Christ Church
About
Oxford's grandest college, founded in 1546, with Wren's Tom Tower over the St Aldates gate, the Tudor Great Hall, and the only college chapel in the world that is also a cathedral. Visitor entry is by multimedia or guided tour, booked online, with tickets released each Friday; booking ahead is the difference between walking in and queueing. Christ Church is a working academic and religious institution, so full or partial closures happen when areas are in use for services and events, and the college's own known-closures page is worth checking the day before. The meadow below the college, grazed by longhorn cattle, is free to walk and open most days.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Tom Tower, Christopher Wren's gate tower over St Aldates
- ✓The Tudor Great Hall and its High Table
- ✓Christ Church Cathedral, both college chapel and diocesan cathedral
- ✓Christ Church Meadow, free to walk, with grazing longhorn cattle
Tips
- →Tickets are released each Friday; book online to guarantee entry rather than queueing.
- →Check the college's known-closures page the day before you visit; areas close for services and private events without much notice.
- →The meadow circuit from the Broad Walk to the Isis is free and often the quietest part of a Christ Church visit.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Bodleian Library & Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square is Oxford's best free sight; the Divinity School and Bodleian tours get you inside. Peak-season tours sell out by midday, book ahead.
Ashmolean Museum
Britain's oldest public museum, free every day: Egyptian mummies to the Pre-Raphaelites, five floors on Beaumont Street.
Museum of Natural History & Pitt Rivers Museum
Two free museums in one building on Parks Road: dinosaurs and the dodo under a Victorian glass court, then the Pitt Rivers' floor-to-ceiling anthropology cases.