Before arriving in England, when I was reading about Oxford, an article described it as the “city of dreaming spires.” After today, I truly understand why: the entire city is beautiful, from the colleges to the green space, but the buildings are truly superb, rising toward the sky. If Cambridge is somewhat quaint, with its tight, winding streets, Oxford is magnificent, with grand boulevards. If Cambridge is more akin to a traditional English town, Oxford looks-and feels-like a Continental city. To be blunt, throughout the day, I found that I greatly prefer the “other place,” as residents of Cambridge term Oxford, to Cambridge itself. I hope I can fully explain my fascination with this city throughout this post. For now, I will say only that I wish I had had more than one day to spend in Oxford, exploring its nooks and crannies, and discovering where my favorite fictional characters – Lord Peter Wimsey, Harriet Vane, Inspector Morse, and Sergeant Lewis – walked.
After a rather bumpy two-and-a-half hour bus ride, we arrived in Oxford across from one of its greatest museums, the Ashmolean Museum. Although I did not have time to explore the museum, it appeared to be Oxford’s version of the Fitzwilliam Museum (though grander), with collections ranging throughout history. Our first stop in Oxford was a Pret, a coffee and snack shop, located in a fourteenth-century building; this was my first indication that Oxford might be more Continental than Cambridge, as the building was half-timbered, reminding me of similar structures in German towns. After coffee, croissants, and muffins, we split into two groups, each setting off on a two hour walking tour of Oxford. I thought that my tour guide was quite good, as he had an enormous amount of knowledge about Oxford, its buildings, its colleges, and its traditions. Additionally, he seemed very passionate about Oxford itself, which I find to always be a good quality in a tour guide.
The first stop on our tour was right in front of where we met our guide: Balliol College, one of the oldest colleges in Oxford. Founded in 1263 by John Balliol, the father of a future king of Scotland, Balliol College stands on Broad Street, directly across from a cross in the sidewalk. This cross marks the spot where Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley, all Protestant bishops, were burned at the stake in 1555 and 1556, by orders of Mary I. Since their execution, the three have become known as the “Oxford Martyrs,” and there is a much larger memorial dedicated to them just around the corner. In addition to its status as one of the original Oxford colleges, Balliol College also has meaning to me as the alma mater of Lord Peter Wimsey, the famous fictional detective of Dorothy L. Sayers’ novels.
From Balliol, we proceeded to Exeter College, which is the alma mater of a very famous fiction writer (as opposed to fictional character): J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. Literary connections are all over Oxford, from Tolkien, to C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Dorothy L. Sayers, Colin Dexter, and, more recently, J.K. Rowling. One can visit the pub where Tolkien and Lewis drank, see the lamppost that supposedly inspired The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, find the college where the real Alice Liddell’s father taught, and walk in the footsteps of Lord Peter Wimsey and Inspector Morse. Since I am on the topic of literary Oxford, I will mention that I was able to see the Mitre, the hotel at which Lord Peter Wimsey stayed in Gaudy Night, though I did not have enough time to walk past Somerville College, the inspiration for Harriet Vane’s alma mater in the same novel. In the real world, Dorothy L. Sayers was an alumna of Somerville, along with Vera Brittain, who wrote a wonderfully interesting memoir of World War I. I shall have to put seeing Somerville on my list for my next visit to Oxford!
Near Exeter is Jesus College, which we were able to walk around. As with the Cambridge colleges, the main gate opens onto a central courtyard (called quadrangle in Oxford), with buildings on all sides. At Jesus, the first quadrangle is the oldest, and all of the original buildings would have encircled it, from chapel to classrooms to dining hall to residential area; as the college grew, it expanded into a second courtyard and other assorted buildings. However, unlike colleges such as Emmanuel or Pembroke here in Cambridge, Jesus College did not sprawl much, but was very self-contained. It seemed to be smaller and much more intimate than Cambridge colleges, a quality that I believe I would appreciate in college life. Furthermore, Jesus College illustrates another difference between Cambridge and Oxford. While Cambridge supported the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, Oxford remained Royalist, as evidenced by the portraits of Elizabeth I, Charles I, and Charles II in the Jesus dining hall.
