Tagged: Historic

No students, the hardest exam in the world, and Hawksmoor's twin towers

One of Oxford's oldest colleges — plain outside, historically significant inside

One of the oldest libraries in Europe — the Divinity School, Duke Humfrey's Library, and the Radcliffe Camera.

Right behind the Radcliffe Camera — an intimate college with a painted chapel ceiling

Hertford College's 1914 covered skyway over New College Lane — Oxford's most photographed bridge, despite resembling neither of the actual Bridges of Sighs.

The 23-metre Saxon-medieval tower at the centre of Oxford — climb 99 steps for a four-way panorama.

Oxford's grandest college — part cathedral, part palace, all spectacle

The smallest cathedral in England and the only one that is also a college chapel. Norman bones, a 14th-century Becket window that survived the Reformation, and five Burne-Jones windows.

One of Oxford's smallest colleges, with a famous pelican sundial

Tolkien's college, a miniature Sainte-Chapelle, and a hidden view over Radcliffe Square

A modern graduate college wrapped around a Georgian observatory tower

Oxford's mature-student college with Burne-Jones and William Morris stained glass

Home of the Bridge of Sighs — Oxford’s most photographed architectural moment

Scientific instruments from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, in the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum.

Victorian cemetery established in 1847 on Merton College land. The resting place of Kenneth Grahame, Walter Pater, Charles Williams and the Mad Hatter's reputed model — now a wildlife refuge with muntjac deer and pheasants.

The Welsh college on Turl Street — quieter than its neighbours, full of character

Victorian polychrome brick — Oxford's most divisive building and a masterpiece painting

Oxford's part-time and continuing education hub — not a tourist destination

Riverside gardens and pioneering history, away from the tourist crush

A proper Oxford local — ancient, unpretentious, and owned by St John's College.

An eco-focused graduate college — admirable but not a visitor attraction

A perfectly preserved medieval gem on Turl Street — John Wesley's college

Extensive grounds with a deer park, river walks, and a famous tower

The 144-foot perpendicular Gothic tower of Magdalen College (1509) — the centrepiece of the High Street and the gathering point for May Morning.

A Nonconformist college with a Gothic Revival chapel and progressive spirit

Sir Gilbert Scott's 1843 Gothic-Revival monument to Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley — the three Oxford Martyrs burned for heresy in 1555–1556.

Oxford's oldest quad, a medieval library, and Tolkien's second home

Medieval cloisters, a stretch of city wall, and a chapel with an El Greco

Oxford's social science powerhouse — architecturally divisive, intellectually formidable

Oxford's oldest royal foundation — seven centuries on a beautiful square

Norman castle (1071) and former Victorian prison — the medieval mound, St George's Tower, and 1,000 years of overlapping use.

The 13th-century defensive ring around medieval Oxford — best-preserved in the gardens of New College.

Samuel Johnson's college — quietly handsome, just off St Aldate's

James Gibbs's English Palladian rotunda (1749) — the first circular library in the country and the most photographed building in Oxford.

A tiny Baptist hall on St Giles' — small and friendly

Rye St Antony merged with Headington School in 2024 to form Headington Rye Oxford.

Sir Christopher Wren's first major building (1668) — the University's ceremonial assembly hall, with a painted ceiling and a viewing cupola.

A pioneering women's college — alumni include Thatcher, Sayers, and Indira Gandhi

A modernist campus college with a strong access ethos — not a sightseeing stop

Oxford's international affairs college — impressive seminars, not impressive buildings

Designed by Arne Jacobsen — a complete modernist campus with sculpture gardens by the Cherwell

A small graduate college sharing the Grade II-listed Pusey House on St Giles'

The oldest academic hall in any university — 800 years in a tiny quad off Queen's Lane

The Norman parish church at the northern head of St Giles', finished in 1120 and consecrated in 1200 by St Hugh of Lincoln — the consecration that gave Oxford [St Giles' Fair](/places/streets/st-giles/).

Oxford's last single-sex college (until 2008), with Cherwell riverside gardens

14 acres of gardens in North Oxford — one of the largest college grounds in the university

Oxford's wealthiest college — Canterbury Quad, large gardens, and serious money

A Grade I-listed ancient parish church on Magdalen Street, with Saxon origins, work by Saint Hugh of Lincoln in 1194, and Oxford's first Gothic Revival interior — George Gilbert Scott's 1841 Martyrs' Aisle, complementing the [Martyrs' Memorial](/places/landmarks/martyrs-memorial/) immediately to the north.

A young college on an ancient site — unassuming but well located near the castle

Oxford's oldest pub — famous for its tie collection and recently expanded into a larger space.

Oxford's beating heart since 1774 — over 50 independent stalls under one historic roof.

Where the Inklings met — Tolkien and Lewis's local on St Giles'.

The pub where Radiohead played their first gig — Oxford's main small live music venue.

Oxford's quintessential student pub — Young's ales on Holywell Street, opposite the Bodleian.

A thatched riverside pub reached via a walk across Port Meadow.

A baroque showpiece on the High Street — Oxford's only fully classical college

North Parade's anchor pub — a proper local where the landlord knows every regular by name.

Inspector Morse's local, perched over a weir on the Thames at Wolvercote — come for the view, stay for the atmosphere.

A well-hidden pub, tucked down a medieval alleyway behind the Bodleian.

Sir Christopher Wren's Gothic-revival gatehouse tower at Christ Church (1682) — home of Great Tom, the bell that still rings 101 times every night.

The Jacobean entrance tower of the Bodleian — a single building demonstrating all five classical orders, stacked vertically.

Spacious gardens and a Wren chapel on Broad Street — often overlooked

The University's church on the High Street, with one of the best tower views in Oxford and a 13th-century spire.

Possibly Oxford's oldest college — Shelley's memorial and a long High Street facade

A well-preserved Jacobean quad, large gardens, and a progressive reputation

Isaiah Berlin's riverside graduate college — Powell & Moya's Grade II-listed modernist campus

A lake, medieval cottages, and large gardens — one of central Oxford's hidden landscapes

Opened in 1748 on a quiet lane behind New College, the Holywell Music Room is widely cited as the oldest purpose-built concert hall in Europe — and it still hosts weekly recitals.

A proper pub hiding in plain sight on the High Street — the 15th-century beams are the real deal.

A big riverside pub at Folly Bridge — the terrace over the Thames is the whole point.

A proper village pub in Headington Quarry — the kind of place C.S. Lewis would have walked to, because he did.

A village green pub in Wolvercote — proper ale, proper food, properly relaxed.

A tiny Broad Street pub squeezed between Blackwell's and the Bodleian — smaller than some college rooms.

The Oxford that most visitors walk straight past — back alleys, medieval doorways, hidden gardens, and quiet corners.

Ancient common land, wild horses, ruined abbeys, and two of Oxford's best riverside pubs.

Oxford's full river traverse — from the gentle weirs of Iffley to the wild expanse of Port Meadow.

The essential Oxford walk — 10 colleges, 2 libraries, and 800 years of architecture in 90 minutes.