Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen Tower, in late Perpendicular style, was built between 1482 and 1504. Under the Muniment Tower is the entrance to the Chapel, where evensong is sung by the college's renowned choir during the University term. In the Founder's Tower are the state apartments, with early 16th century tapestries. The passage under this tower leads into the cloisters, with grotesque figures known as "hieroglyphs". Beyond the college stretches a deer park called the Grove. A bridge in the park leads over the Cherwell into the Water Walks, one of which is known as Addison's Walk. (The writer Joseph Addison (1672-1719) was a member of Magdalen, as were Oscar Wilde and King Edward VII.)

Opposite the entrance to Magdalen College is the Oxford University Botanic Garden, one of the oldest in England, founded in 1621. Plants of every conceivable kind, from all over the world, are to be seen here. The Magdalen Rose Garden was a gift from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation of New York (1953) to commemorate the development of penicillin, in which Oxford played a considerable part. The drug was first used in the Radcliffe Infirmary.

Magdalen Bridge leads across the River Cherwell. It was built in 1772 and widened in 1883.

Beyond the Magdalen Bridge, in Cowley Place, is St Hilda's College (1893), the only college exclusively for women.

In Iffley Road are the church and mission of the Cowley Fathers and Grayfriars Hall.

Returning along the High Street, we come to the Examination Schools (1882), designed by Sir G. T. Jackson, an Oxford architect.

Opposite the Examination Schools lies The Queen's College, founded in 1340 by Robert de Eglesfield and rebuilt in Palladian style between 1692 and 1730. A statue of Queen Caroline commemorates her gift of £1000 to the college.

Queen's Lane leads to St Edmund's Hall, the first mention of which is in 1317. It was named after St Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury (1170-1240), who studied here. This medieval students' hall of residence was for centuries used by The Queen's College, but since 1957 has existed as a separate college. Its tiny inner courtyard with a fountain dates from the 15th century, while the remaining buildings are of later date.

On the south side of High Street is the group of buildings forming University College. Its original name was the Great Hall of the University, but to students it is merely known as "Univ". Although money for the foundation of a college was initially made available as early as 1249, the actual building of the college did not begin until 1280. The buildings which exist today are in the Late Gothic style, some of them not having been erected until the 17th century. In a small domed building there is a marble statue of Shelley, who was expelled from the college for atheism.

Beyond The Queen's College is All Souls College, a college for postgraduate study only, with many members prominent in public life. The college was founded in 1438 by Archbishop Chichele of Canterbury in memory of those who had fallen in the Hundred Years War. The chapel is particularly notable for its hammer-beam roof (15th century) with angels. To the north is the Codrington Library, with a sundial by Wren.

The University church, St Mary the Virgin, has a fine Decorated tower (1280-1310). The choir was rebuilt in 1462-66, while the nave and Lady Chapel date from 1490-1503. The Baroque south doorway with its twisted columns was added in 1637 by Dr Morgan Owen. The stalls date from 1466. From the tower there is a very fine view of the town.

Near the Church of St Mary the Virgin is Brasenose College, founded in 1509, which derives its name from the brass door-knocker with a lion's head over the gate, while another one dating from the 13th century can be seen in the hall.

The Old Congregation House, to the northeast of the Church of St Mary, is now a chapel. All Saints, at the corner of Turl and High Streets, formerly the City Church, now houses the Library of Lincoln College. The nearby Mitre Hotel was built in the 17th-18th centuries.