Oxford: a great seat of learning, of celebration and rivalries and of much controversy. How better to ingest this varied history than by staying in college bed and breakfast accommodation in the centre of this ancient City.
Adorned with architecturally elegant colleges, libraries and bridges spanning the river Cherwell, the ancient University city of Oxford exudes a sense of settled accomplishment and tempered yet pioneering learning. Whilst this is what attracts visitors from far and wide to this ancient city, today some of the colleges are allowing guests to scratch a little deeper by offering bed and breakfast accommodation in some of the 39 bastions of academia and gothic masterpieces.
It is within the heart of this city that you can get a real sense of its long and chequered past. As the first British university, it is actually said to have spawned its long-term rival Cambridge, after two of its scholars were hanged for the murder of a local woman and the resulting dispute between town and university caused a group of scholars to flee to the fens and set up in an existing school on the Cam. It was another dispute with the town that almost led to its downfall with the University supporting the Royals rather than Parliament in the Civil War. In the end it was only saved by, of all people, Oliver Cromwell who rejected the Puritan calls for closure as its expression of intellectual thought was deemed 'dangerous to religious belief'. Since then the university has understandably avoided taking an official political position. The same cannot be said for its alumni which boasts 25 Prime Ministers, 25 other world leaders, 12 Saints and 20 Archbishops of Canterbury amongst its other famous writers, scientists and inventors.
And all would have appreciated the beauty and serenity of the town, whether it was walking in the 74 acres of The Parks next to the Cherwell (and maybe catching some First Class cricket for free); seeing a play at Sir Christopher Wren's Sheldonian theatre; taking one of the 8 million books off the 117 miles of shelves of the Bodleian Library; or just appreciating the finer details of one of Oxford's 38 Grade 1 listed buildings.
With the collegiate aspect of Oxford so important, there are fierce rivalries that exist whether its an architectural comparison of respective colleges or the perhaps more brazen rivalries on the sports field. The last of these to flare up was at the 2006 Rugby Cupper Final where the spectators got distracted from the game by a fight between the mascots, with the Pink Pembroke Panther and the St Peter's Squirrel having to be pulled apart. But all is forgotten by the time of the May Morning celebrations, where graduating students follow the tradition of jumping into the Cherwell - however low the water!
And why not be part of one of these historic colleges whilst visiting Oxford? You cannot escape the sense of history if staying in Balliol (possibly even in Harold Macmillan or Herbert Asquith's old room); nor can you avoid the peace and serenity of the beautiful quads at Keble; and fans of architecture and film will both appreciate the Palladian setting of the Golden Compass at Queens College.
The joy of waking up in one of these ancient colleges is hard to forget and this is why the Oxford bed and breakfast service is such a unique way of experiencing the city. You can literally become part of a college for your time there and sample the history first hand in this extraordinary City.
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