Oxford, medieval walled town and heritage city.
OXFORD CITY TRAIL, secrets in the landscape
(Oxfordshire Geology Trust) £2
12 page folding pocket booklet 11X24cm, in full colour. 16 plates, 5 maps
and figures. An introduction to the geology of the city of Oxford including
Headington (Quarries and stone walls) and the city centre (Magdalen College,
the High Street and St Michael’s Tower). Building materials include local
limestone from Headington but stone was also brought in from quarries in
the Cotswolds, including from Burford and Chipping Norton.
OXFORD: THE MEDIEVAL WALLED TOWN Jacqueline Tivers
ISBN 978-0-948444-28-9 Thematic Trails 1994
£2.95
40 pages. 11 figures. 7 photos. A circular walk follows the line of Oxford’s
medieval wall. By the end of the walk, both a feeling and an understanding
of the size and nature of the medieval town are evoked.
| Locally you can buy these booklets Oxford: The Medieval Walled Town and Oxford Architecture at: St Michael at the Northgate Visitor Reception Centre, Cornmarket, Oxford |
ERIC
GILL in OXFORD Sophie Huxley
ISBN 978-0-9522671-3-3 Huxley Scientific Press 2011.
28 pages (A5) and 14 illustrations by Edith Gollnast. £4.95
“Eric Gill (1882-1940) is an important and controversial figure in
twentieth –century British arts and crafts. He was a complex man,
holding deeply religious views while leading a scandalous private life”.
With these words Sophie Huxley opens her graphic account of Eric Gill’s
life and the inner contradictions of his character that often infused
his art. There then follows descriptions and illustrations of over
twenty locations in Oxford and district where much of Eric Gill’s work
can be examined. One example, the plain inscription ‘Playhouse’, must
have been seen by thousands as they walk down Beaumont Street without
knowing its origin. This paragraph is written in Gill Sans.
OXFORD TREES Sophie Huxley
ISBN 978-0-9522671-1-9 Huxley Scientific Press
2009 £3.95
38 pages, with 12 attractive and sensitive black and white illustrations
by Steve Empson. A map identifies most of the relevant colleges of central
Oxford. This convenient, pocket-sized (12cm x 18cm) booklet, guides the
interested observer on a trail of discovery, drawing attention to the wide
array of interesting trees to be found in this relatively small urban environment.
Many of the trees are located in College gardens with restricted opening
times so that planning may be needed if you hope to cover the full range
of trees identified. The account is admirably comprehensive, with historic
detail on the origins of many of the trees encountered, and spiced with
well-selected prose, poetry and quotes. A good read on foot or even curled
up in your armchair.
OXFORD ECOLOGY, a walk on the wild side Janet
Keene.
ISBN 978-0-948444-14-2 Thematic Trails 1988.
£2.95
40 pages, 32 illustrations. A circular walk in central Oxford visits a variety
of habitats demonstrating how plants and animals can exploit what is seemingly
the most unpromising of environments, a modern city. A final reference section
highlights environmental factors and processes which influence wildlife
in towns.
DISCOVERING OXFORD'S GREEN PLACES Susan Antrobus
and Janet Keene.ISBN 978-0-948444-21-0 Thematic Trails 1991-2002.
£2.95
44 pages. 65 illustrations. A guide to Oxford City’s hidden countryside
including walks around six green sites where nature thrives in an urban
setting. The guide draws attention to the diverse wildlife to be found within
the city’s boundary. Green sites visited include: Grandpont, Holywell Cemetery,
Chilswell Valley, Rock Edge, Lye Valley and Spindleberry Park.
UNIVERSITY ARCHITECTURE: AN OXFORD WALK Jeanne
Sheehy
ISBN 978-0-948444-11-1 Thematic Trails 1988.
£1.50
40 pp. 29 illustrations. This guide encourages the recognition of a range
of architectural styles as a vehicle for learning something of architectural
history of the core of the University of Oxford. Architectural history and
urban renewal are discussed.
TAMING THE RIVERS OF OXFORD Derek Elsom
ISBN 978-0-948444-08-1 Thematic Trails 1987.
