Part V: Stratford, Warwick, & Oxford

If you like, you can click on any of the pictures below to see the full-size image.

Stratford-on-Avon

The house in which Shakespeare was born, in the town of Stratford-on-Avon. The house was almost entirely reconstructed in the 19th Century, but it is in the same location, is the same style, and contains many of the original materials.

Narrowboats, which can be rented to travel up and down the canals in England. This picture was taken in Stratford, but the boats can be seen throughout England.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle with Guy's Tower in the foreground. There has been a fortification on this bluff overlooking the River Avon since 914 AD. The original wooden stockade was replaced with stone walls around 1220, and improvements were made up through 1800, when the exterior of the castle appeared much as it does today.

Portion of Warwick Castle known as "The Mound." During the War of the Roses, Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick from 1450 to 1471, helped depose Henry VI and Edward IV, earning him the nickname "The Kingmaker."

The courtyard in the center of the castle. Over the centuries, many English monarchs visited the castle, including Queen Elizabeth in 1572 and Queen Victoria in 1858.

The Great Hall, the largest room in the castle. The armor shown is from the 16th Century.

A view of the castle with the River Avon in the foreground. The last Earl of Warwick to inhabit the catle was Charles Guy (1928-1984), who dreamed of being an actor and left for Hollywood to break into film. Using the stage name Michael Brooke he played supporting roles in a number of films including Dawn Patrol (1938, starring Errol Flynn and David Niven). In 1978 the castle was sold to the Tussad Group, which opened it to the public.

Looking down on Caesar's Tower from Guy's Tower, with the town of Warwick in the background.

Oxford

Through the looking glass. Looking into Wolsey's Great Quadrangle, also known as "Tom Quad," in Christ Church College in Oxford University. Oxford University is made up of 39 separate colleges, of which Christ Church is the largest. It was at Christ Church that Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland. Alice was the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church. "Lewis Carroll" is a pen name of Charles Dodgson, a student and then a professor of mathematics at Christ Church for 48 years. He lived at Christ Church until his death, and never married.

Another view of Christ Church College in Oxford. John Locke was also a student at Christ Church, and while here he proposed ideas that were highly influential in the American revolution. Locke wrote that resistance to government should be undertaken if government threatens the liberties of individuals. Locke was expelled from Oxford and fled to Holland, while some of his colleagues were executed by the king for "seditious and treasonable behaviour."

Radcliffe Camera, built between 1737 and 1749, which serves as reading rooms in the Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford.

The Hertford Bridge. Many locals refer to this as the "Bridge of Sighs," based on its similarity to the bridge of the same name in Venice. But while the Bridge of Sighs in Venice usually provided the last glimpse of freedom to condemned prisoners, this bridge merely connects two college buildings.

A monument to the Oxford Martyrs. King Henry VIII was an important benefactor to Oxford University, since he needed their support in his theological disputes with Rome. When Queen Mary, a Catholic, came to the throne, tension developed between the Queen and the large percentage of the University that had converted to the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer (the Archbishop of Canterbury), Nicholas Ridley (the Bishop of London), and Hugh Latimer (the Bishop of Worcester) were burned at the stake by the Queen's orders in the street near the site of this monument.

The Eagle and Child. One of Oxford's oldest pubs, it acted as the lodgings of the Chancellor of the Exchequer during the English Civil War (1642 - 49), when Oxford was the Royalist capital. More recently, it was the meeting place of the Inklings, a literary group including writers C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who met here every Tuesday from 1939-1962.