Though Oxford is very much a city, it also has an amazing amount of green space, in places such as Christ Church Meadow. Our tour guide took us there, and we later returned to see the River Thames, which runs through the edge of the Meadow. From Christ Church Meadow, there is also a wonderful view back toward Oxford; one can see Magdalen Tower, where the Magdalen College choir sings every May Day morning, among other buildings. The Meadow is grazed by Christ Church’s cattle, which we saw on our way to the river. Apparently, according to our guide, if an alumni or alumna of Christ Church is wealthy enough, they can pay to have one of the college cattle named after them! I was surprised by how narrow the River Thames was; compared to London, it looked more like the River Cam in Oxford, especially since people were punting on it.
By this point, there were only a few more major sights to see on our walking tour, so our guide next took us to the Radcliffe Camera and the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin (St. Mary’s for short). The Radcliffe Camera is absolutely beautiful; in fact, it might be my favorite building in Oxford, which is saying a lot, as there are many stunning buildings in the city. It sits almost directly in the center of town, and is unique for being a round library, something that is also a disadvantage, as bookshelves cannot be round. For this reason, the main library in Oxford is the Bodleian Library, which we visited next. Even after reading about the Bodleian, and hearing how enormous it is, it was still a surprise to me just how big the place is. Entering into the library, one first enters into a central courtyard that has several doorways branching off of it, with labels in Latin. This is a remnant from the days when the Bodleian also held the first university-wide classrooms. In my opinion, the most amazing thing about the Bodleian Library is that they receive a copy of every book printed in English; over the years, this has amounted to so many books that a New Bodleian Library had to be built. Even this is not enough storage space today, so there are miles of books underground (underneath the Radcliffe Camera), as well as a massive storage facility outside Oxford.
After our tour, my group ate lunch at a pub that Shakespeare supposedly frequented when he was in Oxford, passing through on the way from Stratford to London, then happened to meet up with most of the other tour group. At this point, a few people wanted to tour Christ Church’s dining hall, which was featured in the Harry Potter movies, so the rest of us waited by the River Thames for them to finish. We next walked to what was potentially my favorite part of the entire day, which is again saying a lot, as the whole trip was wonderful! This best part was when I (and only two others) climbed the tower of St. Mary’s Church for a spectacular view of Oxford. I almost did not make it to the top, though, because the last flight of stairs was so tiny and narrow that I nearly became a claustrophobic right then and there; however, I am very glad that I persevered, because the view was well worth the climb up and down. Standing at the top of the church, looking out over the Radcliffe Camera, All Souls’ College, and other colleges, I truly understood why Oxford is called the “city of dreaming spires.” I can’t say much more than that about it, for I don’t think I have the words to describe it!
There is not much more to say about any sights in Oxford, as I just wandered around for the remainder of the time before our bus left. However, I must talk about my Inspector Morse sightings; as a longtime fan, I was so excited when I learned that we would be coming to Oxford on this trip! As our bus drove into the city of Oxford, I noticed that we were on Woodstock Road, significant from the episode Last Bus to Woodstock; later, when leaving, we passed road signs to both Woodstock and Wolvercote, from The Wolvercote Tongue. To move onto more specific Morse experiences, as I previously mentioned, we saw the outside of Exeter College, which is where Morse’s heart attack was filmed in The Remorseful Day. Our guide also took us through the Turf Tavern, where Morse enjoyed a pint in several episodes of the TV show; therefore, I have walked where John Thaw walked! Furthermore, at one point, I saw the exterior of the Thames Valley Police Station, but did not go any closer. Only later did I find out that there is actually a plaque about the show there: another thing to put on my list for my next trip to Oxford.
To finish with my overall impressions of Oxford, I fully intend that I will go back there one day, for more than just a few hours. However, just from my short time there, I liked it better than Cambridge, both architecturally and atmospherically. It is hard to explain, but there was just something in the atmosphere-in the air, so to speak-of Oxford that I really loved. Architecturally speaking, Oxford felt much more like a Continental city, something that could be in Germany, or France, or Italy, with the tan stone buildings, wide streets, and neo-classical architecture. Of course, I might be biased because of my love of Inspector Morse, but I really think that I could live in Oxford. Who knows? Maybe I will someday.
Making the Past Present 