Oxford Campus

In the states a person would typically ask for a tour of campus, in my case a tour of Oxford’s campus. Well that would be a complicated feat. There are 44 colleges within the University of Oxford (my college is New College). Each college is a college in it’s own right and could stand on it’s own as a college. It has it's own place in town with a wall around it's land, and each college has it's own library, pub, dining hall, dorms, faculty and staff. The colleges are very exclusive. At the door to every college is a porter whose job is to keep the "public" out. Only staff and students associated with that particular college have full access to the grounds. It’s not really too difficult to get into a building where you don’t belong, just walk in like you know what your doing and you won’t get stopped most of the time. They do try though. Each college is walled in with only one or two entrances that are always looked after.

Members are very proud of their colleges. New College was used in the filming of Harry Potter, one thing I am proud of for sure. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a scene where the fake Mad-Eye Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret. The cloisters of New College were used for that very scene. 

Cloisters are a square of buildings usually with big open windows with no glass and a big grassy sort of courtyard in the center. The plan for New College actually did not include cloisters originally. The architect however decided that is everyone else was going to have them he wanted them too. He added them in right in front of the chapel blocking the main door. You can no longer go into the chapel through the original from door because of the cloisters!

While each college does have it’s own dorms few people actually live within their college walls. The majority of people live outside of the center of Oxford and commute into the city. I live about a 20-minute walk from the center of the city and about 30 minutes from New College, but this is actually a typical walk for anyone in Oxford. Not only that, there are over 100 libraries in the city that any student may need to go to and the tutors (dons) do not necessarily hold their tutorials inside the college. One of my dons works at Magdalen College and we have our tutorials there. Magdalen is on the other side of Oxford and is about a 45-minute walk from my flat. They have a deer park at Magdalen and sometime I like to go early to watch the deer. 

It’s really amazing. My other has his tutorials at him home very near my flat. I don’t actually know what college he is faculty for.