£2.95
42 pages. 27 illustrations. An Oxford riverside
walk which draws attention to the uneasy relationship between the City and
its rivers. Past floods are recalled and the extent to which the rivers
have been tamed and flooding curbed in Oxford are critically considered.
You will discover further "Rivers in Flood" booklets HERE
STORIES OF OXFORD CASTLE,from dungeon to dunghill
Mark Davies
ISBN 978-0-9535593-3-6 Oxford Towpath Press 2005-6,
£6.99
144 pages, 16 illustrations and maps. Against the background of the castle
itself and of the prison, the stories revealed here of imprisonment, transportation,
escape and execution shed a new light on the enthralling history of this
major Oxford landmark. The stories also expose in dramatic and often touching
detail the social conditions which caused so many Oxfordshire citizens to
experience the insides of Oxford Castle Prison in the first place.
A TOWPATH WALK IN OXFORD, the Canal and River Thames
between Wolvercote and the City Mark Davies and Catherine Robinson
ISBN 978-0-9535593-1-2 Oxford Towpath Press 2003.
£5.99
102 pages including good illustrations and maps. “Beautifully done, a model
of its kind.” Margaret Drabble. “A remarkable compendium of historical fact
and fiction… equally readable as a practical walk guide or as a history
book..” Canal Boat & Inland Waterways magazine. “At times like a pilgrimage,
at times like a historical pub crawl … the perfect combination.” Oxford
Times Limited Edition magazine.
The book takes the reader on a near circular walk – approximately seven miles, plus optional detours, with conveniently spaced pubs – along the Oxford Canal and back up the River Thames.
THE OXFORD SCIENCE WALK Sophie Huxley
Illustrations by Edith Gollnast
ISBN 978-0-9522671-0-2 Huxley Scientific Press
1993, 2006. £3.00
Size; 12cm by 21cm. 22 pages. 16 pen & ink illustrations. A two-hour walk
in central Oxford introduces the close association of so many places in
Oxford with the development of Science from the 13th century to the present
day. The commentary, at ease with the walker, draws attention to many sites
which will inevitably pull visitors back to spend more time exploring the
wealth of interest in the city centre.
DARWIN’S MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS, a medical puzzle unsolved for 150 years. Robert Youngston
ISBN 978-0-9522671-2-6 15 pages (A5). Huxley Scientific Press, Oxford. 2010. £3.50.
“Shortly after my return from my long voyage, I had a tedious and severe illness, and I have never since recovered my strength and suppose I never shall.” (Charles Darwin 4 July 1847).
“For nearly forty years he never knew one day of the health of ordinary men, and thus his life was one long struggle against weariness and strain of sickness.” (Francis Darwin circa 1884).
Robert Youngston (Consultant ophthalmic surgeon and specialist in tropical medicine) examines the evidence and comes to a surprising conclusion.
Heritage Tours Publications
A set of pocket-size (10x21cm) booklets designed for the intelligent, inquisitive visitor and residents of Oxford who take pleasure in exploring the detail of the city overlooked by the casual tourist.
OXFORD SCULPTURE Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-8744361-27-5 Heritage Tours Publications
2009 £4
38 pages, 170 colour illustrations and map.
An illustrated guide to nearly 1000 years of Oxford’s stone and wood architectural
carving, church and chapel memorials, monumental brasses and public sculpture,
from Norman times to the present.
OXFORD OF J.R.R. TOLKEIN AND C.S.LEWIS Revd
Dr Jeanette Sears
ISBN 978-1-874361-22-0. Heritage Tours Publications
2006. £3.00
32 pages. 40 black and white illustrations and map. A guided walk round
the centre of Oxford, visiting places with connections to Tolkein, Lewis
and the other Inklings.
THE OXFORD COLLEGE by Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-16-9 Heritage Tours Publications 2002.
£3.00
44 pages 65 black and white illustrations. A guide to twelve of the most
interesting colleges of the University of Oxford, describing their history,
unique character and splendid buildings.
OXFORD’S CHURCHES, CHAPELS & CATHEDRAL Philip
Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-14-5 Heritage Tours Publications
2000. £5.00
44 pages. 111 colour illustrations. This guide traces the history of architecture
through some of the finest religious buildings in England.
