While I was thinking about where to take you in this coffee break, the most obvious idea popped into my mind: Oxford. I’ve been living here for 3 years, and I feel I know many of its corners and its stories. That’s why I probably took it for granted assuming that you also know it so well. Surely Oxford is an extraordinary place. Walking in the streets, I always fly back in time, and find myself in an enchanted world. Medieval times come to life, or you suddenly are in the middle of movies’ and books’ scenes. What’s more, you can even get into a literary discussion with famous writers in a pub, symbolically.
Oxford has a thousand faces, which I intend to present in a series. Not in a thousand chapters though! 🙂 So one of the faces is the literature and movies. Which books, movies were inspired by Oxford? Where can we find these remarkable places? Who have created anything noteworthy here? Let’s start our journey to the land of literature and movies.
J. R. R. Tolkien & C. S. Lewis
The Eagle & Child pub
The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, invented languages, exceptionally precise maps of fairytale lands, and the list goes on… J. R. R. Tolkien’s name is intertwined with Oxford. He studied (in the Exeter College), taught (in the Merton College), lived, wrote, drank beer and is even buried here. My first Tolkien-related experience was visiting the Eagle & Child pub. He met his fellow writers there to read and discuss literature. They were called the “Inklings”, and among other great writers, Tolkien and his close friend, C. S. Lewis were also members. They were all literary enthusiasts in favour of the importance of the narratives in fiction, as well as the genre of fantasy. Let’s just think about The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia…fantasy world at its best!
The famous pub is a few-minute walk from the city centre. It has a narrow interior due to the low ceiling and the elongated arrangement. One of its rooms is where the writers discoursed. Here, there are manuscripts, old photos of the members, and a plaque on the wall. It’s such a cosy feeling to sit in this commemorative corner. Musing about who were sitting on the same benches 70-80 years ago while having a pint! What fiery, literature-heated arguments and exchange of ideas must have been there! What noble ideas must have been born back then, the outcomes of which are read and watched enthusiastically even today!
Residence in life and in death
Heading from the pub to the north, we can find Tolkien’s house. Don’t expect much though. I wouldn’t necessarily guess that a famous writer lived there if the blue plaque didn’t tell so. I liked C. S. Lewis’ house more, also for its neighbourhood. It’s a 5-10-minute walk from me, and right next to a nature reserve with a forest and lakes, which, by the way, was named after him.
Tolkien’s grave is to the north from his house. It lies on the border of Oxford and Wolvercote in an everyday cemetery. However, the grave of C. S. Lewis lies in a very old graveyard which surrounds a little stone church. I discovered it accidentally while strolling around Old Headington with a friend. Our way led through this churchyard, and we saw the sign.
Oxford as an inspiration
They say that the Wytham forest near Oxford inspired Tolkien. And those giant rugged trees are the speaking treegiants from The Lord of the Rings. Moreover, the famous wardrobe door in The Chronicles of Narnia was inspired by the door in St. Mary’s passage. It also holds two fauns similar to Mr. Tumnus. Oh and the lamp-post nearby plays an important role in the movie: it’s the beginning of Narnia. Lewis lived in the Magdalen College, where animal statues made of stone decorate the cloister. They could inspire the human-animals that were frozen into stone.
Alice in Wonderland
Alice’s story probably doesn’t need an introduction. The story is rather crazy: Alice shrinks, grows, gets into absurd situations, chats with strange creatures and has tea with them. Though reading it as an adult didn’t bring me the awaited joy, I wouldn’t ever want to take its fame and value away. The special thing about it is that Alice really existed, and the author, Lewis Carroll met her in person. Carroll started as a student in the Christ Church College in Oxford, then became a lecturer there. So starts their story in that very place.
But don’t think it’s a love story! Alice Liddell was the 10-year-old daughter of the dean of the college, and the tutor was a good family friend. When they all went on a boat trip, he told the story of Alice to Alice and her sisters. The story was about a little girl who kept looking for adventures to fight boredom. The real Alice loved these stories so much that she asked Lewis (born as Charles Lutwidge Dodgeson) to write them down. So was Alice in Wonderland born.
