During our day trip to the lovely city of Oxford, our class
made a trip to Christ Church College. I will admit my knowledge of Oxford was vague so it made my visit much
more exciting and interesting. I had no clue that Oxford
is all about Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland. In fact I was in Oxford during the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice in Wonderland; how cool is that? I did not know that Winston Churchill hung
out there. I did not know that J.R.R.
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis liked to meet up for dinner at a pub called the Eagle and Child; this was the location of my first fish & chips experience. Yes.
Oxford is an awesome place to visit!
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| Alter at Christ Church Cathedral |
Christ Church College is chock full of a vast, fascinating
history. The college was originally planned by Cardinal Wolsey; famous for
being a chief adviser to Henry VIII. Several famous people have studied there including John
Locke, Robert Hooke and thirteen prime minsters as well.
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| Ceiling in Christ Church College Library |
Our visit to Christ Church College Library was a privileged visit ; a wonderful surprise to say the least. The library
is quite beautiful. The detail in the
building is fantastic. The ceilings are
beyond gorgeous and included detail that I was not expecting which made the experience all the more grand. The collection housed upstairs, the special collection,
is magnificent. I have never before seen
a library with so much natural light. It
was simply amazing. The shelves and
flooring are all wood. There were wooden
ladders lined along the shelves. It felt
like an old-fashioned library and it is awesome to be able to say that I have been inside. Again it was a welcomed visit and one we were
lucky to get. Thank you Maria
Franchini for allowing us to visit. It was a privilege!
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| Christ Church College Library Upper Floor |
Bits of Information
- The collection is full of early printed books and manuscripts with strength in Hebrew materials.
- The library pictured in this blog is known as The Upper Library.
- It is 150 feet long and contains 40,000 books.
- A library was first established at Christ Church in 1562. Outside the Bodleian Library, Christ Church Library has the largest collection of early printed books in Oxford.
This is just a small taste of what Christ Church is all about. You should totally take a look at this link and learn some more!
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