The Site of Holywell Gallows, aka Gownsman's Gallows
19 September 2022
Junction of Longwall Street and Holywell Street, Oxford
The gallows that once stood on this site saw the brutal executions of the 1589 Catholic martyrs among others.
Mass grave beneath Lincoln College Library
30 May 2022
Lincoln College library, High Street, Oxford
When Lincoln College renovated All Saints church into its new library, they were shocked at what they found below.
A religious cult is hounded out of Oxford
20 April 2022
St. Thomas Street, Oxford
In 1825, many men in Oxford fell under the spell of a fanatical evangelist whose preaching urged them to leave their wives.
Door knocker-stealing craze of the 1830s
29 March 2022
Merton Street, Oxford
In the 1830s, university authorities were locked in an ongoing battle of wits with students intent on stealing college door knockers!
The Oxford Rail Disaster of 1853
20 January 2022
Oxford Railway Station, Rewley Road
On the 8th January 1853, a series of misunderstandings led to one of the most deadly rail disasters in Oxford's history.
John Clavell: Scholar, Poet, Highwayman
17 December 2021
Brasenose College, Radcliffe Square
John Clavell became famous in the 1620s for the repentant poetry he wrote while in prison awaiting trial for highway robbery.
A roundabout above a graveyard
23 November 2021
The Plain, St. Clement's, Oxford
Travellers across the Plain may not be aware that they are crossing the site of a disused graveyard.
Magpie Lane or Grope Lane? Oxford's rudest road
9 November 2021
Magpie Lane, Oxford
This Oxford street once went by a considerably cruder name than it does today!
Tolkien's Ghost at Merton College
1 November 2021
Merton College, Merton Street, Oxford
J.R.R. Tolkien's ghost is said to walk the quads and corridors of Merton College, leaving behind it a distinctive whiff of pipe smoke!