Tour of Oxford University and English Cotswolds
This evening, I am reprising a one-day tour of Oxford University and the popular Cotswolds region.
Chapel remains at Trinity College.
This morning, from our overnight base in Oxford, we drove into the city centre where we connected with a local guide who escorted us on a walking tour of local sites with emphasis on the famous university and its buildings a summary of which is provided below. This tour was undertaken in temperatures of around 28c/80f.
Oxford is home to thirty-eight colleges attended by twenty three thousand students.
Walking tour of Oxford University
The Radcliffe Camera was designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.
The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. The library holds over 12 million items.
Hertford Bridge, aka “the Bridge of Sighs“, is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane.
The Sheldonian Theatre was built from 1664 to 1669 after a design by Christopher Wren This building is the official ceremonial hall of the University of Oxford. Some of the ceremonial activities that take place in the Theatre include matriculation, graduation ceremonies, Encaenia and Congregation.
Trinity College was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, on land previously occupied by Durham College, home to Benedictine monks from Durham Cathedral.
Balliol College, founded in 1263. Home of students such as the moral philosopher, Adam Smith, and three former British Prime Ministers
The Oxford Martyrs were Protestants tried for heresy in 1555 and burnt at the stake for their religious beliefs and teachings, during the Marian persecution in England.
The three martyrs were the Anglican bishops Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street is the world’s first university museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–83 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677.
The 5-star Macdonald Randolph Hotel is 150-years-old and ranks as one of the premier hotels in Oxford.
MacDonald Randolph Hotel.
St. John’s College was founded as a men’s college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.
After about four hours in Oxford we moved on towards our lodgings for the night at Moreton-in-the-Marsh stopping en-route at the popular town of Stow-on-the-Wold.
Information on Stow-on-the-Wold
This hill-top town and sits on an elevation of 800 feet is popular with tourists. Here can be found a wide range of small shops including those selling antiques. The town may date from a prehistoric fortified settlement on top of the hill. The Roman Fosse Way from Cirencester to Leicester passes through it, although the town is mostly off to one side, in the tradition of unplanned towns in the locality.
The Market Square is large and surrounded by houses, shops and inns all built in the local stone with a tradition going back lover many centuries.
St Edward’s Church is located in the centre of the town.This building was used as a prison for defeated Royalist soldiers who fought at the nearby Battle of Donnington in 1646.
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