Showing 1-23 of 23 results
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All Souls College
One of the wealthiest of Oxford's colleges and unique in not accepting any undergraduate students, All Souls College is primarily an academic research institution. It was founded in 1438 as a centre of prayer and learning, and today fellowship of the college is one of the highest academic honours in the country.
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Ashmolean Museum
A vast, rambling collection of art and antiquities is on display at the mammoth Ashmolean Museum , Britain's oldest public museum. Established in 1683, it is based on the extensive collection of the remarkably well-travelled John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I, and housed in one of Britain's best examples of neo-Grecian architecture.
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Bodleian Library
Oxford's Bodleian Library is one of the oldest public libraries in the world, and one of England's three copyright libraries. It holds more than seven million items on 118 miles of shelving and has seating space for up to 2500 readers.
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Botanic Gardens
Opposite Oxford University's Magdalen College and sweeping along the banks of the River Cherwell are the beautiful and excellently labelled Botanic Gardens. The gardens are the oldest in Britain and were founded in 1621 for the study of medicinal plants.
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Carfax Tower
For good views over the city you could climb Oxford's central landmark, Carfax Tower .
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Christ Church
The largest and grandest of all of Oxford's colleges, Christ Church is also its most popular. The magnificent buildings, illustrious history and latter-day fame as a location for the Harry Potter films has tourists coming in droves.
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Church of Saint Mary the Virgin
For excellent views of the Radcliffe Camera and surrounding buildings, climb the 14th-century tower in the beautiful Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. On Sundays the tower does not open until after the morning services (about noon).
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Divinity School
On the west side of the Bodleian Library's Old Schools Quadrangle is the Divinity School , the university's first examination room. It is renowned as a masterpiece of 15th-century English Gothic architecture and has a superb fan-vaulted ceiling. A self-guided audio tour to these areas is available.
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Magdalen
Set amid a hundred acres of lawns, woodlands, river walks and deer park, Magdalen is one of the wealthiest and most beautiful of Oxford's colleges.
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Merton College
From the High St follow the wonderfully named Logic Lane to Merton College, one of Oxford's original three colleges. Founded in 1264, Merton was the first to adopt collegiate planning, bringing scholars and tutors together into a formal community and providing a planned residence for them. The charming 14th-century Mob Quad here was the first of the college quads.
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Modern Art Oxford
Far removed from Oxford's musty hallways of history, Modern Art Oxford is one of the best contemporary art museums outside London.
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Museum of Oxford
The Museum of Oxford is dedicated to the history of the city and its university.
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Museum of the History of Science
The Museum of the History of Science has a significant collection of historic scientific instruments and a blackboard used by Einstein.
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New College
From the Bodleian stroll under the Bridge of Sighs, a 1914 copy of the famous bridge in Venice, to New College . This 14th-century college was the first in Oxford to accept undergraduates and is a fine example of the glorious perpendicular style. The chapel here is full of treasures including superb stained glass, much of it original, and Sir Jacob Epstein's disturbing statue of Lazarus.
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Old Library
Just off the Mob Quad is a 13th-century chapel and the Old Library, the oldest medieval library in use. It is said that Professor JRR Tolkien spent many hours here while writing The Lord of the Rings . Other literary giants associated with the college include TS Eliot and Louis MacNeice.
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Oxford Castle Unlocked
Opened in 2006, Oxford Castle Unlocked explores the 1000-year history of Oxford's castle and prison. You can explore the remains of the medieval motte and bailey, see an 11th-century crypt and hear tales of the inmates' grisly lives, daring escapes and cruel punishments.
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Oxford University
Thirty-nine colleges make up the university, their elegant honey-coloured buildings wrapping around winding cobbled streets and attracting hoards of tourists each year. Yet despite the rushing traffic and throngs of people, inside their jealously guarded quadrangles an aura of studious calm descends. The oldest colleges date back almost 750 years and little has changed inside the hallowed walls since then.
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Pitt Rivers Museum
Hidden away through a door at the back of the main exhibition hall of a glorious Victorian Gothic building, the Pitt Rivers Museum is a treasure-trove of weird and wonderful displays to satisfy every armchair adventurer's wildest dreams. In the half-light inside are glass cases and mysterious drawers stuffed with Victorian explorers' prized trophies. Feathered cloaks, necklaces of teeth, blowpipes, magic charms, Noh masks, totem poles, fur parkas, musical instruments and shrunken heads lurk here, making it a fascinating place for adults and children. The museum also runs an excellent series of children's workshops (usually the first Saturday of the month).
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Radcliffe Camera
Just south of the Bodleian library is the Radcliffe Camera, the quintessential Oxford landmark and one of the city's most photographed buildings. The spectacular circular library was built between 1737 and 1749 in grand Palladian style, and boasts Britain's third-largest dome.
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Sheldonian Theatre
The monumental Sheldonian Theatre was the first major work of Christopher Wren, at that time a University Professor of Astronomy. Inspired by the classical Theatre of Marcellus in Rome, it has a rectangular front end and a semicircular back, while inside, the ceiling of the main hall is blanketed by a fine 17th-century painting of the triumph of truth over ignorance. The Sheldonian is now used for college ceremonies and public concerts but you can climb to the cupola for good views of the surrounding buildings.
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Tower of Five Orders
On the eastern side of the Bodleian Library's Old Schools Quadrangle is the Tower of Five Orders, an ornate building depicting the five classical orders of architecture.
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University Museum
Housed in a glorious Victorian Gothic building with slender, cast-iron columns, ornate capitals and a soaring glass roof, the University Museum is worth a visit for its architecture alone. However, the real draw is the mammoth natural history collection of more than five million exhibits ranging from exotic insects and fossils to a towering T-Rex skeleton.
Showing 1-23 of 23 results
