Oxford Architecture

As well as being the home of a world renowned university the city of Oxford is well known for its architecture. Many of the buildings in Oxford were built from local limestones, e.g. Headington Stone, with a buff colour on the newly quarried or cleaned stone. Some of the buildings , such as the Sheldonian Theatre, have been refurbished with facing stone but the colour has been retained.

This model includes five well known examples of Oxford architecture, listed left to right:

The Sheldonian Theatre

Modelled on a U-shaped open air theatre in ancient Rome, this is Oxford's first Classical building and the first large building by Sir Christopher Wren. The theatre is often used for university ceremonies and in this model a student is on his way to the graduation ceremony at the theatre.

Carfax Tower

The tower is all that remains of the 13th century St. Martin’s Church, the official city church of Oxford from 1122. In 1896, the main part of the church was demolished to make more room for traffic in the area. It is considered to be the centre of the city. The tower is 74 feet tall and no building in central Oxford may constructed higher than it.

The Oxford Bridge of Sighs

Hertford Bridge, often called "the Bridge of Sighs", is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College. Its distinctive design makes it a city landmark. The bridge is often referred to as the Bridge of Sighs because of its supposed similarity to the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

Founders Tower, Magdalen College

The Founders Tower is in the ‘Great Quad’ part of the college and was built in the late 15th Century.

The Radcliffe Camera

Built at a cost of £40,000 donated by the charitable trust of John Radcliffe, a wealthy physician to William III. It was the first round library in the country and is part of the Bodleian Library.

Another well known feature of Oxford is punting on the river Cherwell and the model includes a punt on the river. If you want to go punting in Oxford you can hire a punt near the above Magdalen College.

If you have studied in Oxford, visited as a tourist or if you are a fan of detective programmes such as Morse, Lewis or Endeavour these buildings will be well known to you and I hope you like the model.

Dimensions – 2456 Bricks, base 80 x 32 spots

You can see more about this model at anscottslegogallery.com