OXFORD, an ancient and famous city and scat of learning in England, the chief town of the co. of Oxford, is situated on the me. bank of the Isis, a tributary of the Thames, a little above the point it is met by the Cherwell. Both streams are crossed by numerous bridges, of the fittest are Folly bridge over the Isis, and Magdalen bridge over the Cherwell. Lat. of the city, 51° 45' 55" n., long. 1° 15' 29" west. Dis tance from London, 55 m. w.n.w. Pop. '71, 34,482. Oxford occupies an undulating site, is surrounded by rich and wooded meadows, and presents to the eye of the approaching visitor a scene of unequaled architectural magnificence—spires, and towers, and domes rising as thickly as chimney-stalks in the manufacturing towns of Lancashire or Yorkshire. The fonr main sire( is of Oxford meet at right angles near the center of the town, at a place still called Carfax, a'eorroption of Quatre rates, and which appears in Agas's map (imp. Elizabeth) as Cater rats, These are—Cornmairket street, leading into St. Giles's, and running due n. ; Queen street, leading to the railway stations, and running w.; St. Aldate's street, leading to the Isis, and running sloe s.; and High street, which is the chief street of the city, gracefully in an easterly direction,' and conducting to the river Cherwell, a smaller river joining the Isis soon after it has passed Oxford.
The western half of the town is the most uninteresting; and it is a misfortune that the railway stations arc placed here, as travelers, on arriving, are introduced to the meanest parts of the city fast. The county courts and jail, and the remains of the castle, from which the empress Maud escaped while it was besieged by king Stephen, will be observed in passing. There is one ccod street in this part, viz.: Beaumont street, built on the site of the ancient Beaumont palace, in which Richard I. was born. At the tad of this street is Worcester college. Passing to the n. from Carfax, along the Corn market, the old tower of St. Michael's church is seen, against which stood formerly the it. gate of the city; next St. Mary Magdalen church; then the martyr's memorial, with the Taylor buildings and Randolph Hold on the left, and part of Balliol college and St. John's college on the right. St. Giles's church is at the n. end of this street, which is very wide, and has a row of elm trees on each side. forming a picturesque avenue like a foreign boulevard. Beyond this, to the n., is the Radcliffe observatory and infirmary. The High street is about 1000 yds. in length; it is reckoned one of the noblest streets— architecturally eonsidered—in Europe, and contains, among other edifices, part of the buildings of .Magdalen college, Queen's college, All-Soul's college. University college, and St. Mary's and All-Saints' churches. Parallel to it is Broad street, in which are situated Bailiol, Trinity, and Exeter colleges, the Aslimolean museum, the Clarendon rooms, the Sheldonian theater, and close by are the Academical schools, the Bodleian library, and the picture gallery. In St. Ablate's street, which forms the southern part of the series of streets already mentioned as forming one line, and running n. and s. is Christ Church college (the entrance tower of which contains the great bell "Tom of Oxford," weighing upwards of 17,000 lbs.) and St. Aldatc's church. The other colleges and important buildings connected with the university of Oxford lie back from the principal streets. Tn attempt particularizing the architectural characteristics of each of these edifices is impossible within our limits. It may suffice to say, that though there is nothing extraordinarily tine about the architecture of the colleges, regarded individu ally. yet the vast number of the structures and variety of styles present a tout-ensemble that is altogether sublime. The effect is wonderfully heightened by the interspersion of gardens, meadows, and venerable trees—old as the buildings that tower above them. Christ. church is celebrated for its magnificent hall, picture gallery, and library, as well as for its extensive grounds; its chapel, the cathedral church of Oxford, is Norman in style, but is inferior, both in size and beauty, to most English cathedrals. Merton col
lege is situated a little to the s. of the High street, and still retains the original chapel and part of the other buildings erected by Walter de Merton in the 13th century. Mag dalen college retains its celebrated cloister and tower of the 15th c., and the buildings here are the most complete of any college in Oxford. Oriel college, a comparatively modern structure, is very picturesque, but far from chaste in its design; New college ranks among the noblest buildings in the city—`! the chapel, the hall, the cloisters, tho groined gateways, and even some original doors and windows remain, in their exterior at least, as they came from the hand of their master architect," William of Wykeham, 500 years ago; Queen's college is built in the Grecian style of architecture, with a spa cious and handsome chapel and a fine library; so is Trinity college; University college is a not unpleasimr mixture of Gothic and Italian; Exeter college has a splendid front are on the w., and its chapel (built 1857-58), in the Gothic style, is the finest modern building in the city; it has also an excellent hall, and a beautiful library; Balliol college has a remarkably fine chapel, built only a few years ago. Among the other churches in Oxford, besides the cathedral church and the college chapels, are—St. Mary's, which is attended by the members of the university; St. Martin's, the church of the errporation of Oxford; St. Peter's-in-the-East, with a Norman crypt; St. Michael's, with a Saxon tower; and St. Aldate's. The chief buildings connected with the university, besides the Bodleian and the Ashmolean museum mentioned, are the Radcliffe library, a circular structure, adorned with Corinthian columns and surmounted by a dome; the Radcliffe observatory, crowned by an octagonal tower, in imitation of the temple of the Winds at Athens; the University printing-office, and the Taylor institution, founded " for the teaching the European languages"—au exceedingly handsome and extensive range of buildings. The botanic gardens are situated not far from the Cherwell, and nearly opposite Magdalen college. Other notable buildings, not connected with the uni vc.rsity, are—the town hall, the Radcliffe infirmary, the co. jail, and one or two dissent ing places of worship, such as the Wesleyan chapel in New Inn Hall lane, and the Independent chapel in George lane.—The city of Oxford is a mart for the disposal of the agricultural produce of the neighboring country, but has little trade of its own, and is dependent for its prosperity chiefly on the university. It is a municipal and parlia mentary borough, and governed by a mayor, nine aldermen, and thirty councilors, whose jurisdiction, however, does not embrace the university. Both the city and the university send two members to parliament.
Oxford, by the Saxons called Oxnaford, and in the Domesday Book, Oxeneford (proba bly from its having been originally a ford for the passage of oxen), is a place of great antiquity. The date of its origin is unknown, but as early as the 8th c. there was a nunnery established here; and in 892 an act of confirmation by pope Martin II. describes it as an ancient seat of learning. It is said to have been a residence of king Alfred, and also of Canute, who held several parliaments within its walls. The towns men closed their gates against William the conqueror, who stormed the town in 1007, and gave it to one of his followers, Robert d'Oyley, who built a castle here to overawe the disaffected Saxons, some ruins of which are still to he seen. The paction that terminated the strife between Stephen and Henry II. was drawn up at Oxford.. In the reign of Edward III. the of Wyckliffe excited great commotion among the students, and threatened well-nigh the dissolution of the university. In the reign of the "Bloody Mary" it witnessed the martyrdoms of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer: and during the great civil war of the 17th c. it was for a while the head-quarters of the royalist forces, and was conspicuous for its adherence to Charles I. Ever since that period the city—or, at any rate, the university—has been in general characterized by au extreme devotion to the "church" and the "king."