Oxford Attractions

The Ashmolean Museum, founded in 1683, is the most important of the four university museums and is the oldest museum in the country. The neo-Classical building, which was designed by C. R. Rockerell, houses a magnificent collection of art and antiquities, including classical sculpture, Far Eastern art, Greek and Roman pottery and a valuable collection of jewelry.

Merton Street leads into the splendid High Street, a busy street lined with magnificent buildings. It was described by Wordsworth in a sonnet, and the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64) called it "the finest street in England.

Cornmarket Street, commonly known as the "Corn", is Oxford's busiest shopping street. The former Crew Inn, where Shakespeare is said to have stayed on the journey between Stratford and London, now contains the offices of the Oxford Preservation Trust.

Opposite the Old Ashmolean Museum is the Bodleian Library Extension (1935-46), with a bookshop and exhibition room.

The four principal streets of Oxford meet at the intersection known as Carfax, which makes a good starting point for a tour. The 14th century "Carfax Tower", which is a relic of St Martin's Church (now destroyed), has a good view. Going south down St Aldate's Street, past the Town Hall, we come to St Aldate's Church, which dates from about 1318 but has been much altered.

The Clarendon Building (18th century), on the east side of the Sheldonian Theatre, is in the neo-Classical style and houses the university administrative offices.

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

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

This annual 10-day festival takes place in early June and pays tribute to Handel's appearance at the Sheldonian Theatre in 1733. At least two daily performances of Handel's works are scheduled, including orchestral, choral and organ concerts and recitals. The highlight of the festival is the finale, which is an open-air performance by the Handel Festival Orchestra of "Music for the Royal Fireworks," accompanied by a fireworks display by the lake. The other performances take place in the Sheldonian Theater.

Nearby the Clarendon Building, in Holywell Street, is the Holywell Music Room (1748), reputedly the oldest concert hall in the world.

Facing Broad Street is Kettell Hall (about 1620). Its beautiful chapel (1691-94), probably by Dean Aldrich, has fine wood-carvings in the style of Grinling Gibbons.

A cross in St Giles Street marks the spot where the reformers Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer were burned at the stake. They are also commemorated by the Martyrs' Memorial (by Sir George Gilbert Scott, 1841). Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, were martyred on October 16th 1555 and Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, on March 21st 1556. Cranmer was examined from September 1555 to February 1556 in the hall of the Divinity School.

Near Oriel College, in Pembroke Street, is the Museum of Modern Art, established in 1966. From here Merton Street, one of the oldest and most picturesque streets in the town, leads on to the High Street.
The museum will commemorate the centenary of Alfred Hitchcock's birth with an exhibition. From July 11 - October 3 that willfeature photographs, films, video, sound and mixed media.

The Museum of Oxford is the only museum about Oxford itself. It begins by examining the geology and prehistory of the area and continues through to its development into a modern industrial city.

Dating from the early 1600s, this roofed reservoir was part of Oxford's first water mains.

The Old Ashmolean Museum, on the west side of the Sheldonian Theater, is now a scientific museum. It contains the Lewis Evans and Billmeir collections of early scientific and astronomical instruments, as well as much else.

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.

The Oxford Story Exhibition tells the story of the University with commentaries available for adults, children and non-English speakers.

From the end of South Parks Road there is a pleasant walk along the Cherwell past Parson's Pleasure to a path called Mesopotamia which leads to Magdalen Bridge.

From St John's College farther along St Giles are Regent's Park College (Baptist) and St Benet's Hall (Benedictine). To the right, in Museum Road, is Rhodes House, headquarters of the Rhodes Trust, founded under the will of the South African statesman Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), which grants some 200 scholarships to Commonwealth and foreign students.

On the right-hand side of Cornmarket Street is St Michael's Church, with a Saxon, or possibly early Norman tower.

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.

The Oxford University Museum, built in 1855-60 under Ruskin's direction, contains a number of interesting collections, including geological, mineralogical and zoological sections which contain work by Darwin, Burchell and Hope.