Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes (page 1/3)

See all the images…

Isis and Oxford Canal

In the foreground a man wearing a hat and carrying a bag or box stands at a canal lock; another walks along the towpath. On the river we see someone punting a [...] [more...] [$]

View of Oxford

We see the ancient city in the distance between trees in the foreground. [more...] [$]

Martyrs Memorial

“In Broad Street, under the windows of Balliol, there is a small stone cross in the pavement. This marks the place where, some years ago, a great heap of wooden ashes was found. These ashes were the remains of the fire of October 16th, 1555—the day when Ridley and Latimer were burned. “They were brought,” says Wood, “to a place over against Balliol [...]candida fossa, to the way leading by it.” To recover the memory of that event, let the reader fancy himself on the top of the tower of St. Michael’s, that is, immediately above the city wall. No houses interfere between him and the open country, in which Balliol stands; not with its present frontage, but much farther back. A clear stream runs through the place where is now Broad Street, and the road above is dark with a swaying crowd, out of which rises the vapour of smoke from the martyrs’ pile. At your feet, on the top of Bocardo prison (which spanned the street at the North Gate), Cranmer stands manacled, watching the fiery death which is soon to purge away the memory of his own faults and crimes. He, too, joined that “noble army of martyrs” who fought all, though they knew it not, for one cause—the freedom of the human spirit.” (pp. 98-100) [more...] [$]

Magdalen Cloisters

The tower is also featured in several paintings by Haslehust’s illustrations of Oxford. [more...] [$]

Old Episcopal Palace.

from a Drawing by R. Kent Thomas. [more...] [$]