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Oxford. City and co. .town of 

 Oxfordshire, England It on the 

 Thames, here called the Isis which 

 sweeps r o u n a 

 the W. and S. of 

 the city, and is 

 here joined by 

 theCherwell. It 

 is 63 m. by rly. 

 from London, 

 and is on the 

 G.W. and L. & 

 Oxford arms N.W. rlys. At 

 Carfax, the centre of the old city 

 four streets meet : the High Street, 

 one of the most picturesque 

 thoroughfares in Europe, the Corn 

 market. Queen Street and St. 

 Aldate's. Across Magdalen Bridge, 

 at the other end of the High Street, 

 are modem suburbs. In N. UJ 

 ford, where is the suburb of , 

 mertown, are numerous vi las, fo 

 the city attracts many leisured 

 persons. The chief industry is 

 catering for the wants of the mem- 

 bers of the university; there ai 

 also breweries, printing works, am 

 other manufactories, and an u 

 portant market for cattle. 



The partly Norman cathedral, 

 formerly the priory church of b. 

 Frideswide, is included in Wolsey s 

 foundation of Christ Church. Other 

 interesting churches are the urn- 

 versity church of S. Mary the Vir 

 gin S Peter in the East, S. Giles, 

 Barnabas, S. Aldate, and H. 

 Michael. All Saints is the citj 

 church. Apart from the colleges, 

 museums, libraries, and other 

 buildings that belong to the urn- 

 versityf the chief edifices are the 

 municipal buildings, the castle, and 

 the high school for boys. There are 

 extensive remains of the town walls. 

 Oxford now contains many colleges 

 that are not really part of the uni- 

 versity, and a number of schools 

 of various kinds. 



Although Oxford owes its pros- 

 perity almost wholly to its univer- 

 sity ' it was an important place 

 before that was founded. It was 

 certainly so under the later Anglo- 

 Saxon kings, and its position on 

 the Thames was such that the 

 Normans fortified it strongly. It 

 received a charter of incorporation 

 about 1100 Maud was besieged 



here by Stephen in 1142, and the 

 Provisions of Oxford were drawn 

 up by the Mad Parliament in 1258. 

 Charles I, when driven from Lon- 

 don, made Oxford his headquar- 

 ters. The bishopric was founder 

 the Reformation. 



The city is governed by an 

 elected council, but three of the 

 aldermen and nine of the council- 

 lors represent the university. 1 

 divided authority, which originate* 

 about the Hth century, has not 

 always worked as amicably as i 

 does to-day. The city sends one 

 member to Parliament ; from 1, 

 to 1885 it sent two. The municipal 

 waterworks date from 1610. 



Oxford and the 



i^^^KJH.1 111 m^^^^- --- . u 4. Magdalen 



20. Sheldonian Theatre. 21. Jrasenose^College.^ SS^ncom^^ g^ ^^ College 



By courtesy of Aerofilnu. Ltd^ Benson 



