Explore the real-world places that appear in Oxford by Andrew Lang. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Magdalen College, Merton College, Balliol College, Christ Church, Bodleian Library and 7 more.
High Street — The college and its tower, Addison's Walk, and deer park
Lang's survey of Oxford lingers on Magdalen's tower, cloisters and groves as a high point of the city's beauty. He treats it as an example of how medieval foundations and their grounds shaped the poetic image of the university. He writes as a former Oxford man (he was a student at Balliol and fellow of Merton) who is fond of its walks and traditions.
Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester. Its bell tower, completed in 1509, is one of Oxford's best-known landmarks. May Morning choral singing from the tower dates back to the Tudor era.
Magdalen remains a working college with a deer park and riverside Water Walks. It is open to paying visitors for much of the year.
Visit: Magdalen College (historic site)
Merton Street — Lang's own college as a fellow
Lang knew Merton as a fellow and he discusses its antiquity and learned traditions, including its early statutes and library. Merton stands in the book as an example of the medieval collegiate model that gave Oxford its character. The quiet quadrangles illustrate the scholarly life he describes with affection.
Merton was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, and its statutes influenced the later collegiate system at Oxford and Cambridge. Mob Quad, finished in the early 14th century, is often called the oldest quadrangle in Oxford. Its Library dates from the 1370s.
Merton is an active college that admits visitors during set hours. Mob Quad and the medieval library are the main attractions.
Visit: Merton College (historic site)
Broad Street — Lang's undergraduate college
Lang studied at Balliol and recalls the college's reputation for intellectual distinction in the nineteenth century. The college appears as part of his picture of Victorian Oxford's reforming, scholarly energy. It anchors the personal side of his account.
Balliol was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol as a penance. In the nineteenth century, under Benjamin Jowett, it became known for producing public figures and scholars. The present buildings are largely Victorian.
Balliol is a working college with a famous Master's field and a historic library. Visitors may enter at certain times.
Visit: Balliol College (historic site)
St Aldate's — Cathedral, Tom Quad and Great Hall
Christ Church features as the grandest of Oxford's foundations, combining a college with the cathedral of the diocese. Lang's account notes Tom Quad and the Wolsey connection as emblems of the university's tie to church and state. It serves as a showpiece of Oxford's architectural pride.
Cardinal Wolsey founded Cardinal College in 1525, and Henry VIII refounded it as Christ Church in 1546. Its cathedral, begun in the 12th century, is the smallest in England. Tom Tower was added by Christopher Wren in 1681-82.
Christ Church is a major tourist attraction with a picture gallery, cathedral and Great Hall. It was used as a filming location for the Harry Potter films.
Visit: Christ Church (historic site)
Broad Street — The university's great library
For a literary man like Lang, the Bodleian is central to Oxford's identity. He discusses its treasures and its role as the university's scholarly heart. The Old Schools quadrangle and Duke Humfrey's Library represent the learned past.
The library was re-founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, building on Duke Humfrey's fifteenth-century collection. It is a legal deposit library for the United Kingdom. The Old Schools Quadrangle dates from the early 17th century.
The Bodleian offers guided tours of Duke Humfrey's Library and the Divinity School. It remains a leading research library.
Visit: Bodleian Library (library)
Radcliffe Square — Domed Palladian reading room
The round domed Camera stands in Lang's description as one of the most distinctive structures of the city centre. It is part of the architectural ensemble of learning around the Bodleian. It illustrates the Georgian layer in Oxford's story.
The Radcliffe Camera was built from 1737 to 1749 to a design by James Gibbs, funded by the bequest of physician John Radcliffe. It was designed as a science library. It became a Bodleian reading room in 1860.
It serves as a reading room for students and is closed to general visitors apart from limited tours. Its exterior is one of the city's most photographed sights.
Visit: Radcliffe Camera (landmark)
Broad Street — Wren's ceremonial hall
The Sheldonian appears as the setting for university ceremonies, including the Encaenia, where honorary degrees are conferred. Lang evokes the traditions and the pageantry of the academic year. It stands for the formal public face of the university.
Designed by Christopher Wren, it was built between 1664 and 1669 and funded by Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was one of Wren's first major works. The ceiling painting by Robert Streater depicts the triumph of truth over ignorance.
The theatre hosts concerts and graduation ceremonies and is open to visitors on non-event days. Visitors can climb to the cupola for city views.
Visit: Sheldonian Theatre (theater)
Carfax to Magdalen Bridge — Oxford's principal street
Lang praises the curve of the High as among the finest streets in Europe. The sweep of colleges, spires and shopfronts forms a continuous picture of the city. He uses it to convey the visual unity of Oxford.
The High Street follows a medieval route eastward from Carfax. It is lined with colleges including Queen's, University College and All Souls nearby. The street has been a main thoroughfare since Saxon times.
It remains a busy street of colleges, shops and cafes with buses and cyclists. The curve of buildings is a popular viewpoint.
Visit: High Street (landmark)
Queen Street and Cornmarket — City centre crossroads
Carfax marks the centre of the old town where the main streets meet. Lang's discussion of Oxford's early history, long before the colleges, points to this crossroads as the heart of the borough. The tower is what remains of the medieval church of St Martin.
Carfax Tower is the remnant of St Martin's Church, which dated from the 12th century. The church was mostly demolished in 1896 to widen the road, but the tower was kept. Its name comes from the Latin quadrifurcus, meaning four-forked.
Visitors can climb the tower for a view over the city's rooftops. It is a common meeting point.
Visit: Carfax Tower (landmark)
Rose Lane — England's oldest botanic garden
The garden by the Cherwell appears among Oxford's quiet, green places. Lang's descriptions of the city's gardens reflect his affection for the calm retreats beside the colleges. It is a place of study as well as pleasure.
Founded in 1621 as a physic garden, it is the oldest botanic garden in Britain. Henry Danvers funded it, and its Danby Gate was designed by Nicholas Stone. It was created to grow plants for medical study.
It is open daily to the public and houses thousands of plant species. Glasshouses and walled gardens are popular with visitors.
Visit: Oxford Botanic Garden (park)
South of Christ Church — Riverside walk along the Isis and Cherwell
The meadows and the river walks are among the city's chief delights in Lang's picture. He associates them with undergraduate life, boating and the evening light on the towers. They give the book its pastoral side.
The meadow has been farmland belonging to Christ Church since the 16th century. Broad Walk was laid out in the 18th century. The meadow is bounded by the Thames (the Isis) and the Cherwell.
It is a public open space with walking paths and grazing cattle. It provides views of the college spires.
Visit: Christ Church Meadow (park)
East end of the High — Punting and boating
Lang writes about river life, with students on the Cherwell and the Isis in punts and boats. The bridge by Magdalen is the gateway to eastern Oxford and a starting place for boating. The river scenes balance the book's scholarly material.
The present Magdalen Bridge was built between 1772 and 1778 to a design by John Gwynn. Earlier bridges on the site date back to the 12th century. May Morning crowds gather on it each year.
Punts and rowing boats can be hired at the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse. The bridge is a focal point of May Morning celebrations.
Visit: Magdalen Bridge Boathouse (landmark)
More by Andrew Lang: All Andrew Lang books
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