Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Quiet Oasis
The oldest in Great Britain, the
Botanic
Garden,
opposite Magdalen (
&
01865/
286690;
www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk),
was first planted in 1621 on the site of a
Jewish graveyard from the early Middle
Ages. Bounded by a curve of the Cher-
well, it still stands today and is the best
place in Oxford to escape the tourist
hordes. The Botanic Garden is open
March through October, daily from 9am
to 5pm (until 6pm May-Aug); November
through February, daily from 9am to
4:30pm (last admission 45 min. before
closing). Admission is £3.80 for adults,
£3 for university students, and free for
school-age children in full-time education.
Merton College
HISTORIC SITE Founded in 1264, Merton College is among
the three oldest colleges at the university (along with University College and Balliol),
and the most academically successful college in the last 20 years. Merton's eclectic
alumni list includes T. S Eliot, J. R. R. Tolkien, unlikely Rhodes Scholar Kris Kristof-
ferson, and even Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan. The college is especially noted for
its library, built between 1371 and 1379, and said to be the oldest college library in
England. Though a tradition once kept some of its most valuable topics chained, now
only one book is secured in that manner, to illustrate that historical custom. One of the
library's treasures is an astrolabe (an astronomical instrument used for measuring the
altitude of the sun and stars) thought to have belonged to Chaucer.
14 Merton St.
&
01865/276310.
www.merton.ox.ac.uk. Admission £2. Mon-Fri 2-4pm; Sat-Sun 10am-
4pm. Closed for 1 week at Easter and Christmas.
Museum of Natural History & Pitt Rivers Museum
MUSEUM These
two enlightening museums lie a short walk northeast of the center, well off the beaten
path for most tourists but worthy diversions. The Museum of Natural History houses
the university's extensive collections of zoological, entomological, and geological
specimens—everything from stuffed crocodiles and a giant open-jaw of a sperm
whale to the fossil tooth of a prehistoric megalodon and tsetse fly collected by the
explorer David Livingstone.
The Pitt Rivers Museum was founded in 1884 and displays over half a million
archeological and ethnographic objects from all over the world. Highlights include a
precious Tahitian mourner's costume, collected by Captain Cook in 1773-74, ghostly
Japanese Noh masks, and thick Inuit fur coats. The Pitt Rivers' entrance is at the far
wall of the Natural History Museum.
Parks Rd. and S Parks Rd. Museum of Natural History:
&
01865/272950.
www.oum.ox.ac.uk. Free
admission. Daily 10am-5pm. Pitt Rivers Museum:
&
01865/270927.
www.prm.ox.ac.uk. Free admis-
sion. Mon noon-4:30pm, Tues-Sun 10am-4:30pm.
New College
HISTORIC SITE New College is another must-see, primarily for
its exceptional architecture and spacious grounds; it's a favorite
Harry Potter
location
and has seen Kate Beckinsale, Hugh Grant, Naomi Wolf, and even Louisiana Gover-
nor Bobby Jindal pass through its pristine grounds. The college was founded in 1379
by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, but the real masterpiece here is the
chapel, with its handsome interior, stained glass (some designed by Joshua Reynolds),
Jacob Epstein's remarkable modern sculpture of Lazarus, and a fine El Greco paint-
ing of St. James. Another treasure of the college is a crozier (pastoral staff of a bishop)
5
