Meeting up at Carfax Tower
We have the Reverend Carteret Fletcher to thank for saving Carfax Tower. Since the 13th century, this landmark building has stood at Oxford’s central crossroads, themselves the final confluence for…
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Looking for Gerald
If there isn’t already a grotesques and gargoyles tour of Oxford there really should be. Characterful stone carvings celebrating all of life from monsters to mermaids, demons to dragons, professors…
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Free Triton
You might catch a glimpse of his imposing figure from the window of your carriage as you chug past Oxford on the Cherwell Valley Line from Banbury to Didcot. Walking…
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Tambours, Grilles and Unicorns
When I was researching Oxford tokens for a previous ‘Sausage’ post, I came across a coin that had been struck in the mid 17th century with the sign of a…
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Bathing in Paradise
On Thursday 2nd May 1922, The Illustrated Oxford Journal reported the opening of new public baths in Paradise Square, St Ebbe’s. ‘The baths should fulfil a long felt need in…
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The Destroy Keble Society
I find it hard to understand why the architecture of Keble College has aroused such animosity. I pass it regularly on my route to the University Parks, and I love…
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At the Sign of the Three Blackbirds
Imagine if you could design your own currency. Decide on an image to represent you, pop in your initials, a date and a pretty border, make the die, and then…
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Sarah Cooper and her jars of sunshine
One of the regular activities that perks me up as I claw my way through dull grey January is marmalade making. A couple of weeks into the New Year, crates…
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John Towle and his paper house
Take one look at the faded photograph of the charming villa above and you might think this a story about Oxford house prices. Far from it. It’s the tale of…
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The Ghost Signs of Oxford
Contributing photographer John Milnes has been out on his bicycle collecting pictures of Oxford’s ghost signs. Here he explains his fascination with these spectres from a bygone age. I’ve been…
