A Bibliophile’s Visit to Oxfordshire – List of places with
literary connections
For centuries one of only two seats of higher education, Oxford has
shaped many writers - of both fact and fiction. This list suggests just a few
interesting locations with literary connections.
Our online shop stocks a host of helpful publications including Oxford's
Famous Faces, Oxford Rogues and Women in Oxford.
Tolkien’s Tree
Why not take a literary
themed
Oxford Official Guided Walking
Tour, e.g. one focused on CS Lewis and Tolkien, Alice, William Morris and
the Pre-Raphaelites, Harry
Potter, Morse/Lewis or Children's Stories
including Philip Pullman's
'Lyra' books.
You can also discover some famous literary connections at the Museum of
Oxford.
Please see also 'Bibliophile's Oxford', a day's itinerary on foot in Oxford
city, and the ‘Alice in Oxford’
Factsheet on our website.
Dylan Thomas’ summerhouse
For some of these places the Landranger series of maps No’s 164 and
be helpful, along with a good road atlas. And a
surrounding maps would
bike?
Oxford
Bodleian Library
Look for the 9 new carvings high on the wall, including the Dodo, Tweedledum and
Tweedledee, Aslan and Three Men in a Boat, the winning entries in a design competition for
schoolchildren, organised jointly by the Bodleian and Oxford Preservation Trust.
Botanic Garden, High Street
Sit under the black pine, Tolkien's favourite tree, or on Will and Lyra's bench.
Broad Street
Find the cross in the ground opposite Balliol College where Thomas Cranmer, creator of
the Book of Common Prayer, was martyred. Visit the University Church of St Mary the
Virgin where the 3 Protestant martyrs were tried.
= Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com Christ Church Meadow
Stroll round the Meadow when all is tranquil at dusk, just before it closes. You may see
rabbits, including white ones… watch where you step…
Exeter College, Turl Street
Exeter College is the site of Inspector Morse's 'death'. Stand on the pavement outside Jesus
College to avoid bikes. Spot the name of Marilyn Butler, Professor of English Literature, and
first female Head of a former all-male college, carved on the college wall. (Clue - look at the
carvings to the right of the entrance - what letters do they begin with?)
High Street or Bardwell Road
Hire a punt for the quintessential Oxford experience on the rivers Cherwell or Isis (if you're
very confident). TE Lawrence ('Lawrence of Arabia') once took a punt down the
underground Trill Mill Stream which emerges at Christ Church Meadow. 'Tis said a punt
containing 2 skeletons was once discovered in the darkness. Not recommended.
Holy Trinity churchyard, Headington Quarry
CS Lewis’ grave
Holywell Cemetery, Holywell Street
Visit the graves of Kenneth Grahame, Kenneth Tynan (theatre critic), and Thomas Randall,
Alderman and hatter, probably the model for The Mad Hatter. This is the wonderful
cemetery 'belonging to' the University Church of St Mary. Look over the back wall to see
the 'summerhouse' where Dylan Thomas and family stayed, courtesy of the historian AJP
Taylor's wife, Margaret, one of his patrons.
Jericho
In Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure Oxford is depicted as Christminster and Jericho as
Beersheba, a poor, working class area. Try to see St Barnabas' church if you can.
The Oxford Canal, Hythe Bridge Street
Philip Pullman's 'Lyra' books feature folk who live on the Oxford Canal. Walk as far as you
like….to Coventry???
Perch Pub
Look for the riverside line of rare black poplars whose felling so distressed GM Hopkins.
Now replanted by Oxford City Council. (Hurrah)
= Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com Port Mahon pub, St Clement's
Have a drink in Dylan Thomas' watering hole. The pub hosts both folk nights and Scibar
(informal science talks).
River Thames – downstream
See the riverbanks where Ratty and Mole so enjoyed 'messing about in boats'.
River Thames – upstream
Relax on an Edwardian river cruiser gently travelling upstream to Port Meadow where
Charles Dodgson rowed the real Alice, her sisters and governess.
St Michael at the North Gate, Cornmarket Street
See the font where Shakespeare's (hem) godson, William Davenant, who became Poet
Laureate and Orlando Gibbons (the composer) were christened.
Wolvercote Cemetery, Banbury Road
Tolkien and his wife's graves
Oxford colleges – listed below are a few literary alumni
Balliol College
Brasenose College
Christ Church
Exeter College
Hertford College
Jesus College
St John's College
University College
Magdalen College
Merton College
New College
Oriel College
Pembroke College
Somerville College
St Hilda's College
St John's College
University College
John Wyclif, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Swinburne, Graham Greene,
Aldous Huxley
William Golding, John Buchan
John (also Lincoln College) & Charles Wesley, Charles Dodgson
Philip Pullman, Martin Amis, Alan Bennett, JRR Tolkien, William
Morris, Burne Jones
Evelyn Waugh, John Donne and Jonathan Swift
TE Lawrence (also All Souls)
Robert Graves, AE Housman, Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis
PB Shelley. This college is not normally open to the public.
Oscar Wilde, Julian Barnes, CS Lewis, John Betjeman
TSE Eliot
John Fowles, John Galsworthy, the Revd Spooner
Sir Walter Raleigh
Samuel Johnson
Dorothy Sayers, Vera Brittain, Iris Murdoch
Barbara Pym
Robert Graves, AE Housman, Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis
PB Shelley. This college is not normally open to the public.
= Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com Oxfordshire
Adelstrop
Edward Thomas' poignant poem is inscribed on the GWR railway seat alongside the station
name, in the village bus shelter. Jane Austen stayed here with her uncle who was rector.
Walk from Adelstrop to Chastleton House (NT). Or vice versa?
Beckely
Evelyn Waugh would take up residence in Beckley, both to drink with the locals and to write
free of distractions.
