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 architecture — Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite — stacked vertically on a single façade. The exterior is free to view at any time; the interior of the tower is part of the Bodleian Library and is not accessible to visitors.
My personal Oxford recommendation
Oxford is a city of stories. You miss a lot of the walking around independently. This is a place where, much more than usual, it’s worth taking a walking tour.
I took the excellent Official Oxford University and City walking tour. It gave a great grounding on the city’s history, quirky university traditions and fascinating details on buildings you may otherwise miss. I recommend it, but there are other Oxford walking tours to choose from if you’d prefer a different theme.
Last updated: June 2026. Key planning point: the tower is not entered on any Bodleian guided tour. Visitors see it as part of the freely accessible Schools Quadrangle (entered via the Great Gate on Catte Street) or from the pavement outside. Many guides imply the tower is a feature of the paid tours — it is a free, unrestricted exterior feature.
Quick facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Catte Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG — facing Catte Street, at the east side of the Old Schools Quadrangle |
| Entry price | Free — exterior and quadrangle viewable without charge or booking |
| Quadrangle access | Free entry via the Great Gate on Catte Street (when gates are open) |
| Tower interior | Not accessible to the public |
| Nearest transit | Oxford station (~15 min walk); multiple bus routes to city centre |
| Typical visit length | 10–15 minutes |
Tower of the Five Orders opening hours
The tower’s exterior is viewable from Catte Street at all times — day or night, year-round. No gates or barriers restrict the view of the façade from the pavement.
The Old Schools Quadrangle (from which the tower’s interior face can be seen up close) is accessible through the Great Gate on Catte Street during Bodleian Library hours:
- Monday–Friday: 9:00–17:00
- Saturday: 10:00–17:00
- Sunday: 11:00–16:00
The quadrangle may occasionally be closed for university events.
The tower interior is not open to the public at any time and is not part of any Bodleian tour.
Opening hours and access details were checked on the official Bodleian Libraries and University of Oxford websites and last updated in June 2026.
Tower of the Five Orders ticket prices
Viewing the exterior and the quadrangle is free. No ticket is required to stand on Catte Street and observe the tower, or to walk through the Great Gate into the Old Schools Quadrangle.
The tower is not included in any paid Bodleian tour. The paid library tours (30-minute, 60-minute, and 90-minute) access the Divinity School, Convocation House, Duke Humfrey’s Library, and the Radcliffe Camera — none of which are in the tower itself.
5 Oxford experiences worth booking
- 🎓 Take an Oxford University walking tour led by an alumni guide.
- ⚡ Explore Oxford’s Harry Potter filming locations on a tour including New College.
- 🚣 Embark on a scenic river cruise along the University Regatta course.
- 🕵️ Discover the Oxford of Morse, Lewis and Endeavour on a themed walking tour.
- 🏰 Hear dark historic tales on a guided visit to Oxford Castle and Prison.
How to get to the Tower of the Five Orders
The tower is at the eastern side of the Old Schools Quadrangle on Catte Street, between the Radcliffe Camera (to the south) and Hertford College (to the north). The Weston Library and Sheldonian Theatre are a short walk west along Broad Street.
By bus: Multiple routes and Park & Ride services stop at Carfax or High Street. Catte Street is 5 minutes’ walk east from Carfax along the High Street and then north.
By train: Oxford station is approximately 15 minutes’ walk east through the city centre.
On foot from the Bodleian: From the Weston Library on Broad Street, walk east to the junction with Catte Street; the tower is immediately visible on your left, facing Radcliffe Square.
Parking
No visitor parking is available near the tower. The surrounding streets are pedestrianised or heavily restricted. The Park & Ride network is recommended. City-centre car parks are at Gloucester Green, Westgate, and Oxpens Road.
The recommended accessible entrance to the Old Schools Quadrangle is via the Great Gate on Catte Street, which provides level access across the quadrangle. Note that the pavement approaching the entrance on Catte Street is narrow and uneven in places — the road surface may be used as an alternative approach, as it is not heavily trafficked at this point.
How long to spend at the Tower of the Five Orders
Allow 10 to 15 minutes at the tower. This is enough to view the Catte Street façade, walk through the Great Gate to see the interior courtyard face, identify each of the five orders from ground level, and observe the statue of King James. Most visitors include the tower as part of a broader exploration of the Broad Street and Radcliffe Square architectural ensemble.
