This eBook was produced by Philip H Hitchcock About the online edition. Italics are represented as /italics/. THE CHARM OF OXFORD by J. WELLS, M.A. Warden of Wadham College, Oxford Illustrated by W. G. BLACKALL Second Edition (Revised) SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON KENT & CO., LTD., 4 STATIONERS' HALL COURT : : LONDON, E.C.4 Copyright First published 1920 Second edition 1921 "'Home of lost causes'--this is Oxford's blame; 'Mother of movements'--this, too, boasteth she; In the same walls, the same yet not the same, She welcomes those who lead the age-to-be." "Much have ye suffered from time's gnawing tooth, Yet, O ye spires of Oxford domes and towers, Gardens and groves, your presence overpowers The soberness of reason." WORDSWORTH. [Plate 1. Christ Church : The Cathedral from the Garden] THE CHARM OF OXFORD PREFACE There are many books on Oxford; the justification for this new one is Mr. Blackall's drawings. They will serve by their grace and charm pleasantly to recall to those who know Oxford the scenes they love; they will incite those who do not know Oxford to remedy that defect in their lives. My own letterpress is only written to accompany the drawings. It is intended to remind Oxford men of the things they know or ought to know; it is intended still more to help those who have not visited Oxford to understand the drawings and to appreciate some of the historical associations of the scenes represented. I have written quite freely, as this seemed the best way to create the "impression" wished. I have to acknowledge some obligations to Messrs. Seccombe & Scott's /Praise of Oxford/, a book the pages of which an Oxford man can always turn over with pleasure, and to Mr. J. B. Firth's /Minstrelsy of Isis/; it is not his fault that the poetic merit of so much of his collection is poor. Oxford has not on the whole been fortunate in her poets. My own quotations are more often chosen for their local colour than for their poetic merit. I have unavoidably had to borrow a good deal from my own /Oxford and its Colleges/, but the aim of the two books is very different. WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD, April 1920. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION RADCLIFFE SQUARE THE BROAD STREET BALLIOL COLLEGE MERTON COLLEGE MERTON LIBRARY ORIEL COLLEGE QUEEN'S COLLEGE NEW COLLEGE: (1) FOUNDER AND BUILDINGS NEW COLLEGE: (2) HISTORY LINCOLN COLLEGE MAGDALEN COLLEGE: (1) SITE AND BUILDINGS MAGDALEN COLLEGE: (2) HISTORY BRASENOSE COLLEGE CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE CHRIST CHURCH: (1) THE CATHEDRAL CHRIST CHURCH: (2) THE HALL STAIRCASE CHRIST CHURCH: (3) "TOM" TOWER ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE WADHAM COLLEGE: (1) THE BUILDINGS WADHAM COLLEGE: (2) HISTORY HERTFORD COLLEGE ST. EDMUND HALL IFFLEY MILL LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS