The High, Cornmarket and St. Giles

Exit University College and make a left on High Street to walk towards Carfax Tower (below).

At Carfax, make a right on Cornmarket Street, a lovely pedestrian plaza that is full of chain stores such as Gap, Boots and Burger King. There was a time when British department stores such as C&A and Mothercare were located on this street and I do recall doing a great deal of shopping in them, twenty years ago. While Debenhams is still present on this street, many of the shops have changed ownership and in keeping with the times, Vodafone and Lloyds Bank are now to be found here.

Walk a few steps ahead, and make a right on Market Street. Just a few feet ahead of you, on your right hand side, you will see the entrance to Oxford’s famous Covered Market, an enclosed space for the sale of all kinds of merchandise from fresh fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, cheese, prepared sandwiches, and, somewhat inexplicably, boots and saddlery. One of my earliest shopping experiences in Oxford involved the buying of cheese for a cocktail party that was to be held in the private room of my tutor at Exeter College, Thomas Docherty. I was rather uninitiated in the art of buying cheese at the time and put myself in the hands of the cheesemonger who recommended a rather ripe blue-veined Stilton that smelled strongly, a mature Cheddar and a very good chevre. You might choose to browse quickly through this market that was constructed in the 19th century, so that the smells of decaying food would not be a source of too much nuisance to the students.

Exit the Covered Market. Make a left on Market Street and a right on Cornmarket Street past the ancient stone studded tower of St. Michael’s Church, one of Oxford’s oldest. You can choose to pay the entry fee that will permit you to visit the church and climb up the tower for some interesting views. At the end of Cornmarket Street lies the Broad Street intersection. Make a slight right to walk along Magdalen Street. On your right are the walls of Balliol College. 

A few steps ahead of you, on your left hand side, you will spy a rather antiquated monument. This is the Martyrs Memorial (right) which commemorates the deaths by burning at the stake of Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley in 1555 and 1556 after the fiercely Catholic Queen “Bloody” Mary committed them to the Tower of London for their heretical views, then sent them to Oxford to defend these in front of the Doctors of Divinity who declared them heretics. The Memorial was designed in 1843 by George Gilbert Scott and based on the Eleanor crosses erected in 12 English towns by Edward I (1239-1307) to honor his queen. The Memorial is a hangout for tourists and students alike who throng the steps leading up to it when the weather permits.

Beaumont Street and The Ashmolean Museum:

Cross the street at the Martyrs Memorial and walk on Beaumont Street. You will see the grand proportions of the Neo-Classical Ashmolean Museum building of 1845 right in front of you. Walk towards the main entrance(right)  to admire the architecture of one of the finest museums in England outside London. Named after Elias Ashmole, an antiquarian who acquired the collection of the two John Tradescants, father and son, who amassed a large number of “curiosities “, the initial collection is today overshadowed by later acquisitions such as paintings by Bellini, Raphael, Turner, Rembrandt and a number of pre-Raphaelite works. Perhaps the single most important item in this collection is the gold enameled ring known as the Alfred Jewel which is 1000 years old. The Ashmolean is also known for its changing seasonal exhibits. It has lovely park-like grounds at the back which were the setting for one of the Inspector Morse episodes in which Morse re-connects with an old flame named Susan who rejected him in favor of an Oxford don whom she eventually married. In an episode entitled “The Wolvercote Tongue”, a rare antiquity from the Ashmolean becomes the focus of inquiry for Morse and Lewis causing them to seek advice from one of the curators within.

The Randolph Hotel:

Cross Beaumont Street and, time and inclination permitting, enter the posh Randolph Hotel which was built in 1864. An episode from Inspector Morse was shot in the beautifully-appointed restaurant of this hotel. Morse stops here to have a drink in the company of a woman whom he hopes will help him solve a murder. You might want to experience the ambiance of this hotel for yourself by ordering a drink in the restaurant or settling down for High Tea, as I once did, a tradition that will permit you to partake of excellent finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam and a pot of freshly-brewed Earl Grey. It is certainly worth entering this place to admire the superb ornate stairway leading to the rooms upstairs.

The Eagle and Child Pub:

Leave the Randolph Hotel behind you and return to St Giles Street. Just a few feet ahead, on your left, you will pass by another famous pub The Eagle and Child which takes its name from the Earl of Derby and has been a pub since 1650. This was the favorite watering hole of the members of the “Inklings Club”—J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis who often met over a pint for discussion and argument in a place they called “The Bird and Baby”. C.S. Lewis wrote of the golden sessions they enjoyed by a blazing fire with their drinks to hand, and the wide-ranging nature of their philosophic and literary conversations. On a wall near the bar, is a note to the landlord from Lewis and Tolkien, written in 1949 during one of their convivial meetings—it bears their signatures and states that they have drunk his health.

Leave The Eagle and Child behind, make a left  and continue walking along St. Giles. On your right hand side, you will see the more modern War Memorial (right) which commemorates the deaths of all Oxonians who gave their lives to the Great War, so many of them being snatched in the prime of their youth, in sacrifice to their country.

Continue Walking Tour of Woodstock Road and Port Meadow