Afternoon in Oxford, England
After exploring London we made our way over to Oxford by train for the afternoon. It was about a 50 min train ride so a perfect spot for a day trip from London. We had decided to stop here for the afternoon before heading on to Cotswolds for a couple of days.
Our main purpose of coming to Oxford was to explore some Harry Potter filming locations and inspirations for Harry Potter filming. There are quite a few locations scattered across the city. One of the main spots we wanted to explore was Christ College.
Christ Church is one of Oxford University’s largest colleges founded by King Henry the Eighth. When you wintenss the magnificent architecture and grounds of this college, it is easy to see why it was the inspiration for not only Harry Potter but many other films to include X-Men and Golden Compass.
We did a guided tour of the college costing 20 pounds for adults. A tour is required to visit majoriy of the church to incude the dining hall, cloistures and hallways. The first Harry Potter film location we came upon was the staircase with the famous entrance scene where Professor McGongall meets Harry, Ron and Hermione.
We then entered the school dining hall which was the inspiration for the Hogwarts Great Hall. The movies were not actually filmed here but the dining hall here at Christ Church serves as the main inspiration. As you enter this magnificent room with its old gothic architecture, portraits hanging on the walls and long dining tables it is easy to see why this was the inspiration for the filming. The only thing that was missing were the Hogwarts house banners and floating candles.
Another fun thing in this dining hall is the whimsical set of stained glass art commemorating Lewis Carroll and his famous work, Alice in Wonderland. You can see some of the characters of this story portrayed in the coners of the stained glass pannles.
We then made our way to the cloisters which also made you feel as if you’d been transported to the grounds of Hogwarts. The site of Christ Church was originally founded as a monastery in the eighth century and cloisters were common in monasteries to shelter monks. These particular cloisters were a filming location in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone where Harry sees the trophy his father won as a seeker in Quidditch.
We then entered the heat of the college, Tom Quad. This spectacular quad houses Tom Tower and Great Tom, the bell housed in the belfry of Tom Tower.
Christ Church also has a beautiful college chapel, the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford. The Cathedral contains the shrine of St Frideswide, Oxford’s patron saint. The oldest parts of the church date back to the 12th century, when it was place of pilgrimage. The chapel displays more impressive Gothic architecture and beautiful stained glass art. With the guided tour you learn even more about the history and story behind the chapel and artwork inside.
As we ended the tour, we explored the surrounding grounds of the college. The beautiful stone buildings and whimsical gardens made us feel as if we had been transported into a fairytale. It was hard to believe that this was a functioning school that students got to attend.
After all of our exploring we were ready to find a spot to relax for a bit and get a bite to eat for lunch. We found a pretty neat spot housed in a 1320 building, Vaults and Garden. You order your food at a counter lunch room style and there were so many yummy options to choose from. It’s a really cozy spot to enjoy lunch or a coffee and pastry.
We had a bit more time left before we had to depart for our next train to Cotswolds. We decided to explore a bit more and wander through the streets.
Oxford is such a cool town to explore with its Gothic architecture, historic colleges and cozy cafes and shops.
A hidden gem that we stumbled upon is the Rose Garden at Magdalen College, also known as the Lasker Rose Garden. This rose garden developed by Sylvia Crowe came to existence to commemorate the development of penicillin as an antibiotic in Oxford during the 1940s.
We unfortunately had to conclude our time in Oxford. But we were just as excited for our next destination, The Cotswolds.