Oxford as an inspiration
First, there is a little green door in the garden of Christ Church, which is meant to be the entrance of Wonderland. There is also a tall tree nearby which is the favourite place of the continuously grinning Cheshire cat. After that, we find some more inspirations when entering the Great Dining Hall (about which we hear later, too): such as the firedogs resembling of two women with long necks. They might have inspired the long-necked Alice. Moreover, there are some further motives from the stained glass windows as well. There is also a stained glass window dedicated to Alice Liddell and to Dodgson in the Cathedral.
Leaving Christ Church behind, we may pay a visit to Alice’s shop on the other side of the street. Perfect place to look for Alice souvenirs. In this shop, we also find ourselves in the Old Sheep’s Shop from the Through the Looking-Glass, the continuation of Alice in Wonderland. Finally, the Natural History Museum presents us the famous Dodo which has been extinct for a long time but comes to life once again in the Wonderland.
In case you need some more Alice experience, visit the Story Museum. There is an Alice Room which definitely helps leaving the real world behind. At the end of the day, we can then go to the Madhatter pub to sip some Alice-themed cocktails and dance our way into the Wonderland. However, first we need to answer the riddle at the entrance. Otherwise the entry is denied!
The real Alice fans should plan their visit to Oxford around 6th July 2019, for the Alice Day. There are various programs all over the city: people wearing quirky costumes, games, picnic, afternoon tea at the Madhatter and lots of other crazy fun stuff.
Harry Potter
I already mentioned that I always feel myself in a magical world when walking in Oxford. Especially, when you enter behind the walls of the colleges! You’re not in Oxford anymore but in Hogwarts 🙂 If someone doesn’t know Harry Potter: Hogwarts is where the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is, where Harry and his friends went. Everything is given: the old spired school buildings with great dining halls, libraries, dormitories, study rooms. Only a gown and a wand are needed to the completeness.
Oxford as an inspiration
Let’s start with the Christ Church, we already know from Alice. As we’re taking the stairs to the great dining hall, we’re walking on the exact same steps, on top of which McGonagall first greeted Harry, Ron and Hermione in the movie.
Then we enter the dining hall, which inspired the great dining hall of Hogwarts in the film studio.
After this, we’re heading to the Bodleian Library in the heart of the city. Here, in the Divinity School, where students defended their thesis works some time ago, Harry was recovering from his first big fight against Voldemort. This was the Infirmary.
In another part of the Bodleian, in the Duke Humpfrey Library, which can be visited only with a guided tour, Harry walked under his invisibility cloak. He tried to steal a book from the Hogwarts library. Finally, the tree in the New College garden was in the Goblet of Fire: where Harry and Malfoy met face-to-face ready for a fight. But before anything could happen, Mad-Eye Moody dropped a spell on Malfoy, who turned into a ferret.
Other series
I don’t know how well-know the series of Inspector Morse at home. It has huge cult here, and many of its scenes were shot in Oxford. As I don’t really know this series, didn’t care much about exploring these places. However, there is one I definitely know about: the Trout Inn in Wolvercote. It’s a nice restaurant/inn with pleasant atmosphere on the river bank (according to my Mum, too 🙂 ). Wolvercote is a village right next to Oxford, by the way.
Apart from this, numerous littles villages of Oxfordshire appear in the series Midsomer murders. I personally don’t watch it either, but if someone’s interested, then visit Henley-on-Thames, Wallingford, Dorchester-on-Thames, Thame, and Watlington. Apparently, these are the 5 most important places.
Finally, a new series from 2018 with vampires and witches, A discovery of witches is also set in Oxford. Some scenes were also filmed here. I watched one episode to see if I recognise the places (I did some); however, it didn’t catch me as a series. But if you’re a fan, you would enjoy looking for the places appearing in it.
I think the above list is an excellent proof how special place Oxford is. Many writers found their place here and got inspired of it. Moreover, the city’s stunning buildings, colleges, streets, pubs meant great inspiration for the filmmakers, too, and plenty of scenes have been shot here. The literature and the movies play such an important role here, that the tourism builds on them, too. We can join several guided tours depending on our mood and taste in genre. So if you’re happen to be a fan of literature and movies, then don’t hesitate for a moment about your next destination. Oxford is calling!
But there is much more to Oxford than this. This is only one of its thousand faces. Come with me in the next posts to learn even more of them.