{A Pocket Guide to Oxford}
A Miscellany
It is true that the ancient and noble city of Oxford is, of all the towns of England, the likliest progenitor of unlikely events and persons.
-Edmund Crispin
{A Few Books set in Oxford}
The Moving Toy Shop, Edmund Crispin
Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers
{Two Golden-Age mysteries set in Oxford. Dorothy L. Sayers was among the first group of women to receive their diplomas when the University started granting degrees to women in 1920.}
The Bookbinder, Pip Williams
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
{Two contemporary novels, the first set at the Oxford University Press, and the second about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.}
Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy
{Oxford is fictionalized as Christminster in Hardy’s heartwrenching classic.}
{Did you know?}
That a pastry chef and amateur aeronaut named James Sadler manned the first hot air balloon to take flight in England from Christ Church Meadow in 1794? The hot air balloon traveled for six miles, and then landed in a nearby town.
{One piece of artwork not to miss if you visit}
If a musical instrument counts as a work of art - and I think it does - then don’t miss Antonio Stradivarius’ “Messiah” violin at the Ashmolean Museum. It is considered the most well-preserved (and thus, possibly the most valuable) of all of his musical instruments. On my visit to the museum, a luthier and a luthier-in-training parked themselves directly in front of the instrument for hours, discussing the details of its construction. They may still be there.
{Slightly out of the way, but well worth the effort}
The Old Library at the Oxford Union Society.
The old debating hall of the Oxford Union Society was decorated with a set of murals depicting scenes from Le Morte d’Arthur by William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and a group of other Pre-Raphaelite painters in the 1850s. It was during the painting of these murals that Morris and Rossetti first met Jane Burden, a strikingly beautiful Oxford girl. Rossetti asked her to pose as Guenevere in his mural - and Morris fell in love with her. They married in 1859.
The walls were not properly prepped for fresco painting and quickly started to deteriorate. They are somewhat difficult to view, but still well worth the trouble. At least two employees told me that the best time to view the murals was “just after sunset, in the winter”. Which honestly, wasn’t super helpful on an early September morning.
William Morris's stylized floral decorations on the ceiling have been repainted, and they alone are worth the price of admission.
Slightly further afield is William Morris’s Kelmscott Manor.
{One Random Fact}
The Oxford Natural History Museum has the world’s only surviving example of a dodo bird. Actually, it just has the mummified head and some smaller pieces of tissue. A cast of the dodo is on display in the museum, but the actual specimen is kept in a safe place behind the scenes. The museum also has the world’s most famous contemporary oil painting of a dodo, painted in 1651 by Dutch artist Jan Savery.
{Five Questions with a Local}
writes the blog Advocating for the Ignorant: The Macmillan Brother’s Crusade, and her book on the Macmillan brothers of the same name will be published this spring. Sarah is a graduate of Oxford, and I asked her five questions about her time there.1. What is one word that describes Oxford?
Oxymoron! On the outside there's the trashy shops, tourist traps and burger bars. Behind the College walls there's literary and scientific endeavour of the highest order, and fine dining...
2. Are there any hidden treasures in Oxford…is there one place or thing that you feel more people should know about?:
Well, it's not exactly hidden but it's easy to miss the Martyrs' Memorial on St Giles. The wiki entry is helpful and don't miss the last paragraph:
'Popular rumour is that in the past students have misled foreign tourists about the nature of the Memorial and convinced them it was the spire of an underground church, which could be toured for a modest fee. This would result in the tourists venturing down a nearby flight of stairs which actually led to the public toilets'
The reason I've highlighted it is that we all need to remember and respect the power of personal belief, and the cruelty of persecution, especially here in the middle of a City of academics who even today can struggle with free speech and cancel culture. Look where burning books leads...to burning people.
3. What is an Oxford experience not to be missed?
Take a river trip from Folly Bridge, see the college boathouses, the weirs and Port Meadow ponies. Imagine being Alice Liddell rowed along by Lewis Carroll: Oxford Experience Cruise.
4. If you could only eat one thing in Oxford, what would it be?
A lovely out of the way eating experience is the Cherwell Boathouse, right on the river. You can laugh at the idiots trying to convince themselves that punting is fun. They are wrong, it is wet, miserable, hard work and scary. Or that was my experience!
The one thing I would like to eat, sadly, has probably disappeared, but when I was a poverty stricken student there was a little shop near the Covered Market that sold pitta bread with falafel and I had never even heard those words before, let alone eaten them...bliss, and I felt So Sophisticated! Can I go back?
5. Where is the best place to experience nature in Oxford?
Port Meadow. Start on a late summer afternoon and walk as far as The Perch. Or if you have the strength and you're a fan of Morse, all the way to The Trout at Godstow.
Thank you so much, Sarah!
(You can read Sarah’s post about the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland here.)
{Oxford virtual address book}
The Eagle and Child - the pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein gathered with the rest of The Inklings on Tuesday mornings closed its doors during the pandemic, but you can still walk by and peak in the windows.
Scriptum - if you like paper, you’ll like this shop.
Blackwells Bookstore - An Oxford institution.
The Oxford Museum of Natural History
The Bodleian Library and the Radcliffe Camera
The Bodleian Library Gift Shop
The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin
I wrote about my experiences in Oxford here.
What am I missing? What are your favorite spots in Oxford? Please let me know in the comments!
Interesting ideas from you both - thank you!
Wow, what a lovely post about Oxford, Jodi - and I enjoyed Sarah's contribution very much too. I'd never heard about those stunning Pre-Raphaelite murals at the Oxford Debating Society.