Accessibility at the Tower of the Five Orders
The exterior on Catte Street is fully accessible — it is pavement-level with no steps required to view the façade.
The Great Gate provides level access into the Old Schools Quadrangle, though the pavement approaching it is uneven. The quadrangle itself has a level surface, though paving is old and worn in places.
The tower interior is not accessible to the public.
What to see at the Tower of the Five Orders
The architectural concept
The tower is the only building in England that demonstrates all five classical orders of architecture stacked on a single vertical façade. Each of its five storeys is defined by a different order of column, from simplest to most elaborate, ascending from base to crown:
| Level | Order | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Ground (1st) | Tuscan | The simplest order; plain, unfluted columns; no base ornament |
| 2nd | Doric | Slightly more decorated; plain frieze with triglyphs |
| 3rd | Ionic | Characterised by scrolled capitals (volutes) |
| 4th | Corinthian | Acanthus-leaf capitals; the most ornate of the Greek orders |
| 5th (top) | Composite | A Roman invention combining Corinthian acanthus leaves with Ionic scrolls |
This sequence — derived directly from the Italian Renaissance architectural theorist Sebastiano Serlio, whose treatises were the standard reference for European architects of the period — is presented here as a complete “textbook in stone.” No other surviving English building attempts such a comprehensive vertical display. The mason responsible was most likely Thomas Holt of York, working within a Jacobean framework.
The best viewpoints
From Catte Street (exterior): The tower faces east onto Catte Street. This gives the clearest view of the full five-storey elevation. The five orders are most easily read from the street, particularly from the pavement on the east side of the street, where you can look across at the whole composition. Opposite is the front of the Hertford College bridge.
From inside the Old Schools Quadrangle: Walking through the Great Gate puts you inside the quadrangle looking back at the western face of the tower. This is closer but also more compressed — the interior face is slightly less decorated than the Catte Street elevation, but gives a better view of the individual details at lower levels.
The Catte Street pavement, looking west across the road, provides the most complete view of all five levels simultaneously and is the recommended viewing position.
The statue of King James I
On the fourth storey — in the Corinthian level — a canopied niche contains a seated statue of King James I, sculpted by John Clark and installed in 1620. James is depicted in robes, presenting a book to the figure of Fame at his right. The book’s inscription reads “Haec habeo quae scripsi” — “These things I have, which I have written” — referring to James’s donation of a heavily gilded copy of the King James Bible to the University in 1620, which prompted the statue’s addition.
Above the statue, the canopy is inscribed with James’s personal motto: BEATI PACIFICI (“Blessed are the Peacemakers,” from Matthew 5:9).
Originally the figures were double-gilded. When King James visited Oxford to see the completed work on a sunny day, he reportedly complained about the gaudiness of the effect and ordered that the statues be “whitened over and adorned with ordinary colours.” The gilding was removed, giving the stonework its current appearance.
The initials TB (Thomas Bodley, the library’s refounding benefactor) appear on the outside of the tower facing Catte Street.
The wider Jacobean design context
The tower was commissioned as part of Sir Thomas Bodley’s expansion of the library, undertaken from 1610 following the overwhelming success of his 1602 refounding of the medieval Duke Humfrey’s Library. By 1620 the Schools Quadrangle was substantially complete, providing lecture and examination rooms on the upper floors for multiple university faculties (mathematics, music, astronomy, medicine, law, and others — their names are still inscribed above each door around the quadrangle).
The tower’s architectural programme was ambitious for England at the time. The five orders were known to educated men through Serlio’s publications, but displaying all five stacked on a single gatehouse tower was exceptional. The closest precedent in England was the slightly earlier Tower of the Four Orders at Merton College’s Fellows’ Quadrangle (1608–10), which displayed only four orders — suggesting the Schools Tower was deliberately conceived as a completion of that sequence.
