Tuesday 12 August 2014

VISIT TO EUROPE - UNITED KINGDOM - OXFORD - I









CHAPPIDI ABHIRATH REDDY,
C/O COL GKS REDDY,


Secunderabad - 500 015.



Visit to Oxford City - 29 Apr 2014.


          Oxford /ˈɒksfərd/ is a city in central southern England. It is the county town of Oxfordshire and forms a district within the county. It has a population of 150,200, which makes it the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom, and lies within the Oxford metropolitan area with a population of 244,000. Oxford is one of Britain's fastest growing cities in terms of population, and is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the UK.



          Oxford has a diverse economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, and a large number of information technology and science-based businesses.



          The city is known worldwide as a university town, home to both the University of Oxford (the oldest university in the English-speaking world) and Oxford Brookes University.


          Buildings in Oxford demonstrate examples of every English architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the iconic, mid-18th-century Radcliffe Camera. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in his poem Thyrsis.

          I along with my elder daughter started from London at about 0800 h, after breakfast, Parked the car at a Car Park on the outskirts and took a bus to the City. We got down near the University Church on the high street and after taking some snaps of the church, entered the University Campus through the Radcliffe square.


University Church.


          The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew. It is situated on the north side of the High Street, and is surrounded by university and college buildings.

          St Mary's possesses an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street, and a spire which is claimed by some church historians to be one of the most beautiful in England. Radcliffe Square lies to the north and to the east is Catte Street. The 13th-century tower is open to the public for a fee and provides good views across the heart of the historic university city, especially Radcliffe Square, the Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose College and All Souls College. 













A view of University Church from the High Street (From East Corner of the Church)







A view of the Church from the High Street (From West corner 
of the Church, near entrance to Radcliffe Square)






A write up about the University Church, at the Entrance to Radcliffe Square



Radcliffe Square.


          Radcliffe Square is a square in central Oxford, England. It is surrounded by historic Oxford University and college buildings. The square is cobbled, laid to grass surrounded by railings in the centre, and is pedestrianised except for access.

          The square is named after John Radcliffe, a student of the university who became doctor to the King, made a large fortune, and left a significant legacy to the University and his college (University College), which is nearby in the High Street to the south.

          The centrepiece of the square is the circular and imposing Radcliffe Camera, a library (originally for science) paid for by John Radcliffe's legacy, built 1737–48. This is part of the Bodleian Library, the main building of which is situated immediately to the north of the square. The two are connected by an underground tunnel and there are many books stored under the square (with space for around 600,000 volumes). These books may be requested by readers. There used to be a small underground railway to transport books between the Radcliffe Camera and the main Bodleian site. To the west is Brasenose College, one of Oxford's older colleges. To the east is All Souls College, which only has fellows and no students, and is thus largely dedicated to research. A good view can be had through the gate leading to the square, since although these are normally locked, they consist of metal railings. The eastern side of the square forms part of Catte Street.













A Rear view of the University Church from the Radcliffe Square






Another Rear view of the Church with my daughter



Radcliffe Camera.


          The Radcliffe Camera (Camera, meaning "room" in Latin; colloquially, "Rad Cam") is a building of Oxford University, England, designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library. It is sited to the south of the Old Bodleian, north of St. Mary's Church, and between Brasenose College to the west and All Souls College to the east.

          The Library's construction and maintenance was funded from the estate of John Radcliffe, a notable doctor, who left £40,000 upon his death in 1714. According to the terms of his will, construction only began in 1737, although the intervening period saw the complex purchase of the site. The exterior was complete in 1747 and the interior finished by 1748, although the Library's opening was delayed until 13 April 1749.













A view of Radcliffe Camera, located in the Centre of Radcliffe Square






Another View of Radcliffe Camera with my daughter



All Souls College.



          All Souls College, Oxford (official name: The Warden and the College of the Souls of All Faithful People Deceased in the University of Oxford is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England.


          Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become Fellows (i.e., full members of the College's governing body). It has no undergraduate members, but each year recent graduates of Oxford and other universities are eligible to apply for Examination Fellowships through a competitive examination and interview process (once described as "the hardest exam in the world")










A view of All Souls College from Radcliffe Square.






A front view of All Souls College from the High Street


Bridge of Sighs.


          Hertford Bridge, popularly known as the Bridge of Sighs, is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane in Oxford, England. Its distinctive design makes it a city landmark.



          The bridge is often referred to as the Bridge of Sighs because of its supposed similarity to the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice. However, Hertford Bridge was never intended to be a replica of the Venetian bridge, and indeed it bears a closer resemblance to the Rialto Bridge in the same city.









A view of Bridge of Sighs






A Display Map at the Brigde of Sighs showing the Layout of Oxford University






A close up of the Map


Bodleian Library.



          The Bodleian Library (/ˈbɒdliən/, /bɒdˈliːən/), the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library with over 11 million items. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or simply "the Bod", 











A View of the Bodleian Library from the Bridge of Sighs






A view of the Bodleian Library Entry Gate from the Inner Court Yard






Entry to the Bodleian Library proper from the Inner Court Yard


Clarendon Building.


