A Trip up Magdalen Tower, and Stuff Around Oxford November 21, 2010
Posted by The Bystander in Uncategorized.trackback
Hello again, and let me start by apologizing for the 2-week hiatus. It’s getting close to the end of the term here, and I’m getting really busy with research. It’s hard for me to believe that I’ll be on American soil in less than a month–there’s so much to do between now and then. I’ll be glad to be home, but I’ll definitely feel like I’ve left a piece of myself here in Oxford.
Anyway, I wanted to do another sort of “around Oxford” kind of post for you. First, just a few general things I thought were worth a photo.
Recognize this building?
It’s called the Divinity School, and it’s part of the Bodleian Library. It was used as the Infirmary for the Harry Potter movies.
If you’ve been following my blog, you might remember this photo of a monument to three Protestants who had been martyred. The cross on Broad Street marks the site where it happened.
And in Oxford, martyrdom goes both ways.
Click the photo for a better view of the plaque.
On a lighter note, some friends and I had a chance to climb to the top of Magdalen (pronounced MAUD-len) Tower on Friday afternoon. One of my professors teaches at Magdalen College and he offered to get us in.
Magdalen is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. There is no actual “University of Oxford” per se. It’s actually a collection of over 30 different colleges like this, of anywhere from a couple hundred to over one thousand students apiece, in different places around the city. Most of their buildings are old stone structures, and many of them have some really interesting structures, like Magdalen’s Tower.
Oxford is often called the “City of Dreaming Spires” because there’s so many of these ancient towers around. Magdalen Tower is the highest one that you can get into, so I was really fortunate that my tutor was willing to take us up.
The key to get in the Tower. No joke. Until just recently, they used these gigantic keys for a lot of doors at Magdalen. Good thing they put that key ring on there--wouldn't want to lose it.
Going inside...
Spiral stone staircases get pretty tiring around the 3rd or 4th story.
Finally making it to the top, sqeezing out through the tiny door.
And we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.
A panoramic shot of Oxford, looking northwest-ish
Looking down at some of the buildings of Magdalen College
Looking down at the Magdalen quadrangle. Most colleges at Oxford have some kind of nice courtyard with grass you're not supposed to walk on. The big building in the background is where C. S. Lewis lived when he was at the University.
Looking straight down
Looking through the stone barrier
Four of us on top of the Tower
This week is Week 7 of 8 of the term. It’s crunch time. The big papers are close to being due. I’m really looking forward to being done with all the work and being able to see my family and friends again. But I’m going to miss this place a lot, along with all of the people I’ve met here.
[...] addition, a lot of buildings were opened up longer than usual. A couple weeks ago, I posted a photo of the Divinity School (at the Bodleian Library), which was the set for the infirmary and some other scenes from the Harry [...]