Oxford Literary Tour

“I wonder anybody does anything at Oxford but dream and remember, the place is so beautiful. One almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking. It is all... like an opera.”  William Butler Yeats

Having never visited the city before, Oxford had always held something of a dreamlike quality for me, an ethereal familiarity bourn from the novels of Thomas Hardy and Evelyn Waugh - this place of hushed cloisters, ornate college chapels, and myriad architectural styles, and as the poet, Matthew Arnold wrote, the ‘city of dreaming spires’. So it was with great excitement that I found myself on a guided literary tour of its famous landmarks and colleges.

Autumn leaves blew up against shop windows displaying college finery as the afternoon sunshine caught the colours of the new season. Walking from the station to meet Ruth, my Official Guided Walking Tour Guide (www.visitoxford.org), at the Martyr’s Memorial, it felt like a perfect time to be visiting the city and discovering a little of its rich literary legacy.

The tour began at St John’s College (www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/), the first of the university’s constituent colleges we visited, and the first thing you notice on entering the quadrangle is the city noise dropping away. Contemplating the college’s most famous alumni, Kinglsley Amis and Phillip Larkin to name a few, in this oasis of calm was the perfect start to the tour.

From St John’s we moved down St Giles Street to the Eagle & Child pub, famous for its connection to the literary group, The Inklings, whose members included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis. From 1939 to 1962 this Oxford writers’ group would meet in a room at the back of the pub every Friday lunch to drink and talk. In recent years it has also become a favourite of Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse.

While it was tempting to stop for a pint in this most famous of watering holes, we decided to move west, past the Randolph Hotel, this grand landmark which has its own Morse connections, and on to Exeter College (www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/). However before we reached Exeter, Ruth led me into another island of solitude, away from the city's bustling shopping parade - St. Michael at the North Gate Church, a remarkable example of Saxon architecture and the oldest remaining 11th century building in Oxford. The font, which was moved from St Martin’s in Carfax, was where Poet Laureate, William Davenant, was baptized, godson to a certain William Shakespeare.

Edging into the chapel of Exeter College, you develop a true sense of the history of your surroundings, particularly when you notice the amount of restoration work that’s taking place. The beautifully maintained chapel was based on the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, built in the mid 19th century. Known as one of the friendlier colleges to new students, Exeter has been a place of study for novelists such as Alan Bennett and Martin Amis.

As a first time visitor to Oxford, one of the most surprising observations is how closely packed together the university colleges are situated, as well as how, once inside, how peaceful and tranquil these hallowed halls of academia are. Standing outside the front gate of Magdalen College (www.magd.ox.ac.uk/), it wasn’t difficult to imagine a dandyish Oscar Wilde strolling confidently to class or Tolkien and Lewis deep in conversation in a cloud of pipe smoke on their way to the Botanic Gardens or the magnificent Bodleian Library, as over the decades relatively little has changed in these historic seats of learning.

As we passed though the various colleges the names of their most famous alumni came thick and fast. W.H. Auden and the poet John Ruskin both studied at Christ Church (www.chch.ox.ac.uk/), while John Galsworthy, writer of The Forsyte Saga, held a place at New College, one of the most academically successful colleges. Sir John Betjeman entered Oxford University with great difficulty but was eventually taught by C.S.Lewis at Magdalen.

Treading the same cobblestones as these giants of literature, I felt like I’d spent an afternoon in their company, pacing the quads and strolling in the college gardens. The beauty of places such as Oxford is their ability to retain their character and a sense of their own grand and fascinating history as the modern world waits to encroach further still. I can think of few places better suited to a guided literary tour.

Thanks to Ruth Ward.

For more information about this and other guided walking tours of Oxford:www.visitoxford.org