Oxford Walking Tour - Oxford Historical City Centre - Walk with me

I recently spent a few days in Oxford to proudly attend a graduation ceremony and then to do some dedicated writing while staying at one of the colleges. Thank you to the team at Wolfson College for such a superb stay.

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Walk with me in this video which we recorded late on a September afternoon in 2022.

We start our Oxford historical city centre walking tour together at University Parks just to the north of the city centre. Walk through the park and along Parks Road to pass Keeble College and arrive at the end of Broad Street by the King's Arms public house across the road from the Weston Library.

Take care to cross over Holywell Street and over to Cattle Street. This takes us past the Sheldonian Theatre just behind the railings to our right, and on our left the glorious Bridge of Sighs just inside New College Lane.

To our right now we pass the imposing structure of the Bodleian Library. When the double oak doors are open you can step through the archway and into the courtyard. Ahead of you is the statue of the Earl of Pembroke.

With the statue behind you, leave the courtyard by the covered walkway and out into Radcliffe Square. The Radcliffe Camera and Library is immediately in front of you now in the centre of the square, and across to your right is Brasenose College. Walk around the Library building either to left or right and you are facing the church of St Mary the Virgin.

Take the alleyway to the left of the church, still part of Cattle Street and this will bring you out on to High Street with the Old Bank Hotel immediately across the rad. Turn right here and stay on the pavement.

After several hundred yards, the first turn on your right is Turl Street, an old street which has Brasenose College grounds to your right and a variety of shops (stationers, outfitters, whisky shop and wine merchants, as well as the excellent Missing Bean coffee shop on the left. At the first crossing Brasenose Lane is on your right and this would take you back to the Radcliffe Camera and Library, but we turn left here on to Market Street, and walk down this to reach Cornmarket Street.

At Cornmarket take a right turn and walk past the amazing building above Pret and take the first right to walk onto Ship Street. At the corner here is the medieval church of St Michael at the North Gate. At the end of Ship Street turn left onto Turl Street. This takes you very quickly onto Broad Street.

Across the road is Balliol College. Walk left and keep Balliol on your right. In the road in front of Balliol College you will see a sunken cross. Long ago Broad Street was built along the lines of the ditch which ran along this part of the ancient town. The Martyrs' Cross marks the place where three Protestant bishops, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, and Thomas Cranmer, were burned at the stake under Queen Mary for refusing to renounce their Protestant faith. If you want to enjoy an early evening Ghost Walk around Oxford city centre, then you can check the timetable for Oxford Ghost Walks by the gates to the right of Balliol College.

At the end of Broad Street we reach the graveyard of St Mary Magdalen. Walk around this, keeping it to your right and you reach the site of the Martyrs' Memorial before we walk back on the far side of the church and reach Broad Street again. Just a helpful side note here - with the Martyrs' Memorial is to your immediate right - to your left is the corner of the Randolph Hotel and opposite that on Beaumont Street is the excellent Ashmolean Museum. We love the Ashmolean for the tremendous displays of artefacts including the Alfred Jewel, one of the most celebrated objects surviving from Anglo-Saxon England. On the rooftop of the Ashmolean is the superb terrace cafe and restaurant.

Walk back down Broad Street, passing Balliol a second time. Stay on this left hand pavement and you reach the famous and cosy White Horse pub with outside tables. Blackwells Music Shop and Book Shop are now on your left.

Cross the road and walk through the gates in front of you to walk around the Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Christopher Wren, architect of St Pauls Cathedral in London.

Cross the courtyard heading toward the Bridge of Sighs and turn left briefly on Cattle Street, taking the right turn onto Holywell Street. Walk down here for about two hundred yards and then turn right into a small cobbled courtyard. This is Bath Yard.

Walk towards the end and you will see a narrow passageway marked for the Turf Tavern. Head down this and you are in the back yard of the tavern itself. Follow the path past the pub and round to the right. The alleyway brings you back onto New College Lane and the Bridge of Sighs.

By now you know exactly where you are!

Thanks for walking with me.