Exploring Oxford: Jesus & Queen's

I think it's high time I shared some more snaps of lovely Oxford!

First up: Jesus, aka Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation, was founded in 1571 and is the only Elizabethan College in Oxford.

 

 

 

I visited Jesus for free during the annual Oxford Open Doors festival (as you may have gathered from my Oxford posts, I'm a big fan of Oxford Open Doors), but you normally have to pay to visit.

 

Founded to educate future clergymen, and has a great history of being attended and run by Welshmen - though apparently there are no records of how much Welsh was spoken in college: "Official college records were mainly written in Latin; while the College statutes, effective from 1622, forbade public conversation, in class, hall and even the quadrangles, in any language but Latin, Greek or Hebrew."

 

I most associate Jesus College with the novel Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers - in which there's a subplot where a young man from Jesus becomes smitten with the main character, Harriet Vane. His name is not Jones, but another character refers to him as "Mr Jones of Jesus" which makes so much more sense now oh my goodness ("Who are you calling a bloody Welshman", snarled the young man, much exasperated "My name's Pomfret")

The college still has strong connections to Wales, and lots of Welsh students. You can find lots more info about the history of the College here, and take a virtual tour here.

Queen's, aka The Queen's College is a few centuries older than Jesus. You might think from the name that it had been renamed after Queen Elizabeth I during her reign, but in fact it was founded as Queen's in 1341, in honour of Queen Philippa (wife of King Edward III).

 

All the medieval buildings at Queen's were replaced in the 1700s, so the whole college is now Baroque in style and extremely grand. Just as Jesus was filled with Welsh students, so Queen's was filled with students from the North-West of England.

 

 

 

Apparently it's the fifth-wealthiest college in the University! Queen's is free to visit, but usually only by appointment as part of a tour group, so I was really glad to get a chance to look round during Oxford Open Doors.

 

You can learn more about the history of Queen's College and its architecture here, or take a virtual tour here (the tour even includes a typical student bedroom... though sadly an unoccupied one!).

Want to explore some more of Oxford's beautiful buildings? Click here to read all my posts about the city, or click here to browse my entire travel archive.

Exploring Oxford: Lincoln College & the Bodleian Library

Watching the first episode of A Discovery of Witches last week reminded me that it's been ages since I've blogged about a bit of Oxford!

One of the pleasures of visiting Oxford is recognising bits of it from your favourite books, films, and TV shows - it tends to feature less as a backdrop and more as a character in its own right, and (just like your favourite characters) it's very easy to fall in love with. Then once you've visited the city, you gleefully spot references to colleges you've visited or scenes set in rooms you've stood in and it makes you love the place even more (or is it just me who thinks "OOH, I'VE BEEN THERE!" when I spot places I've visited on my travels?).

With so many scenes in the first episode of A Discovery of Witches set in the Bodleian library, that had to be what I blogged about today. (If you're watching the show or have read the books, you may also enjoy my earlier post about All Souls - vampire Matthew's college).

The Bodleian (nicknamed "The Bod" by Oxford scholars) is named after Sir Thomas Bodley, who founded the library at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. (That fine fellow above sadly isn't Sir Thomas, but is in fact William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, a former Chancellor of the University).

I've not yet been on a full tour of the old library, but I love wandering through the quadrangles - looking up at the windows, and thinking about all the people who have walked through all the doors and archways over the centuries. 

The Bodleian does a very nice line in doors that something interesting and/or magical could be happening behind, though I expect what mostly happens behind these doors is a lot of reading of old books.

Even if you've never heard of the Bodleian, you'll probably recognise the neighbouring building: the Divinity School. This space, with its elaborate vaulted ceiling and 455 roof bosses, was originally built in the 1400s for lectures, exams and discussions on theology. A pretty fancy classroom, huh?

It's just as fabulous on the outside...

... and Convocation House next door is not too shabby, either! This room was built in the 17th century as the meeting place for the ruling body of the University.

Just over the road from the Bodleian is Lincoln College. Founded by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1427, the full name of the college is "The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints', Lincoln, in the University of Oxford"... which is a bit of a mouthful for everyday use!

Lincoln College is free to visit (click here for visiting times and more info) and has all the classic, charming features of an Oxford college: grand buildings, quiet quads, magnificent creepers, intruiging staircases, and little windows giving tantalising glimpses of the academic lives within.

Plus, of course, the kinds of quirky little architectural details that I love!
 

You can get a virtual tour of Lincoln College here (including lots of spaces that are off-limits to visitors), and see some lovely 360 degree views of the college here.

I'll share some more Oxford snaps soon!

Click here to read all my "Exploring Oxford" posts so far, or click here to browse my entire archive of travel posts.

Exploring Oxford: Hertford College & the Sheldonian Theatre

My virtual tour of Oxford continues!

Today I'm sharing pics from my visits to the Sheldonian Theatre - which you can climb to the top of for fabulous views like these - and nearby Hertford College.

 

The Sheldonian was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, built in the 1600s and named after the very wealthy guy at the university who paid for most of it (Gilbert Sheldon). 

 

The Sheldonian Theatre is the official ceremonial hall of Oxford University, so it's the building where you receive your degree when you graduate and where a whole bunch of other University events are held throughout the year. It's also used for music recitals and other events which are open to anyone who buys a ticket.

The theatre's ceiling is pretty spectacular:

The ceiling was painted during the rein of Charles II, and apparently depicts "Truth descending upon the Arts and Sciences and expelling ignorance from the University".

The main attraction though (in my opinion, at any rate) is the fact that you can climb up to the attic then into the cupola at the very top of the building for 360 degree views of central Oxford. 

I love climbing up towers and things to get an overview of a city! There are other places in Oxford to get good birds' eye views (like Carfax Tower, which I blogged about earlier this year) but I think this one is my favourite - those ornamental rooftops are just so gorgeous.

I visited the Sheldonian for free during Oxford Open Doors one year so there was quite a long wait to get up to the cupola, but it was totally worth it for those views. There are also informational boards in the attic about the architecture and history of the building to keep you entertained on your way up.

Near the Sheldonian - and just visible from its cupola - is Hertford College. Hertford is usually closed to the general public (unlike many of the other colleges, which you can visit for free or a small fee) so it was a real treat to be able to visit it as part of the Oxford Open Doors festival.

Hertford has a complicated history! It started out life as Hart Hall in the late 1200s and expanded to become a full college (Hertford College) in the 1700s. The college was then dissolved in 1816 and the buildings were taken over by Magdalen Hall. This then became a college in 1874 but since Magdalen College already existed, they called it Hertford College instead.

 

Even if you've never heard of Hertford, you'll probably recognise its most famous bit of architecture: the Bridge of Sighs, which was built in 1913 to link the old and new quads of the College together.

 

Sadly the open day didn't include a chance to walk across the bridge, but it was still delightful to get a peek inside another of Oxford's colleges...

... particularly one with such a striking spiral staircase!

Want to explore more of Oxford and its colleges? Click here to read all my posts about the city, including Exeter college, Carfax Tower, and Magdalen College.

Click here to browse my full archive of travel posts.