Bladon Church
Burial place of Sir Winston Churchill. His best-known works are The Second World War (6
vols) and History of the English Speaking Peoples (4 vols)
Blenheim Palace
Sir Winston Churchill's birthplace
Cottisford
Drive to Cottisford ('Candleford') and sit in 'Laura's' church pew, opposite the door, and
under the war memorial which commemora among others, Flora Thompson's beloved
brother, Edwin Timms. Follow Laura's footsteps home from school and walk to Juniper Hill.
Enstone and Church Enstone
Lifting the Latch, the gripping account of Mont Abbot’s life as shepherd at the turn of the 19th
Century, is set in and around Enstone. Mont Abbot is buried in Church Enstone graveyard;
his shepherd's crook and the family 'shitty scoop' for clearing their cess pit are displayed in
Woodstock Museum.
Eweleme
Jerome K Jerome is buried in the church yard. Geoffrey Chaucer's granddaughter, Alice,
built the church, school and almshouses after her husband's death and endowed them so
cunningly that even Henry VIII could not misappropriate the funds. The school is still
flourishing as the oldest continuously functioning school building in the country. Teas may be
on offer there. Don't miss the watercress beds, currently under restoration.
Finstock
Barbara Pym, a fine novelist mainly appreciated after her death, lived here and is buried in
the churchyard. = Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com Fringford
Where Flora Thompson was employed at the Post Office cum Forge which still stands near
the village green. Download our free leaflet about these places from our website.
Garsington
Garsington Manor was the home of Lady Ottoline Morrell, literary hostess and the
inspiration for DH Lawrence's character, Hermione Roddice, in Women in Love - to her
great annoyance. She may also have been the inspiration for Lady Chatterley.
Henley
River and Rowing Museum. Kids will love the 3-D recreations of the Wind in the Willows
characters. Try your hand at rowing a trireme.
Islip
Robert Graves, poet and author of I, Claudius, lived at World's End. Islip is the birthplace of
Edward the Confessor, the last King of England prior to the Norman invasion of 1066.
Juniper Hill
('Larkrise') - the isolated hamlet whose cottages and inhabitants are so vividly recalled in
Flora Thompson's Larkrise to Candleford.
Kelmscott Manor near Faringdon
The idyllic summer home of William Morris, craftsman, designer, printer, author. Admire the
paintings of Morris' wife, Janey by Rossetti, tapestries, embroideries and hangings. Check
opening times. Works by the Pre-Raphaelite artists Rossetti and Burne Jones are part of the
Faringdon Collection at nearby Buscot Park (NT).
Nettlebed
Home of the Fleming Family who still lives thereabouts. Ian Fleming created the James Bond
books and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Nuneham Courtenay
The model village lining the A4074 replaces the old village which spoilt the view of 'the big
house'. Its relocation is commemorated in Oliver Goldsmith's regretful The Deserted
Village.
Pope's Tower, Stanton Harcourt
This 54 ft high tower belongs to the private chapel of Harcourt Manor. The first Viscount
Harcourt lent it to his friend, Alexander Pope, to complete his translation of Homer's Iliad.
= Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com River Thames
Books inspired by or featuring the river include Three Men in a Boat , the Wind in the
Willows, the Alice stories, The History of Mr Polly. Hobbs of Henley hire out powered day
boats to help you explore the river's hidden byways. They also offer scheduled river trips or
2-hour sightseeing trips.
Rollright Stones and adjacent Whispering Knights
Penelope Lively's children's story The Whispering Knights is set in the valley below this
ancient stone circle.
Spelsbury church
The burial place of John Wilmot, Lord Rochester, poet and libertine, depicted in the 2004
film ‘The Libertine’ with Johnny Depp and John Malkovich.
South Leigh
An easy walk from Witney through the fields. Dylan Thomas and family lived in the Manor
House 1947-9. Don't miss the wonderful medieval wall paintings in the church.
Sutton Courtenay
George Orwell, under his real name, Eric Blair, is buried in the churchyard. The village war
memorial unusually commemorates those who went to war - and came back - as well as
those who did not.
Swinbrook
Visit Swinbrook churchyard to find most of the Mitford sisters' graves. Inside the church
discover the Fettiplace monuments, carved with exquisite detail, each reflecting a
contemporary selfimage. The Mitfords' nearby childhood home, Asthall Manor, opens its
gardens every 2 years for an enchanting exhibition of modern sculpture.
Wallingford
William Blackstone, Fellow of All Souls, is commemorated here. His legal Commentaries
were highly influential both in England and in America and were a nail in the coffin of slavery.
Wantage
John Betjeman, Poet Laureate, lived in and near Wantage; his wife kept a tea shop, King
Alfred's Kitchen, on the Market Square. A newish park commemorates him. King Alfred,
scholar, warrior, ruler and said to be founder of English law, was born here. Wantage
appears as Alfredston in Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
= Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com Witney
Pam Ayres, whose whimsical verse read in her inimitable Oxfordshire accent has delighted
many, grew up in Witney.
Witney - Wood Green
'Miss Read's gentle books describing life at a Cotswold village school, ('Thrush Green') are
based on Wood Green, Witney.
Woodstock
‘Salt of the Earth’ by Dorothy Calcutt records life in Woodstock at the other end of the
social spectrum.
Wootton
Francis Kilvert, diarist, was married here. He died within the month.
Uffington
Thomas Hughes's novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays recalls this thatched village and its tiny
schoolroom sometimes open to the public. A miniature representation of Uffington,
complete with working rail lines, is under continuous construction at Pendon Museum. Look
out for the miniature carrots and bikes.
= Tickets sold either in our online shop or in the Oxford Visitor Information Centre
www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire.com