The mall in Oxford. It was pretty deserted at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, but would be bustling later in the day.

Saturday morning saw us getting an early start into Oxford for a nine-thirty tour of the Bodleian Library.  We signed up for the extended tour, which proved well worth the extra cost. Steph’s family was due to arrive for a visit later in the day, so she and Freya remained at home. It would’ve been difficult to manage this trip with the baby, in any case, since we went up and down many sets of stairs.

(BTW: You can click on them to enlarge most of the pictures.)

The Old Divinity School

However we got into Oxford well before the tour started, so we took some time to rectify the coffee deficit caused by getting up and leaving so early. Thus we encountered one of the more interesting contrasts in the city. Following our son’s lead, we ducked through glass doors set between a couple of probably Renaissance era buildings and found ourselves in a remarkably modern shopping mall hidden behind that façade. A stop at Costa Coffee provided fuel for the upcoming tour.

More of the ceiling.

The Bodleian Library is truly amazing. The tour begins in the old Divinity School, in the oldest examination room of the entire university.  This is a wonder of gothic architecture, so grand I took many pictures and most of them don’t begin to do it justice. The elaborately decorated ceiling has 455 bosses which feature religious symbols, monograms and shields representingbenefactors and others associated with the building.

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures in what is arguably the most interesting section, Duke Humfrey’s medieval library. It sits right above the old divinity school in one of the oldest buildings in Oxford.  The building has been lovingly and beautifully refurbished, so it looks marvelous for its age. For a book lover it’s truly a cathedral to learning.

The Bodleian Library Quadrangle

It has a remarkable collection of ancient books, the kind you’d hesitate to touch for fear they might crumble to dust in your fingers. You can ready about the history of this remarkable piece of the library here: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/docs/historybodleian.pdf . The page includes wonderful pictures of some of the old books that we were able to view.

The Radcliffe Camera

Almost as interesting to many of those on the tour with us (including ourselves) was that a section of this old part of the library was used for filming the library scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The tour then took us through a series of underground tunnels that connect most of the main buildings, including the more modern underground stacks and reading areas located under the old quadrangle, and finally into what is probably the most photographed building in all of Oxford – the Radcliffe Camera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Camera).  It’s as beautiful inside as it is out, though considerably more modern, having recently undergone a renovation and updating.

View of the Library through one of the windows of the divinity school.

Despite its impressive, stalwart façade, on a sunny day the interior is bright and cheerful due to the open plan and light from many upper windows. Once again you tend to feel like you’re in a cathedral dedicated to learning as you soak in the atmosphere.

Later in the day we met Steph’s parents and one of her sisters, visiting from Kent, and went on to the Seven Stars Pub for a lovely dinner.  I won’t detail it here, since I’m going to talk more extensively about food in my next post, but will say that none of us went away hungry, and the walk we took after the meal was quite welcome.

Freya with her parents and both sets of grandparents