It’s that time of year again when places that would normally be off limits to the public throw their doors open and let us in. It’s time for the annual Heritage Open Days.
In every other year that we have attended an event during the period, and we have been attending now for seven years, it has always been to somewhere in Reading. This year we went further afield to Oxford.
But it is not Heritage Open Days…
But this isn’t called Heritage Open Days but Oxford Open Doors. This is because Oxford Open Doors is independently run and branded by a local charity, rather than being managed directly by the national Heritage Open Days umbrella organisation.
The event is managed by the Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT)—an independent conservation charity founded in 1927. While the festival takes place during the national European Heritage Days window in September, OPT uses its own bespoke name and branding to emphasise its local stewardship of the city’s green spaces, historic buildings, and university heritage.
Magdalen, Merton and New College
The colleges of Oxford are spectacular. I’m sure that they came about as some sort of pissing contest between wealthy benefactors to see who could build the grandest. I’m glad that they did because, as I said, they are all (pretty much) spectacular. However, you could drop me into any one of them and I’d have no idea which one I was in. Whispers they all look the same.
If you are looking at the pictures and thinking Harry Potter, then you are right; a number of the colleges have been used as locations during the films, including New College’s cloisters and courtyard where we were today (see image at the top).
New College isn’t, of course, new at all. In fact having been established in 1379 it is one of the oldest colleges in Oxford. A nice surprise was to find some extensive gardens at the back and because we were there so early these were completely empty. The gardens are completely enclosed by a wall with a mound covered by trees at its heart. It is somewhat hard to believe that this place of calm could be set right in the centre of the city.
From New College we made our way to Magdalen. Why do they pronounce it Mawdlin and not Mag-de-lin?
Magdalen College is pronounced “Mawdlin” due to historical pronunciation trends in the 15th century, when the name was commonly spoken without the ‘g’ sound. This pronunciation was retained by the college, while other uses of the name, like the church, maintain the ‘g’ sound.
Here we found yet more cloisters and grand buildings, so by the time we reached Merton, we were a bit jaded with limestone buildings, and it was raining, so we cut our losses.
The Oratory
Next stop was The Oxford Oratory a Roman Catholic church just slightly outside of the city centre. It has a wonderful looking wall behind the alter holding statues of, I assume, saints. I say “I assume” because we arrived just as a mass was being held and I didn’t think the congregation would be too pleased with me wandering around. I guess that’s a visit for another time.
Castle Mound
Finally, on the walk back to the station, we made a stop at Castle Mound, a Motte-and-Bailey Mound next to the prison and walked the winding path to the top. There are many places in Oxford with stunning views but this isn’t one of them and was only mildly distracting.
All in all, though, this was a good trip to a city I love.
