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    Insight Guides Great Breaks Oxford (Travel Guide eBook)
    Insight Guides Great Breaks Oxford (Travel Guide eBook)
    Insight Guides Great Breaks Oxford (Travel Guide eBook)
    Ebook408 pages2 hours

    Insight Guides Great Breaks Oxford (Travel Guide eBook)

    By Insight Guides

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    About this ebook

    Insight Great Breaks Guides: pocket-sized books to inspire your on-foot exploration of the best of the British Isles.

    Explore the best of Oxford with this indispensably practical Insight Great Breaks Guide. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see attractions like Magdalen College, the Ashmolean Museum and the Bodleian Library, to discovering hidden gems, including Treacle Well and the Painted Room, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, help you plan, and enhance your Great Break in Oxford. 

    · Practical, pocket-sized and packed with inspirational insider information, this is the ideal on-the-move companion to your trip to Oxford
    · Features 12 detailed walking tour itineraries, including Quads, Meadows and Gardens and Where Town Meets Gown 
    · Overview section features concise insider information covering everything from landscape and location, to history and culinary highlights
    · Top Ten section takes you to the heart of your destination, from Christ Church to the Sheldonian Theatre 
    · Rainy Day recommendations offer plenty of options, whatever the weather
    · Invaluable itinerary maps and practical Travel Tips section ensure effortless exploration 
    · Inspirational colour photography throughout

    About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps, as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInsight Guides
    Release dateApr 1, 2019
    ISBN9781789198119
    Insight Guides Great Breaks Oxford (Travel Guide eBook)
    Author

    Insight Guides

    Insight Guides wherever possible uses local experts who provide insider know-how and share their love and knowledge of the destination.

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      Book preview

      Insight Guides Great Breaks Oxford (Travel Guide eBook) - Insight Guides

      How To Use This E-Book

      This Great Break has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With ­top-­quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.

      Walks and Tours

      The clearly laid-out walks and tours in this book feature options for walking or using public transport wherever possible. The emphasis is on family fun, wholesome outdoorsey activities, local festivals, and food and drink. There are loads of great holiday ideas: kids’ stuff, best beaches, historic pubs, literary connections, unique shops, and – crucially with our Great British weather – what to do on a rainy day.

      We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Eating Out’ box at the end of each tour.

      Introduction

      The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink.

      Directory

      Also supporting the walks and tours is a Travel Tips section, with a clearly organised A–Z of practical information. There is a comprehensive round up of sports and activities in the destination, recommendations for themed holidays, plus our pick of the best places to stay.

      Getting around the e-book

      In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

      Maps

      All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

      Images

      You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

      About Insight Guides

      Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

      Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

      © 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

      Table of Contents

      Oxford’s Top 10

      Overview: A Tale of Two Cities

      The University

      Town and Gown

      Economy and Industry

      Food and Drink

      Cafés

      Pubs

      Food Shopping

      Tour 1: The Heart of the University

      Bearded Ones

      Science Museum

      Original University Press

      Sheldonian Theatre

      Bodleian Library

      Duke Humfrey’s Library

      Old Schools Quadrangle

      Radcliffe Camera

      All Souls

      Brasenose College

      Church of St Mary the Virgin

      The Interior

      Oxford Movement

      Feature: Music and Theatre

      Tour 2: Around New College

      New College Lane

      Halley’s House

      New College

      Chapel and cloisters

      Gardens

      Queen’s Lane

      St Edmund Hall

      The Longwall Garage

      Church of St Cross

      St Catherine’s

      Holywell Street

      Bath Place

      Tour 3: Where Town Meets Gown

      Martyrs’ Memorial

      Broad Street

      Balliol College

      Trinity College

      Blackwell’s

      Turl Street

      Exeter College

      Lincoln College

      Covered Market

      Golden Cross Yard

      Carfax

      Painted Room

      St Michael-at-the-Northgate

      Back to the Start

      Feature: Oxford Waterways

      Tour 4: Quads, Meadows and Gardens

      Oriel Square

      Corpus Christi College

      Merton College

      Mob Quad and the Old Library

      The chapel

      Dead Man’s Walk

      Christ Church Meadow

      Botanic Garden

      The garden layout

      Tour 5: The High Street

      Traffic Calming

      Historic Facades

      Ancient Inn

      Oxford University Press Bookshop

      University College

      The Queen’s College

      Sycamore Tree

      Examination Schools

      Magdalen College

      The Bell Tower

      A series of quadrangles

      Addison’s Walk

      Magdalen Bridge

      Tour 6: From Carfax to the River

      Oxford Town Hall and Museum

      Museum of Modern Art

      Pembroke College

      Christ Church

      The cloisters

      The Cathedral

      The Hall

      Tom Quad

      Quad to quad

      Bate Collection

      Folly Bridge

      Tour 7: West of the City Centre

      Bonn Square

      Nuffield College

      Oxford Castle

      The Old Brewing District

      Oxford Canal

      Detour to Osney and Beyond

      Gloucester Green

      New Inn Hall Street

      Oxford Union

      Feature: Literary Oxford

      Tour 8: Jericho and St Giles’

      Ashmolean Museum

      History

      Antiquities

      Former Royal Palace

      Worcester College

      The college fabric

      The gardens

      Town Meets Gown

      From Rags to Riches

      Somerville College

      Elusive Observatory

      St Giles’

