A Pilgrimage to Oxford

In the early Middle Ages it was a convenient place for the oxen to ford the River Thames. Now Oxford is the mecca of English-speaking academia (though Cambridge would dispute that claim...). The story of how this happened is a fascinating one, with lots of interesting stories within it. Yesterday we got to experience some of these stories as our Coventry friends Jon and Su took us for a day trip to Oxford.

Around AD 700 an Anglo-Saxon princess called Frideswide established a monastery on the present site of Christ Church Cathedral. According to one version of the story, she had been aggressively courted by a certain King Aelfgar of Mercia and fled to the area to escape. The pursuing king was struck blind by lightning but was healed by Frideswide's prayers, and he then left her alone. Frideswide's monastery became a place of religious pilgrimage and learning. Upon her death in 727 Frideswide was buried in the chapel and later canonized, becoming Oxford's patron saint. Regardless of the precise details of its origin, the monastery and chapel developed into a centre of religious devotion and education, and the town drew scholars and students as early as the 11th century. In 1167 King Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, increasing the influx of students to Oxford. The University of Oxford was born.

Oxford, like Cambridge, is a confederation of autonomous colleges (map here). While Christ Church is not the oldest of these in terms of official college status, it is one of the largest and its history extends back to Frideswide's monastery. The Cathedral is built on the site of the original chapel and dates to the 12th century (pic 1). The inside of the Cathedral is not large (pic 2), but it is beautiful with its richly carved oak furniture and fan-vaulted ceiling (pic 3). Unfortunately, we were not able to hear the renowned Christ Church Cathedral Choir, but while we were in the Cathedral an orchestra began rehearsing with a piano soloist, bringing 20th century Gershwin to the 12th century church. As for the College itself, it is built around the old monastery and church. Its main quad is the largest of the Oxford Colleges with beautiful Tom Tower overlooking its main gate (pic 4).

In total, there are 39 Colleges at Oxford. Besides Christ Church (1524), other well-known old colleges include University (1249), Merton (1264), Balliol (1263), Exeter (1314), Queen's (1340), New (1379), All Souls (1438), and Magdalen (1458; pronounced "maudlin"). A list of well-known people who have studied or taught at Oxford reads like a Who's Who of people who have shaped modern Western thought, including among them Christian reformers and authors such as William Tyndale, John Wycliffe, John Wesley, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

In addition to touring through Christ Church, we also wandered around the city centre. We went to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, the official University church where John Wesley once preached about his conversion (pic 5). It was also the scene of Thomas Cranmer's re-affirmation of his Protestant beliefs in 1556, leading to him being burned at the stake on Broad Street where two other bishops had been martyred the previous year (pic 6). Now Cranmer's statue looks down from the Church tower (pic 7), a tower which affords beautiful views of the whole area.

After St. Mary's we viewed other must-see sites of central Oxford such as the Radcliffe Camera, now a special reading room of the famous Bodleian Library (pic 8), the Library itself with its Schools Quad (pic 9) and Tower of Five Orders (pic 10), All Souls College with its own beautiful quad (pic 11), and the Sheldonian Theatre, the site of the University's graduation ceremonies (pic 12). Finally, we couldn't resist a quick stop at the Eagle and Child pub, the famous "Bird and Baby" where C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Inklings gathered every Tuesday in the Rabbit Room for a pint, a tale or two from Narnia or Middle Earth, and some lively discussion (pic 13).

As always, there is more to our adventures than we can possibly tell in this kind of summary, but this gives you a sense of our experience of Oxford's many stories. Thanks for coming on the tour!