Historic Cities · England
Oxford through the ages
Oxford is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
Oxford in 1400
Medieval Oxford
Oxford in 1400 is a fortified market town dominated by its growing university and the stone towers of parish and college churches. This walk moves from the river approach and town walls into the university precincts, past medieval colleges, markets and the castle, ending on the castle mound with a broad view over spired roofs and the Isis.
Low, packed stone and timber roofs cluster along narrow, rutted streets beside the braided channels of the Isis and Cherwell. Parish spires and college towers punctuate a skyline of lead, tile and pale oolite; the city wall with its gates and ditches still encircles the town. Streets smell of leather, woodsmoke and cattle; scholars in dark hoods and townspeople in coarse wool move between market stalls, bridges and college courts.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Grandpont Causeway → South Gate → St Aldate's Street → Oseney Abbey → Oxford Castle → Castle Mound → North Gate (St Michael's) → Cornmarket → Carfax → St Mary the Virgin → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Abbey Scriptorium · St George's Hall · North Gate Chapel · Market Shambles · University Church Nave · Hall of Scholars · Fellows' Hall · Student Commons · College Hall · Arcaded Garth · Common Hall · Gate Chamber · Library Chamber · Chapel Choir
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Oxford.
Oxford in 1670
Restoration Oxford
Oxford in 1670 is the university city freshly returned to prominence after hosting the king's court during the 1665–66 plague, its new public buildings and college quadrangles reshaping the skyline. The walk moves from the river approaches past college fronts, markets and coffeehouses to Wren's new Sheldonian and the compact cluster of medieval spires and towers.
The skyline is a tight jumble of medieval towers, square college quadrangles and low-pitched tiled roofs, punctuated by the recent classical mass of the Sheldonian. Streets are narrow, paved or packed-earth, flanked by stone college walls, timber-framed houses and shopfronts. Riverbanks and meadows are integral to the townscape: the Isis and Cherwell cut channels and reed-edges, while sunlight picks out pale oolite stone and dark timber in the early-evening glow.
The walk — 24 streets, squares and views
Grandpont Causeway Approach → Folly Bridge and the Isis → St Aldate's Street → Christ Church Meadow → Christ Church Great Quadrangle → Christ Church Hall Front → Carfax Junction → High Street → University Church of St Mary → Broad Street → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Cathedral Choir · Great Refectory · St Martin's Nave · University Church Nave · Sheldonian Painted Ceiling · Divinity School Vaulted Hall · Humfrey's Medieval Manuscript Room · All Souls Fellows' Hall · Brasenose College Dining Hall · Queen's Lane Coffee Room · Merton Chapel Choir · Magdalen Chapel Choir
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Oxford.
Oxford in 1890
Victorian Oxford
This is Oxford at the height of the Victorian university town: colleges expanding, new museum ironwork bright, and an amplified skyline of towers and spires. The walk follows arrival into the city, the academic high street and museum quarter, the rivers and meadows where punts glide, and finishes looking back over the compact medieval centre of colleges and cathedral spires.
The skyline is a clustered silhouette of stone towers and gothic spires relieved by the domed Radcliffe Camera; brick, Bath stone and darker Cotswold stone predominate. Streets are narrow and paved, shopfronts signboarded, and gas lamps line principal ways. The University Museum’s iron-and-glass court presents bright metallic glints next to Keble College’s polychrome brick. River meadows and avenues of elms and plane trees soften the town’s compact, collegiate profile.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
View from Boar's Hill → Oxford Railway Station → Oxpens and New Road → Carfax → Cornmarket Street → Covered Market → High Street East → Radcliffe Square → Radcliffe Camera → Bodleian Exterior → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Station Waiting Room · Victorian Draper's Showroom · Covered Market Arcade · Exeter College Hall · Radcliffe Reading Room · Divinity School Vaulted Hall · Sheldonian Ceremony Chamber · Iron-and-Glass Central Court · Keble College Chapel · Palm House Conservatory · Punt Livery Boathouse · Magdalen Chapel Choir · Great Dining Hall · Cathedral Choir
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Oxford.
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