Oxford Trip Day 2 - Botanic Garden, Randolph Hotel, Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum

 

 

A good nights sleep followed by a hearty breakfast courtesy of 'The Hungry Horse' sets us up for day 2 in Oxford. Once again we walk in to the City, a bit cloudy but still very warm. We are passing the Botanical Garden so no reason not to pop in. I remember coming here many years ago and entry was free. Times change though and now it is £10 to get in. Money well spent though I suspect, as we collect our free map. The oldest Botanic Gard in GB too with over 5,000 different plant species. The garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden for medicinal research.We start our tour by walking along the border with the River Cherwell.The northeast corner of Christ Church Meadow, belonging to Magdalen College. We were just on the other side of the sports pitches yesterday, when we had our picnic.

Walled Garden

The garden is made up of three sections. the Walled Garden, surrounded by the original seventeenth-century stonework and home to the Garden's oldest tree; an English Yew (taxus bacata). In the background the Magdalen Tower oversees all that is going on. The walled garden is made up of deep borders with leafy shrubs, ornamental grasses and deciduous trees.

There are seven glasshouses, which allow the cultivation of plants needing protection from the extremes of British weather. We travel the world as we move from one to another, from the jungle to the desert  and alpine regions. The first greenhouse was built at the Botanic Garden more than 300 years ago. I believe there are plans  for more too. Some of the larger exhibits are literally pushing the glass up. 

Agave Salmiana

Giant Water Lillies

The Water Lily house is great fun and was constructed in 1850-1851 custom-built for the giant Amazonian water lily (Victoria amazonica). The pond also hosts the stunning day-blooming Nymphaea x daubenyana, a hybrid water lily first propagated at Oxford Botanical Gardens in 1874.Other plants include,  water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and flowering water lilies(Nymphaea).The Lower Garden holds ornamental collections. In the far corner, Lyra's bench is a popular place of pilgrimage for many Garden visitors. It is a significant location in Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy in which the characters, Lyra and Will, meet between their respective worlds.

The Randolph Hotel

The Morse Bar

Leaving the beautiful Botanic Garden we make our way up the High Street, passing University College. We grab a quick look at the quadrangle of reputedly the oldest college in Oxford, founded in 1249. The college has historical connections with luminaries such as Percy Bysshe Shelley and Stephen Hawking. We also visit the very impressive covered market with its wide variety of independent shops. Our destination though is the splendid 'Randolph Hotel situated opposite the Ashmolean Museum on  the corner of Beaumont Street and Magdalen Street. Opened in 1866 the Victorian Gothic building is famous for the 'Inspector Morse' link. Featuring in the television series several times. The cast would often stay during filming. We enjoyed a very civilised pint of Guinness and a large Latte in extreme comfort on the leather upholstery.  

Hertford Bridge - Bridge of Sighs

It was a short hop across to New College Lane to see the 'Bridge of Sighs' at Hertford College. Designed by Architect Sir Thomas Graham Jackson and completed in 1914. Ironically the design has more in common with the Rialto Bridge in Venice then the Bridge of Sighs. We cut back to Broad street where lively sounds are coming from the street market. It seemed the done thing to have some 'street food' into the bargain. The 'Chili Chicken' went down very well I must say. Suitably refreshed we continue to the Bodleian Library. The picture left shows the Old Schools Quadrangle., part of the Bodleian Old Library. The facade shows the distinctive Tower of the Five orders and Gothic- Jacobean architecture. (Below,left)

Old Schools Quadrangle

An 'order' is a classic design system. They are listed as follows, Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. A real mixture of, Roma, Greek, fancy, decorative and complex in styling. Corinthian being the most ornate, with Tuscan the plainest but sturdiest.  

Parts of the 'Harry Potter' film series were set in the Bodleian Library. (Philosophers Stone and Goblet of Fire). Serving as icon Hogwarts locations.

There is something about the 'Radcliffe Camera' (left) that appeals to me.Maybe it is the English Palladian and Baroque styling. Built some time between 1737 and 1749 it serves as a reading room for the Bodleian Library.  It sits directly between Brasenose College and All Souls College. It is literally in the heart of Oxford.  

We walk along Parks Road to our final ports of call. Several University Colleges line the route. Along the way I spot an interesting door that called for closer inspection. It is a piece of public artwork 'A Door for the Stuart Gates'. A collaboration between sculptor Antony Gormely and UK Poet Laureate 'Simon Armitage'. At first glance it looks like a rusty iron door. Look closely and you see a human shaped cut-out in the centre. 

The Simon Armitage poem 'Hinge' is engraved into the metal surface. The door will change colour as it becomes weathered over the fullness of time. Look through the spy-hole and you are treated to a view of the 'Quad Garden' and back lawns of Trinity College. It would have been easy to just walk past and the door go unnoticed.

We cross over the road and the Neo-Gothic frontage of the Museum of Natural History comes into view. Established in 1860 to to collate scientific studies from across the University of Oxford. The exhibit highlights would have to be the three Oxfordshire Dinosaurs. In the late 18th century 'Megalosaurus Bucklandii' was found locally in Stonesfield in the Cotswolds. A nine metre long Jurassic carnivore. Over the next two decades, several more enormous bones were found at Stonesfield. Another museum favourite is the famous 'Oxford Dodo'. The only surviving remains of Dodo soft tissue anywhere in the world!

Pitts River Museum

At the rear of the museum is the entrance to the Pitt Rivers museum. Amazingly both museums are free entry, although a donation is welcomed. There are over half a million exhibits from all over the world. It was founded in 1884 when General Pitt Rivers a very influential figure gave his collection to the university. I've been told there is also display of 'shrunken heads' which I'm looking forward too. Set on three floors the collections are almost impossible to describe such is the enormity . There is just so much to take in and admire. There is a 37 feet tall (11.36 metres)Haida totem pole which rises to the ceiling. You really could spend a whole day in here to do it justice. Still no 'shrunken heads' though. In desperation I ask for directions... Unfortunately they have been removed no reason was given. 

Time is getting on and we need to get back to Headington to pick up the car. We have a slow walk back through Oxford stopping for tea and a cake en route. We save our legs though and catch the bus back.It has been a wonderful tow days in the university city that has so much to offer.  

Of course no visit to Headington would be complete without viewing the ;Headington Shark'. A sculpture of a large shark embedded head first through the roof of a house..The shark first appeared on 9 August 1986 and was seen as a protest against bombs.  

In 2022 Oxford City Council made the sculpture a heritage site. It hasn't been an easy ride though with lots of planning issues along the way.