspector Morse which was filmed extensively in Oxford and the outlying towns.
The city is full of bicycles used by the students to attend lectures they are everywhere against walls and railings or massed outside the colleges.
Activities in Oxford
Manor House
Broughton Castle - Moated Manor House
The National Trust
Buscot Park - Buscot Park and Faringdon Collection
Visit abcbritain's profile on Pinterest.