Oxford, England

Oxford University is the second-oldest university in continuous operation in the world.

My accommodation in Oxford (2 nights)

• Rasa Sayang House -141 Iffley Rd, Oxford OX4 1EJ,

 

The accommodation advertises itself as a 2 star hotel. I am spending two nights here, from Wednesday through to Friday. It is very simple but reasonably well positioned. The shower does have hot water but the pressure is very low so they have fitted a pressure booster. Very noisy device but does the job.

Wednesday 20th

The temperature today is somewhat lower than yesterday's 40 degrees but I trust not too low as I travelled to Oxford without anything warm - bad planning, as I left all appropriate tops in the London flat.

Getting to Oxford was easy. Just buy a train ticket and let the driver do the rest. Getting to my boarding house was somewhat more difficult. I knew the bus number but street works, out of my sight, was stopping my bus from being able to turn into the side street where I was standing so after waiting 30 minutes I eventually flagged down another bus and the driver explained the problem. 

Long story short story I found the bus stop, arrived at my dwellings, put down my backpack and left for the Ashmolean Museum straight away.

The Ashmolean was all I had expected. However my phone and my camera appear to be having a disagreement and are not talking to each other resulting in the situation whereby I cannot upload the many images I took. So all my photos and comments will be posted once I can get the technology to communicate. That might take a few days.

Thursday 21st July.

I woke really early today (4:15) and by 5:15 I was ready to walk into the city and find an early opening coffee oasis. Found a very smart location where the barista knew how to make a flat white but it was so bitter. They really need to review how long they roast their blend for.

I am by nature, and by desire, a slow walker. I like to stop and smell the flowers, take in the scenery, to think about life, the universe and everything, and to try to immerse myself into the local history where possible. 

This morning's dawdle certain paid off. Crossing the Magdalen bridge over the River Cherwell I found where the punts go to sleep at night, when they are not being used by tourists hoping to emulate some movie about Oxford they once saw. 

On the city side of the bridge I found an interesting entrance to what initially believed to be a college building. What caught my eye was the small statue of a 17th century English king, either Charles l or Charles LL. The arch way actually ended up being the (now closed) entry into the botanical gardens.

Walking towards this arch my eyes were drawn to my right where I found a plaque commentating the original burial grounds given to the Jews of Oxford in the late 12th century. This cemetery was taken from them 40 years later when Magdalen College was created. And of course good old king Edward 1st expelled all Jews from Merry England some 60 years later in 1290. 

Expulsion of Jews was a very common practice by kings and rulers across Europe at that time, who would rather not have to repay their loans or would appropriate the valuables of the Jews as they left, in order to pay the costs of the first Crusades. I wonder what the value of those debts would be today? 830 years worth of interest. I think that would break the bank of England.

The issue of the Statue of Cecil John Rhodes above the gate of Oriel College.

Normally I would not have given this issue any air time other than the statue should go. But I have a strong personal link to him, or at least to the country that for about 70 to 80 years bore his name - Rhodesia. I am an Old Miltonian having gone to school in Bulawayo during the colonial and UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) days. Through the eyes of the modern world Rhodes definitely was a racist. No argument. Should his statue be removed, most definately and emphatically, yes!

But hypocrisy exists. We have the luxury to measure the worth of people in history through the eyes of 21st century western humans, and deem 19th century Rhodes to be a racist, but then surely 13th century Edward 1st, in my humble opinion, should also be deemed a racist because he expelled ' his Jews'. And of course his actions against the Scots could also be argued as racism if we apply a similar formula.

So the moral of the lessons from history is not as the Nazerine scriptures teach you - you should only throw stones if you are innocent -  rather - remember that once a stone is thrown it can hit anywhere and anyone and at any time.

Natural History Museum and the Pitt River Anthropology Museum 

For me the most memorable part of this visit ended up being a discussion I had with a very intelligent guide, all about museums and cultural sensitivities over displaying certain historical artefacts in general. Although I had not gone specially to see the shrunken heads, I found myself reading a notice explaining why the exhibit was not available. The guide explained that the heads in question come from South America and that there were discussions with the descendants of the indigenous owners of the heads as to the appropriateness of showing such human artefacts.

I explained my curiosity over the museum removing the heads for sensitivity issues because in January 2000 I visited by ship the town of Kota Kinabalu in north west Borneo. Melody & I were taken on a tour to the Monsopiad Cultural Village that celebrated local history and customs. The guides were very proud to point out the skulls of fallen enemies and the shrunken heads in their collection. 

Leaves me to wonder about where lines are drawn on cultural sensitivities.

Friday 23nd July.

Another 4am wake up and slow walk into the city. This is my last day so I had to pack and carry both my backpacks. Again the lack of both human and animal life & sounds at 5am is strikingly different to 5am in Perth. 

I caught sight of a strange looking bird floating along the river and feeding. It looked familiar in some respects but I knew it could not be a Swan because Swans as everyone knows of course are black whereas this bird was white. I jest of course but for most of non-Australian history logically swans were white but " ..... no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white" (Karl Popper)

 

The Museum of Oxford

The museum is located in the municipal building on St Aldate's Street.  A very weather worn plaque commemorates the fact that St Aldate street was known as Great Jewry untill 1300 when it was changed after the expulsion of the Jews by Edward 1st.

Photo of the town hall stare case. The museum itself, to the side of the staircase, is very disappointing. Honestly,not much to get ones teeth into. Fortunately there was no entry charge.

Buildings in Oxford

History abounds in Oxford. The Saxon tower of St Michael is the oldest existing building in the city, dating about 1040. To put this into some historical perspective this building predates the Norman invasion by about 25 years and the first Crusades by about 50 years 

The word juxtaposition readily comes to mind when I wander around the colleges, and the streets of the city.

Five hundred to thousand hundred year old buildings exist alongside post-war buildings built inbetween and exist everywhere. 

My favourite example of old & weird is of course the Tudor period building that juts out into the street as if it is about to fall over, and which currently houses a hat shop. 

See below for a  Brief history of Oxford (https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Oxford-City-of-Dreaming-Spires/)

Two rivers run through Oxford, the Cherwell and the Thames (Isis), and it is from this riverside situation that Oxford got its name in Saxon times, ‘Oxenaforda’ or ‘Ford of the Oxen’. In the 10th century Oxford became an important frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was also strategically important to the Normans who in 1071 built a castle there, first in timber and later in the 11th century, in stone. Oxford Castle played an important part in The Anarchy in 1142 when Matilda was imprisoned there, and later, like many other castles, was mostly destroyed during the English Civil War.
 
The University of Oxford is first mentioned in the 12th century although the exact date of its foundation is unknown. The University expanded rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris and the returning students settled in Oxford. However, in 1209 a student fled the city after apparently murdering his mistress, and the townsfolk retaliated by hanging two students. The ensuing riots resulted in some academics fleeing to nearby Cambridge and thus establishing the University of Cambridge. The relationship between “town and gown” was often uneasy – as many as 93 students and townspeople were killed in the St Scholastica Day Riot of 1355.
 

Oxford is a collegiate university, made up of 38 colleges and six permanent private halls. The oldest of Oxford’s colleges are University College, Balliol, and Merton, established sometime between 1249 and 1264. Founded by Henry VIII with Cardinal Wolsey, Christ Church is the largest Oxford college and uniquely, the Cathedral seat of Oxford. 

Map of Oxford