from the archives (2018)
July 9, 2018: It’s my last week in Oxford and I’ve been making progress in visiting as many colleges as possible. I’m not sure many places in the world have this variety of ecclesiastical architecture in such a small space and the thrill is that you never know what you’re going to find. There’s a uniformity in the plan but in everything else there’s variety and that is wonderful.
July 10, 2018: Yesterday was another hot and dry day in Oxford so I headed out on my bicycle to look around more colleges. I have now visited all of the ancient colleges and a fair chunk of the ‘modern’ establishments. It would be difficult (impossible) to choose a favourite chapel but some do appeal to me more than others, in particular Exeter and Keble for their outlandish Victorian fantasy. There’s also Worcester which is similarly Victorian but to a design by Hawksmoor, somewhere between Baroque and Arts & Crafts. Then there’s the medieval beauty of Brasenose and Magdalen and Merton which cannot be ignored, these are quiet places which inspire awe. Oxford must surely have one of the finest collections of ecclesiastical architecture in such a small space in the world and yet, so few people venture inside the colleges to take a look.
Scroby Elbow 