Practical visitor tips
| Tip | Detail |
|---|---|
| The exterior is always free and open | You do not need a Bodleian ticket or tour to see the tower. Walk along Catte Street at any time and look west — the full five-storey facade is immediately visible. |
| Enter the quadrangle for the close-up view | Walking through the Great Gate (free, no ticket) puts you inside the courtyard for a ground-level view of the lower orders and the quadrangle itself. |
| Name the five orders from bottom to top | Tuscan (ground), Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite. This is the sequence of increasing complexity, moving from the simplest Roman/Italian order to the most elaborate. |
| The tower is not on any paid tour | The Bodleian’s guided tours (30/60/90 minutes) cover the Divinity School, Duke Humfrey’s Library, Convocation House, and the Radcliffe Camera. The Tower of the Five Orders is not an interior tour space. |
| Combine with the Weston Library exhibitions | The Weston Library (free entry, on Broad Street, around the corner) has free exhibitions from the Bodleian’s collections and a café. A natural pairing with a visit to the quadrangle. |
Frequently asked questions about the Tower of the Five Orders
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can you go inside the Tower of the Five Orders? | No. The tower interior is not open to the public. The exterior and the quadrangle it faces into are freely accessible. |
| Is viewing the tower free? | Yes. The Catte Street exterior is viewable from the pavement at all times. The Old Schools Quadrangle (through the Great Gate) is free to enter during Bodleian library hours. |
| What are the five orders? | From base to crown: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite. Each storey uses different columns to illustrate a different classical architectural tradition. |
| Is the Tower of the Five Orders part of the Bodleian Library? | Yes. It is the main gatehouse tower of the Old Schools Quadrangle, which forms part of the wider Bodleian Library complex. The building itself houses library spaces and administrative offices. |
| What does the statue on the tower depict? | King James I, sculpted by John Clark in 1620, depicted presenting a book to the figure of Fame. James donated a copy of the King James Bible to the university that year, prompting the statue’s addition to the design. |
Things to do near the Tower of the Five Orders
- Old Schools Quadrangle (same site, free) — The 17th-century courtyard surrounded by the Bodleian’s original library ranges. The doors to each faculty’s rooms are labelled above their arched doorways. Free to walk through when the Great Gate is open.
- Radcliffe Camera (~1 minute south, Radcliffe Square) — The iconic domed library immediately to the south. Exterior and square free to view at all times; interior accessible on paid Bodleian tours (Sat–Sun only).
- Hertford College Bridge (~1 minute, Catte Street) — Hertford College’s Bridge of Sighs — a 1914 enclosed bridge connecting two college buildings over New College Lane — is immediately opposite the tower. Free to view from the street.
- Weston Library and free exhibitions (~2 minutes west, Broad Street) — The Bodleian’s public visitor centre has free exhibitions from the collection, a café, and the tour ticket desk.
- Sheldonian Theatre (~2 minutes west, Broad Street) — Wren’s 1669 ceremonial hall with a painted ceiling and cupola views. Open to visitors on most days; admission charged.
What to visit tomorrow: similar Jacobean and classical architecture within two hours
- Bodleian Divinity School, Oxford (~2 minutes, same site) — The 15th-century Gothic hall adjacent to the quadrangle is the most comparable architectural set piece in Oxford to the tower. Accessible via self-guided ticket or Bodleian guided tour. See separate guide.
- Wadham College, Oxford (~5 minutes’ walk) — Built 1610–13, roughly contemporary with the Tower of the Five Orders, with a Jacobean front quad and hall.
- Merton College Fellows’ Quadrangle, Oxford (~10 minutes’ walk) — The 1608–10 quadrangle with the Tower of the Four Orders — the direct predecessor to the Five Orders tower, displaying four of the five classical orders.
- Blenheim Palace, Woodstock (~10 miles north) — Moving forward a century, Blenheim represents the full flowering of English Baroque in a way that can be read as the successor to the Jacobean ambitions of the Five Orders. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire (~50 miles north) — A ruined Elizabethan/Jacobean courtyard house that includes some of the earliest examples of classical column orders in English domestic architecture. Free to enter (English Heritage); open during summer months.
More Oxfordshire travel
Other Oxfordshire travel guides on Planet Whitley include:
- Enjoy Oxford University’s top museums, including the Ashmolean Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, the Museum of Natural History and the History of Science Museum,
- Admire Oxford University’s architecture at the Clarendon Building, the Bridge of Sighs, the Narnia Door and the Sheldonian Theatre.
- 9 reasons to visit Oxford, England.
- Shudder at dark tales of incarceration at Oxford Castle and Prison.
- Oxford city centre attraction guides: The Museum of Oxford, the Story Museum, the Martyrs’ Memorial and Carfax Tower.
