For the Love of the British Isles: OXFORDSHIRE

OXFORD

OXFORD

'Thyrsis', written by Matthew Arnold, has it thus:

This winter-eve is warm,

Humid the air! leafless, yet soft as spring,

The tender purple spray on copse and briers!

And that sweet city with her dreaming spires,

She needs not June for beauty's heightening,

Ill health caused us to cancel our projected trip to Scotland and the Lake District, but we did manage a couple of day trips. One of them was to the University town of Oxford, now known as the City Of Dreaming Spires. Like most old towns, it is compact, with everything of interest within easy walking distance.
Most of the colleges you can pay an entrance fee to walk around the campus. This is well worth doing, as the architecture, and the sense of age and learning is amazing.
Outside of the colleges, the city centre itself has many spectacular buildings, and there are plenty of places to eat and drink.
There's also a fudge shop and a really old-fashioned sweet shop. I tried very hard not to buy anything, but eton mess fudge and pear and almond chocolate both got the better of me.................

This is the Martyrs' Memorial

English bishops Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, known as the Oxford Martyrs were tried for heresy and burnt at the stake near this spot, for their religious beliefs and teachings. Bishops Latimer and Ridley were burnt on 16th October 1555 and Cranmer was burnt five months later on 21st March 1556. The Memorial was designed by George Gilbert Scott, in 1841. Henry Weekes sculpted the three statues of Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley. The monument is listed at Grade II*. The inscription on the base reads:

"To the Glory of God, and in grateful commemoration of His servants, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England, who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths which they had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the Church of Rome, and rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake; this monument was erected by public subscription in the year of our Lord God, MDCCCXLI."

They argued against Mary I for wanting to return England to Roman Catholicism. In addition, Ridley was targeted not just for his theology but because he had been a party to the attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne instead of Mary, and had preached that both Mary and her sister Elizabeth were illegitimate.

The Radcliffe Camera

The circular dome and drum of the Radcliffe Camera provides one of Oxford's most iconic sights, and is a distinctive landmark in a city full of distinctive landmarks! It was built 1737-1749 with £40,000 bequeathed by Dr John Radcliffe, the royal physician.

A competition was held to design the proposed library building and it was

James Gibbs who won the competition, with his elegant Palladian design.Gibbs was also responsible for the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, London.

In 1860 the Radcliffe Library was taken over by the Bodleian Library and was renamed the Radcliffe Camera. The Camera's collections were gradually moved to other University libraries so that today the Camera functions as the main reading room of the Bodleian.

The Bridge Of Sighs

Hertford college is laid out over three small quads, Old, New, and Holywell. Unusually, Old and New Quads are separated by a street, in this case New College Lane. The quads are joined by a pedestrian bridge which has come to be one of the most famous sights of Oxford; Hertford Bridge, spanning New College Lane in a short arc.

New College

New College is one of the largest Oxford colleges, with some 400 undergraduates and nearly 300 graduates. It is, like all Oxford colleges, an autonomous, self-governing institution.
The front quadrangle, dining hall, chapel and cloisters were built within a few years of the College's foundation in 1379; this was the first time that an entire scheme had been built in this way, and it formed a model for later colleges.

(Above) the medieval city wall in the gardens of New College. The charter to New College stipulated that the college was responsible for the upkeep of that section of the city wall which formed its boundary. The original medieval city wall still stands in the college garden - proof that the college upheld its bargain. Every three years the Mayor and Corporation of Oxford take a ceremonial walk along the wall to verify that the College is maintaining it.

(Above) The gardens at New College also possess an authentic Elizabethan viewing mound, a common decorative feature of Tudor gardens. The mound was built on a burial ground used for interring victims of the Black Death in 1348.