UK Archives

Higger Tor with children: Sheffield’s family-friendly Peak District clambering spot

Children love scrambling over the large gritstone boulders of Higger Tor in the Peak District National Park. Why visit Higger Tor? Higger Tor is a rocky plateau next to the Burbage Valley in the Peak District. It’s just within the boundaries of Sheffield, South Yorkshire,…

The Oxford Botanic Garden in Oxford, South-East England.

Oxford Botanic Garden guide: Ticket prices, hours and tips

Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in the United Kingdom, established in 1621. It's on Rose Lane beside the River Cherwell in central Oxford, managed by the University of Oxford. It holds over 5,000 different plant species across a walled garden, glasshouses, and…

Inside the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford.

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford: Visitor tips, ticket prices and hours

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is an active Anglican church on the High Street in central Oxford, directly opposite the Radcliffe Camera. It has a 13th-century tower offering the finest elevated view of Radcliffe Square available to the public. The church interior…

The Bridge of Sighs in Oxford, South-East England.

Bridge of Sighs, Oxford: Visitor tips, best viewpoint and access

The Bridge of Sighs — officially Hertford Bridge — is a covered stone footbridge spanning New College Lane in central Oxford, connecting the old and new quadrangles of Hertford College. Designed by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson and completed in 1914, it is one of the…

The faun next to the Narnia Door in Oxford that supposedly inspired Mr Tumnus in CS Lewis' Narnia books.

Visiting the Narnia Door, Oxford: practical guide for first-timers

The Narnia Door is an ornately carved wooden door on St Mary's Passage, Oxford — a narrow lane running between the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (High Street) and Radcliffe Square. The door is widely believed to have inspired C.S. Lewis's description of…

The Tower of the Five Orders in Oxford, South-East England.

Visiting the Tower of the Five Orders, Oxford: practical guide for first-timers

The Tower of the Five Orders is a five-storey Jacobean gatehouse tower on Catte Street, Oxford, forming the main entrance of the Old Bodleian Library's Schools Quadrangle. Completed between 1613 and 1620, it is unique in English architecture for displaying all five classical orders of…

Visiting the Saxon Tower, Oxford: practical guide for first-timers

The Saxon Tower of St Michael at the North Gate is a free-standing church tower at 32 Cornmarket Street, Oxford, dating from around 1040 AD. This makes it the oldest surviving building in Oxford and one of the oldest surviving Saxon towers in England. Visitors…

Visiting the Martyrs’ Memorial, Oxford: practical guide for first-timers

The Martyrs' Memorial is a Victorian Gothic stone monument at the junction of St Giles', Magdalen Street, and Beaumont Street in Oxford, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1843. It commemorates the Protestant bishops Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, burned…

The Clarendon Building in Oxford, South-East England.

Visiting the Clarendon Building, Oxford: practical guide for first-timers

The Clarendon Building is an early 18th-century Baroque building at the corner of Broad Street and Catte Street in Oxford, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and completed in 1715. Originally built to house the Oxford University Press, it is now used as administrative offices for the…

The Divinity School in Oxford, South-East England.

Visiting the Divinity School, Oxford: practical guide for Harry Potter fans

The Divinity School is a 15th-century Gothic hall inside the Bodleian Old Library complex on Broad Street, Oxford, widely considered the finest example of late medieval Gothic architecture in England. It is the University of Oxford's oldest surviving teaching room and the first space purpose-built…