There are plenty of things for you to see and do when you visit the university city of Oxford. The river Thames and the river Cherwell run through the city and meet just south of its centre. If you want why not spend some time relaxing and just strolling along the banks of either of these.
There are lots of other things to do and see when you visit Oxford and here we will look at just a few of them.
1. The Ashmolean Museum is Britain’s first museum and is still thought to be one of the greatest in the world. In fact when this was founded the term museum had not even been coined and its creator based it on a collection of natural history specimens brought together by John Tradescant and his son and which were then given to Elias Ashmole. Ashmole had a special building erected to house the collection and the museum opened its doors in May 1683. But what made this museum so special was when the Alfred Jewel was added to the collection in 1718.
As the size of the collection grew, the original building became too small and a new museum building was erected and opened in 1894. Then by the end of 1908 the collection of items collected and displayed in the Ashmolean were merged with an art gallery and that is what you will see today.
2. Originally called the Physic Gardens, the Oxford Botanic Gardens were founded by Henry Danvers in 1621 so that he as the Earl of Danby could study medicinal plants. At the time of its creation the garden cost £5,000 and was built on the site of a form medieval Jewish cemetery. Ragwort, a plant which is now common throughout England, was propagated from seeds that came from Mount Etna. This is now the oldest surviving botanic gardens to be found in England and along with the herb and medicinal plants one can view tropical lilies, palms and other arid zone plants in the glasshouses. The gardens also feature a rock garden and a bog garden for you to explore.
3. Located on Oxford High Street is the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. This is a very important building in Oxford University’s history. The first library for the university was established here as early as the 12th Century.
It was in this building that the trial of the Bishops Latimer and Ridley along with Archbishop Cranmer took place for heresy in 1555. This group soon became known as the “Oxford Martyrs”. The building occupies one side of Radcliffe Square and it faces the Radcliffe Camera. You are bound to notice the buildings spire, parts of which date back to when it was originally constructed in the thirteenth Century. The more energetic can climb the towers one hundred and twenty seven steps and be rewarded with spectacular views of the city.
When you next stay in Oxford, choose your Oxford hotel from this list.