The Clarendon Building is a landmark Grade I listed building in Oxford, England, owned by the University of Oxford. It was built between 1711 and 1715 to house the Oxford University Press. It stands in the centre of the city in Broad Street, near the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre. It was vacated by the Press in the early nineteenth century, and used by the university for administrative purposes. In 1975 it was handed over to the Bodleian Library, and now provides office and meeting space for senior members of staff.






A Rear View of Clarendon Building from the Boldeian Library Side Entrance






A front view of Clarendon Building from the Broad Street


Oxford Martin School.


          The Oxford Martin School was founded in June 2005 as the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The institution is named after its benefactor, James Martin, author of the books The Wired Society and The Meaning of the 21st Century. The School's Director, Professor Ian Goldin, took up his position in September 2006. A key aim of the School is to mitigate the most pressing risks and realise exciting new opportunities of the 21st century. With interdisciplinary teams of researchers from across the university, the School is working on the frontiers of knowledge in four broad areas: health and medicine; energy and environment; technology and society; and ethics and governance. Aiming to have an impact beyond academia, the School also develops wide-ranging initiatives, intellectual programmes and public events to engage with national and international policymakers, business, students and the general public.






A view of Oxford Martin School from the Broad Street


Weston Library (Formerly New Boldeian Library).

          The Weston Library opens in phases to readers and researchers of special collections from late September 2014. An official opening is planned for March 2015. The newly-renovated building will accommodate new and existing facilities.


          Recent years have seen a number of libraries belonging to the University of Oxford brought together for administrative purposes under the umbrella of what was formerly known as Oxford University Library Services (OULS), and now as the Bodleian Libraries, of which the Bodleian is the largest component. All colleges of the University of Oxford have their own libraries, which in a number of cases were established well before the foundation of the Bodleian, and all of which remain entirely independent of the Bodleian.









A view of Weston Museum from the Corner of Broad Street


Wadham College Oxford


          Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. 


          Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, according to the will of her late husband Nicholas Wadham, a member of an ancient Somerset family. The central buildings, a notable example of Jacobean architecture, were designed by the architect William Arnold and erected between 1610 and 1613. They include a large and ornate Hall. Adjacent to the central buildings are the Wadham Gardens, notable for their collection of trees and one of the largest gardens amongst Oxford colleges.









A view of Wadham College, from across the Road



Natural History Museum.


          The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the University's chemistry, zoology and mathematics departments. The University Museum provides the only access into the adjoining Pitt Rivers Museum.










A view of University Natural History Museum from the Front Lawns






An Interior View of Natural History Museum


Pitt Rivers Museum.


          The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed through that building.



          The museum was founded in 1884 by Lt-General Augustus Pitt Rivers, who donated his collection to the University of Oxford with the condition that a permanent lecturer in anthropology must be appointed. Museum staff are involved in teaching Archaeology and Anthropology at the University even today. The first Curator of the Museum was Henry Balfour. A second stipulation in the Deed of Gift was that a building should be provided to house the collection and used for no other purpose. The University therefore engaged Thomas Manly Deane, son of Thomas Newenham Deane who, together with Benjamin Woodward, had designed and built the original Oxford University Museum of Natural History building three decades earlier, to create an adjoining building at the rear of the main building to house the collection. Construction started in 1885 and was completed in 1886.








An Interior View of Pitt River Museum






Another view of Pitt River Museum


Radcliffe Science Library.


          The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford, England.



          Being officially part of the Bodleian Libraries, although with a completely separate building, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to receive a copy of all British scientific publications. The library holds around a million items, with about a quarter of the holdings on display in the reading rooms and the rest held in storage. It is one of the busiest libraries in Oxford, with just over 120,000 visits by approximately 16,000 individuals, and 272,000 items checked out or renewed, in 2008/9.








A view of Radcliffe Science Library from the Lawns of Natural History Museum


Keble College, Oxford.


          Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall Road.



          Keble was established in 1870, having been built as a monument to John Keble. John Keble had been a leading member of the Oxford Movement, which sought to stress the Catholic nature of the Church of England. Consequently, the College traditionally placed a considerable emphasis on theological teaching, although this has long since ceased to be the case. In the period after the Second World War the trends were towards scientific courses.








A view of Keble College from the corner of Keble - Parks Road Jn






A view of the Front portion of the college from the same Road Jn






A Frontal view of Keble College from across Parks Road


Rhodes House, Oxford.


          Rhodes House is part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on the south of South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. The will of Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) created scholarships that became known as Rhodes Scholarships, administered by the Rhodes Trust.



          The Rhodes House building was designed by Sir Herbert Baker in a colonial style and was completed in 1928. Architectural sculpture was provided by Charles Wheeler.








A view of Rhodes House from in front of Radcliffe Science Library








Note:- The information about the places visited has been Extracted from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia.

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