Oxford Highlights: Essential City Walk

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean belongs on an essential Oxford walk because it shows how the city’s university became a place where collections were made available for public study. Opened on 24 May 1683, it is described as Britain’s first public museum and the world’s second university museum. Its origins lie in a gift…

Ashmolean Museum in July 2014

Oxford Castle Prison After the Ashmolean’s collections, Oxford Castle turns the walk toward the city’s history of power, justice and everyday administration. Its story shows that Oxford’s defining heritage is not only academic: the castle shaped the town and later served as its county prison. The Norman baron Robert D’…

Oxford-castle — Oxford Castle

3. Christ Church From Oxford Castle Prison, the walk moves from the city’s history of confinement to one of its most influential religious and academic foundations. Christ Church is not simply a college: it is a joint foundation of the University of Oxford and the Church of England, and its cathedral also serves as the…

UK-2014-Oxford-Christ Church 01

Stop 4: Christ Church Cathedral After exploring Christ Church, pause here to see the college’s church in its distinct role as Oxford’s cathedral. This is the principal church of the Diocese of Oxford and the seat of its bishop, while also serving as Christ Church’s chapel—a combination unique in the Church of England. …

Cathedral, Christ Church, Oxford, from the cloisters. - geograph.org.uk - 187944

Bodleian Library Leaving Christ Church Cathedral, this fifth stop shifts the walk from Oxford’s religious history to its scholarly life. The Bodleian is the University of Oxford’s main research library, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602 and among Europe’s oldest libraries. Its buildings make the institution’s long h…

Oxford - Bodleian Library - facade

6. The Sheldonian Theatre Just beyond the Bodleian, on Broad Street, the Sheldonian Theatre shows how Oxford’s intellectual life acquired a purpose-built civic stage. Before it opened, university degree ceremonies took place in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. In the 1660s, leaders sought a separate venue f…

The Sheldonian from across Broad Street

Oxford University Museum of Natural History After the Sheldonian Theatre, this stop shifts the story of Oxford from university ceremony to scientific inquiry. Opened in 1860, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History was purpose-built to house and study the natural world. Its neo-Gothic building, begun in the 185…

Oxford University Museum of Natural History — Oxf-uni-mus-nh

Pitt Rivers Museum From the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, continue into the adjoining Pitt Rivers Museum: this is not a separate street-front stop, but a collection reached through the Natural History Museum itself. Its position makes a fitting final turn on an Oxford highlights walk—from the city’s cele…

Pitt Rivers Museum (64525p)