      Tour 9: St John’s and the North

      St John’s College

      Keble College

      University Museum

      Pitt Rivers Museum

      Wadham College

      Towards North Oxford

      North Parade

      Tour 10: Port Meadow and Beyond

      Across the Meadow

      Treacle Well

      Godstow Nunnery

      Tour 11: Excursion to Boars Hill

      Getting There

      Jarn Mound

      Tour 12: Excursion to Woodstock

      Town History

      Oxfordshire Museum

      Blenheim Palace

      State Rooms

      Outdoor attractions

      Active Pursuits

      Sports and Activities

      Bowling

      Cycling

      Golf

      Hot-air ballooning

      Ice skating

      Kayaking

      Swimming

      Walking

      Children’s Activities

      Themed Holidays

      Culture and Art

      Horse riding

      Narrow boats

      Walking and nature holidays

      Practical Information

      Getting There

      By plane

      By car

      By bus

      By train

      Parking

      Getting Around

      Public transport

      By car

      Hire cars

      Bike rental

      Taxis

      Going Green

      Facts for the Visitor

      Disabled travellers

      Emergencies

      Opening hours

      Tourist information

      Entertainment

      Cinema

      Nightlife

      Accommodation

      Oxford City

      Outside Oxford

      Websites

      Oxford’s Top 10

      From punting on the River Thames to grandiose historical colleges and the oldest botanic garden in Britain, here are at a glance the top sights, museums and activities of this fascinating city.

      Magdalen College. Dominating the eastern end of the High Street, Magdalen has a tower, cloisters, quads galore and even a deer park. For more information, click here.

      iStock

      Punting on the Thames. View the spires of Oxford from a punt on the river while sipping Champagne and tucking into a picnic. For more information, click here.

      Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

      Ashmolean Museum. The oldest museum in the country has a superb collection of art and antiquities. For more information, click here.

      Jerome Bump

      Bodleian Library. The library complex holds the circular Radcliffe Camera and the Divinity School. For more information, click here.

      iStock

      Sheldonian Theatre. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the Sheldonian – which seats up to 750 people – is used for university ceremonies, lectures and concerts. For more information, click here.

      iStock

      Port Meadow. Adjacent to the River Thames, this extensive flood plain is a great place to take time out from city sightseeing. The nearby Perch Inn is a popular stopping point. For more information, click here.

      Shutterstock

      University Museum of Natural History. A fine natural history museum, with dinosaur skeletons, is set in a Gothic pile next to Keble College. For more information, click here.

      VisitEngland/Experience Oxfordshire

      Botanic Garden. The oldest botanic garden in Britain, featured in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, contains a wealth of floral treasures and a steamy hothouse. For more information, click here.

      iStock

      Covered Market. This indoor market shelters traditional butchers, unique shops and cafés. For more information, click here.

      Frank Noon/Apa Publications

      Christ Church. Oxford’s largest college is home to the city’s cathedral. Its dining hall was used as a location for scenes in the Harry Potter films. For more information, click here.

      Frank Noon/Apa Publications

      Overview: A Tale of Two Cities

      Although Oxford owes its world-wide fame to its string of colleges, the ‘city of dreaming spires’ is really a tale of two cities – of town and gown

      Oxford lies approximately 50 miles (80km) northwest of London. The core of the city occupies a gravel terrace between the upper River Thames (a stretch known as the Isis) and the smaller River Cherwell (pronounced ‘Charwell’). The first major settlement was established here in Saxon times, probably on present-day St Aldate’s, and the original ‘oxen ford’ from which the town gets its name is thought to have been where Folly Bridge stands today.

      The stunning Radcliffe Camera graces the Oxford skyline.

      iStock

      Oxford

      The University

      The very first centres of learning in Oxford were monasteries established by the Augustinians in the early 12th century. But, as was the case elsewhere in Europe, the need arose for higher training than the local ecclesiastical schools could provide. In 1167, during a feud between Henry II and the King of France, the University of Paris was closed to scholars, and they came and settled in Oxford.

      In the 13th century, friars from the most prominent religious orders came into the town to teach, living and studying in large town houses or ‘academic halls’. In the second half of the 13th century, rich, powerful bishops established their own centres of scholarship in the town, and the first colleges were born.

      Today, the university comprises 38 colleges (eight for graduates only and one, All Souls, exclusively for Fellows – senior academic members), six permanent private halls and more than 24,000 students. While the appeal of the city is the medieval atmosphere of many of its college quadrangles, much has changed since the early days. In the 19th century, under the inspiration of men such as John Ruskin, the university was reformed from being a medieval, clerical institution based on privilege to a modern educational establishment devoted to teaching and scholarship. But the colleges remain, as they always were, autonomous corporations with their own statutes.

      A cyclist’s city.

      iStock

      Town and Gown

      The arrival of students in Oxford created friction with townspeople. Back in 1209 a local woman was killed by a scholar, and two of his unfortunate colleagues were hanged in revenge. The university went on strike, and students fled in fear; some went to Cambridge where they founded Oxford’s ‘sister’ university.

      The problem was not just one of envy. As the colleges expanded, they took over land occupied by the townsfolk and their businesses, filling the city centre with seats of learning. This led to large-scale poverty, a problem compounded by the migration of the cloth industry to rural areas, and by the Black Death in 1349, which wiped out one-third of Oxford’s population.

      Matters came to a head on St Scholastica’s Day in 1355, when a brawl between scholars and the landlord of the Swindlestock Tavern at Carfax escalated into a riot. For three days academic halls were attacked by townsmen supported by a

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