Oxford , UK — Alone with cameras in the oldest university town in Britain (Part 2)
10/6/2017
Right opposite of the Tom Tower, was an entrance to the Christ Church Cathedral, once known as the smallest cathedral in England. Although small, but it was just as magnificent as other cathedrals I have seen.
In the cathedral buried influential philosopher John Locke.
The followings is my poor attempt in trying to summarise John Locke’s achievement in the philosophical field:
one of his most famous publication is “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, which has an profound influence in Empiricism. In the essay, Locke described human minds as “tabula rasa,” a blank slate. Therefore, the primary means to gaining knowledge, is to experience. For example, the colour red. One person’s colour “red” is not the same from others’ colour “red”.
Montesquieu, a French Philosopher in the age of enlightenment, first raised the idea of the separation of power. Later, Locke further emphasised the importance of the notion, and eventually made a great impact in the course of history.
The oldest part of Christ Church Cathedral was completed in the 12th to 13th century. Stepping on the marble floor, looking up inside the church I saw the ceilings are decorated with beautiful hexagon patterns,like stars floating on the sky. It was later I found out it was called the chancel ceiling, added onto the ceiling around the 16th century.
On the left side of the cathedral was a shrine of St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford. It was destroyed a long time ago, and was rebuilt recently in the 21th century. No wonder it looked so new… Near the shrine was the window of St. Frideswide, a stained glass window showing important moments of the St.’s life. A lot of people were in the cathedral, probably one of the most crowded church I had been to during this trip. Some were sitting in front of the shrine, while some other was sitting on the chairs in front of the altar. (shown in the picture below)
On the right side of Christ Church College, was the Merton Field, it was a large and well maintained field for sports. I walked along the Board Walk, hoping to see the Botanic Garden, but for some reason it was closed.
Along the Dead Man’s Walk, were the Merton College. Didn’t get a good look of the college as we are not permitted to go inside. But at least I got to see these pretty pink roses that was hanging outside the fence of the college.
As I was wandering around, I came across the Radcliffe Camera. It must be one of the most handsome reading room I ever saw. Built in the 18th century, as a reading room for students of the Oxford University to study and read. Although the building is named as Radcliffe Camera, it has nothing to do with the cameras that take pictures. “Camera” in Latin means “Room”.
Radcliffe Camera is the reading for the Bodleian Library, which located just next to the Camera. Being one of the oldest library in Europe, established in the 17th century, there is an impressive amount of collection in the library, over a billion. It was quite amazing that the buildings built hundreds of years ago are still functioning somehow the same way it was when it was first built.
Across Catte Street, was the Bridge of Sighs, famous for its style and similarities of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Although similar, it was not a direct copy of the one in Venice. It bridges two parts of the Hertford College, students are often seen crossing the bridge. In other words, a fancy foot bridge.
It was late, so I didn’t go to the Ashmolean Museum, instead, I wondered around the city centre aimlessly. Since there is not much to write about, I will just conclude this post with photos.
To be continued… (Next Entry)
