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Wednesday 29 July 2015

An Oxford Education.

We were up and off as we had a lot to cram in the day today. First we were going to visit the 'Giant' open market. They wouldn't be using language like that if they had ever been to a market like Dewsbury or Doncaster! We didn't buy anything. We then repaired to the covered market to see what we could find. There was a good collection of shops, but once again not the sort of premises that you would find in a good northern indoor market. We did purchase a pork pie and a few slices of haslet for later. By then it was time to go for our guided walk. There are many different walks advertised, and many different guides so we hoped we had picked right. Mind you there was no charge for the tour, just a tip for what you thought it was worth at the end.

Right on Broad Street is Balliol College that is one of three that claim to be the oldest College. The current buildings are Victorian. We were told that the reason that you are not allowed to walk on the grass in colleges quads is that past fellows of the college could have their ashes scattered on them so it would be disrepectful.

Detail of one of the heads in the above photograph.

We went in the Balliol College dining hall. All of the 28 Colleges have a dining halls and chapels. The colleges are really just where the Under Graduates sleep and eat. For lectures etc they go out to faculty buildings. One to one turorials are held in the colleges though. Some colleges are known for various subjects but as they don't teach at the colleges there is no real reason for this.

Part of the Brodleian Library is the Old Schools Quad which date from 1600's the heads by the door must be newer surely as they are in such good condition and life like.

This is one of the Old Schools, the School of Divinity. This part of the quad was built between 1427 and 1483 as they kept running out of money.

Once you step inside you can see why they never had enough money. With the quality of the work it must have eaten up money. Donors of the time had their initials carved on the roof just like these days. Above the School of Divinity was Duke Humfrey's library. There was no librarian at the time and the books kept disappearing. Thomas Bodley decided to help out and paid for an up grade and donated some of his own books. It re-opened as the Bodleian Library in 1602.

The rest of the quad was built not too long after Bodley died, between 1613 and 1619. The main entrance to the quad is under the tower above. It is known as the Tower of Five Orders. You can see the columns on each level are different and they represent the classical architectural columns. Unfortunately you can only see four in the picture as there was an obstruction to taking the lowest tier. The orders are Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The scene of a seated figure is James I. We had been asked for a big donation to help the college. He didn't give any money at all but heavily promoted a new bible and you may be able to see he holds the two books in his hands. The Brodleian has an agreement with the Stationers Company that they receive a copy of every book published. They have more than 11 million volumes at the moment on more than 17  miles of sheleves and have had a big new library built that looks like a 60's C&A shop to me.

The towers of All Souls College.


The 15th Century dining Hall of Lincoln College.

Several of the Quads have chalk graffiti on them that announce victories in rowing regattas. Apparently this is not allowed at Cambridge University. 

 Lincoln College Quad. Apparently the colleges have wall round them and are built round a courtyard like a castle and have porters lodges as in the early years when it was only monks etc that were enrolled in the University there was a lot of trouble with the locals as the reverends enjoyed their freedom. There were many riots and deaths and the college courts sided with the students mostly. They built the colleges to keep the students in and the locals out!

Christ Church College is one of the largest colleges and they were queuing to get in. Hence the external pictures.

The chapel of  Christs College with the rose window.

Merton Field was the scene of the first hot air balloon flight in the UK in 1783. The buildings are on the left Corpus Christi College and on the right Merton College.

Broad Street from near the Bridge of Sighs. The building on the left is the Clarendon Building and was the site of the University Press. The rounded building is the Sheldonian Theatre where the students graduation ceremonies are held. and next to that is the 'old' Ashmolian Museum but is now the Museum of the History of Science.The wall around the Sheldonian marked the limit of the University's precincts and where the road is was the city moat or ditch. The buildings further down the road marks the site of the old city walls.

Oxford is very compact and very full of visitors. I don't know what it would be like with the Under Grads in town too. Mind you a lot of the colleges host summer schools so there are a lot of kids here at the moment. We visited the Museum of Oxford under the Town Hall and the Museum of the History of Science which has some amazing scientific Instruments.

Last night we popped over the footbridge to the Bookbinders pun in Jericho. The pub was very pleasant and it was their quiz night. We were worried about taking part as after all this is Oxford. Our fears were well founded, but we didn't come last!

There is so much to see in Oxford but I think that we have seen a lot of it in our two days so we will have to be off in the morning to pastures new.

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