OXFORD WATERWAYS Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-18-3 Heritage Tours Publications
2006. £5.00
36 pages 39 colour illustrations. A history and guide to the River Thames
at Oxford, the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal. Including riverside
walks and map guide.
OXFORD LIBRARIES, ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY AND PICTORIAL
RECORD Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-17-6 Heritage Tours Publications
2004. £5.00
44 pages 100 colour illustrations. Libraries are the intellectual storehouse
of every university. Oxford, the oldest English university, owns about ten
million volumes, as well as a large number of manuscripts, maps, literary
and scientific papers. The buildings in which they are kept are the subject
of this booklet.
THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Philip
Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-21-3 Heritage Tours Publications.
2007 £3.95
34 pages. 55 colour illustrations plus maps. Oxford University does
not have a self-contained campus. Most of the University facilities are
spread around the city, integrated with commercial and domestic developments.
However, in one area, just off the High Street, a magnificent group of buildings
form the Heart of the University. This pocket-size guide (10.5 cm X 21 cm)
examines that area, describing the history and architecture of the buildings
and the urban space they create.
OXFORD GARDENS, meadows and parks
Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-20-6 Heritage Tours Publications.
2007 £3.95
38 pages. 69 colour illustrations and 7 engravings and fold-out map. The
gardens of the University of Oxford are amongst the great treasures of the
city. More than half the land within the boundaries of the city is green
open space and the public have access to over 400 separate sites. In this
pocket-size guide (10.5 cm X 21 cm) some of the most interesting and delightful
sites are illustrated and introduced in depth.
ALICE AND LEWIS CARROLL Deborah Manley
ISBN 978-1-874361-02-2 Heritage Tours Publications
1991. £3.00
32 pages. 22 illustrations. Some of the physical locations that provided
inspiration for Alice in Wonderland are explored. A guided walk following
in the footsteps of Alice Lidell, Charles Dodgson and Isa Bowman.
POETS, NOVELISTS AND OTHER LITERARY PERSONS
Deborah Manley & Philip Opher.
ISBN 978-1-874361-04-6 Heritage Tours Publications
1994.£1.50
36 pages. 24 illustrations. Three walks in the footsteps of poets & authors
who lived in and wrote about the city.
PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS & OTHER POLITICAL PERSONS
Deborah Manley and Philip Opher.
ISBN 978-1-874361-06-0 Heritage Tours Publications 1994.
£1.50
36 pages. 21 illustrations. Walks around Oxford in the footsteps of politicians
who lived in the city and university, including: Clement Attlee, Jeremy
Bentham, Benazir Bhutto, Charles I, Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, Desirerus
Erasmus, John Fulbright, Indira Ghandi, William Gladstone, Edward Heath,
Roy Jenkins, T.E. Lawrence, Harold Macmillan, Dom Mintoff, William Morris,
Lester Pearson. William Penn, William Pitt, John Ruskin, Margaret Thatcher,
John Wesley, Harold Wilson, Thomas Wolsey, John Wyclif.
THE HIGH: one of the world's greatest streets
Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-07-7 Heritage Tours Publications
1993. £1.50
32 pages. 36 illustrations.A guided walk: Magdalen Bridge to Carfax looking
at colleges and domestic buildings which line this beautiful street.
STAINED GLASS Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-08-4 Heritage Tours Publications 1994.£4.50
32 pages. 40 colour photos. Tours some of the best church and chapel glass
in England. Design, meaning and manufacture are discussed.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OXFORD Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-13-8 Heritage Tours Publications 1997.
£3.00
36 pages. 37 illustrations. A guide giving a clear, simple understanding
of how and why Oxford grew into such a beautiful, varied, but also sometimes
an infuriating, inconvenient and secretive place.
OXFORD MODERN by Philip Opher
ISBN 978-1-874361-15-2 Heritage Tour Publication 2001. £4.00
40 pages 89 colour photographs. A guide to the new architecture of the city
and University.
WOMEN IN OXFORD Deborah Manley
ISBN 978-1-874361-12-1 Heritage Tours Publications 1997.
£3.00
35 pages 47 illustrations. Three walks following the footsteps of
the remarkable women of Oxford who have made their mark over a thousand
years of the city’s history.