Oxford

Oxford Part 1.

The Museum of Natural History

A great Victorian building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward. Built 1855 - 60. Of particular interest is the central court with a glass roof supported on cast iron columns sprouting natural forms, with leaves and branches in sculptured metal. Also interesting are the arcade columns made from British stone with some lovely marbles.
Well worth a visit.

Oxford Part 2.

A second visit this year to Oxford – one of my favourite cities. An early morning (7.30am) ride into the city centre on the top deck of the P&R bus saw a weak sun lapping the towers and crocketed finials of the colleges. A surprising number of people out and about at that time of the morning.

On past visits I had not really looked properly at the buildings around the Bodleian Library, nice coloured stone with classical and gothic detailing. On one corner is the Clarendon Building by Hawksmoor (1713) – more about Nicholas Hawksmoor in a blog to come. Opposite the Clarendon Building on the other side of the road is the massive New Bodleian building by Sir Giles Scott (1935).

I always like to walk around the Covered Market which still retains some ‘proper’ shops selling food and there’s the original Cafe which does a good cup of tea and cake! Covered markets are a feature of some towns, with a host of stallholders selling things that are no longer available on the clone high streets. The market in Oxford has a timber roof but many, especially Victorian, are of Iron and Glass construction which brings me back to the Natural History Museum which I revisited.