Christ Church is neither the oldest nor the most attractive College in Oxford but it is surely the grandest, just as its original founder Cardinal Wolsey intended.
As the setting for Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’ suggests, nowhere more so than in the quads of Christ ... Read review
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Advantages: Interesting history, a glimse of a 'typical'college which also covers the history of the beginning of Oxford.x Disadvantages: None really unless you don't like history.
Christ Church is neither the oldest nor the most attractive College in Oxford but it is surely the grandest, just as its original founder Cardinal Wolsey intended.
As the setting for Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’ suggests, nowhere more so than in the quads of Christ church does one catch the atmosphere of the life of a privileged university student.
This college has it all: great history, great ... ...the double monastery based where Christ Church now stands (700) which is where Oxford first began to exist. The first mention of this legend is quite late but recent archaeological finds tend to support it and there is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery under Tom quad.
Cardinal Wolsey who had the ancient priory on the site suppressed founded Christ church in 1525. He intended Cardinal College, as it was originally called, to be the grandest in ... more
Christ Church is neither the oldest nor the most attractive College in Oxford but it is surely the grandest, just as its original founder Cardinal Wolsey intended.
As the setting for Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’ suggests, nowhere more so than in the quads of Christ church does one catch the atmosphere of the life of a privileged university student.
This college has it all: great history, great students, a great quad, the largest hall, a cathedral, albeit a small one, for its chapel, an art gallery and beautiful meadows bordering the river Isis.
Its history melds with that of the city itself via the shrine of St. Frideswide (1289). St. Frideswide, believed to be a Saxon princess who is the patron saint of Oxford, is thought to have been the abbess of the double monastery based where Christ Church now stands (700) which is where Oxford first began to exist. The first mention of this legend is quite late but recent archaeological finds tend to support it and there is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery under Tom quad.
Cardinal Wolsey who had the ancient priory on the site suppressed founded Christ church in 1525. He intended Cardinal College, as it was originally called, to be the grandest in the country. But when he and Henry VIII fell out the king took over and appropriated nearby Osney priory, which was to be the cathedral, for funds and re-endowed it the college as Christ Church. So it happened that the Romanesque priory church of St. Fridewides became the cathedral of Oxford.
The next phase of building came with the building of Tom Tower and the quad in 1681. Tom tower, designed by Christopher Wren, is one of the most famous sights of Oxford. It houses the great bell ‘Tom’ from which it gets its name. This huge bell, which originally hung in Osney Priory and which may also have been called ’Mary’ at one time, sends its 101 chimes across Oxford every evening at 9.05 as if to call its original students back to its confines. It is at the gates of this College you are most likely to see another traditional Oxford sight – a Bulldog (a university policeman or Proctor wearing a bowler hat) If you get past him you might get in free. Through the gates Tom quad exudes a mysterious if not esoteric quality, being laid in the pattern of the astrologer's symbol for Earth with ‘Mercury’ balancing symbolically in the gracious pool in the centre. Perhaps here in Oxford is indeed a special centre of some kind. Other quads include Peckwater, Canterbury and Blue Boar quads.
Famous students of Christ Church include 13 Prime Ministers including Gladstone and Robert Peel, John Locke, John and Charles Wesley, John Ruskin, Albert Einstein and W.H. Auden. Probably the most famous Dean is Henry Liddell though not so much in his own right, although much deserved, but for being the father of Alice (of Wonderland fame).
Alice Liddell was the daughter of the Dean and it was to her and her sisters that the Rev. C. L. Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) told the story of Alice in the wonderland (or Underground as it was first called). This famous book began on a rowing trip on 4th July 1862 up through Port Meadow to Godstow. On the trip they would have passed Binsey where the ‘treacle well” mentioned in the mad hatter’s tea party is really located. The treacle (an Anglo-Saxon word meaning cure-all) well is associated with St. Frideswide and Alice would have known all about it as new stained glass window depicting the legend had been recently installed in the Cathedral. A famous member of the Pre-Raphelite brotherhood Edward Burne-Jones designed the Frideswide window and others there.
There is no admission charge to the Cathedral and the choir sings evensong at 6pm in term times (well worth hearing). Further details are available from the web site.
Christ Church meadows offer a pocket of peace and some nice vistas of the ‘dreaming spires’. There are several entrances but the main one is in St. Aldates through the War memorial gardens. Apart from the famous ‘Broad Walk’ other paths follow the walls of Merton to the botanical Gardens and another will take you alongside the river Thames or Isis till its meeting with the Cherwell. There’s often some quite strange looking cattle grazing these meadows and watch out for White Rabbits dashing around. No admission charge.
Christ Church Picture Gallery can be visited apart from the college by using the back entrance of the college in Oriel Square. It is open daily but only in the afternoons on Sundays. The foundation of this collection was a gift from General John Guise in 1765 but it has been extended and now includes over 1700 works of art. The gallery included paintings by Carraci, Lippi, Tintoretto, Van Dyke and sketches by da Vinci, Durer and Verrochio. These names give an indication of the types of works displayed. I personally found it all a bit samey and was more interested in the icons on display. There is usually an additional special exhibition on display details of which will be available from the website. Presently the admission charge to the Gallery is £2.
I think the admission charge to the college is about £4 unless you can sneak past the Bulldog and get in through the front entrance. There is wealth of information available on everything about Christ Church from http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/
Advantages: A pleasant place to stroll near the river in the centre of Oxford. Disadvantages: Its not particularly interesting.
ChristChurch Meadow is one of the two green spaces near the centre of Oxford open to the public, the other being the Parks: the University owns both.
In all honesty neither are what you would call tourist attractions and the only reason I am writing about it at all is because Ciao have listed it under gardens to visit. However, if you are visiting Oxford it provides a pleasant escape from the traffic and bustle of the city centre, perhaps for a picnic lunch, and an alternative route from St. Aldates to High St or vice versa,
There are several entrances to ChristChurch Meadows: from St. Aldates through the war memorial garden with its colourful herbaceous border, from cobbled Merton St., or from the top of High St., opposite Magdalen college via Rose Lane.
Whichever entrance you choose you will be greeted by a set of rules ...
Advantages: Beautiful city Disadvantages: Not very Kiwi
Christchurch is in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island and is the largest city on this island. Like the North Island's Auckland, it is a key arrival point and hub for international travellers.
Christchurch is situated close to the East coast and to the West lie the immense flat sweeps of the Canterbury plains. These vast plains feel flat, even to me, a native of East Anglia. Their main use is farmland and they require regular wind blocks of tall fences of trees to stop the topsoil from blowing away.
Named by the after Oxford's ChristChurch (a college that one of the Canterbury Association went to), it was a colony sponsored by the Church of England about 150 years ago. Even today, the city centre has an extremely British in feel to it and even has a river Avon upon which you can go punting!The centre itself has ...
Advantages: Beautiful colleges. Culture.Sophisticated Disadvantages: Parking is difficult. Pricey.
Oxford is one of England's most famous and most visited cities,largely on account of the world wide fame of the University of Oxford,which,inter-alia,numbers President Clinton, the Crown Prince of Japan, Benazir Bhutto and Tony Blair among its former students.
At first glance many North Americans visit Oxford and expect to find a campus called Oxford University and are a bit surprised to find that the U is a collection of unique colleges.They very quickly discover the beautiful architecture of colleges such as ChristChurch, Magdalene, Brasenose, Jesus,,University and St John's.The dreamy spires of Oxford can get very seductive.
The University,important though it it is,does not dominate Oxford in quite the same way as,say,Durham and Cambridge Universities appear to dominate their host cities. Indeed Oxford is an important industrial ...
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