What to See in England Part 14

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Randolph Hotel," "Mitre Hotel,"

"The Roebuck Hotel," "Railway Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.

Oxford was a centre of learning in the time of Alfred. Walter de Merton _founded_ the first college there, and others started the collegiate system of corporate colleges which makes English universities unique.

The most celebrated colleges are Christ Church, Magdalen, New College, and Merton. Keble, Mansfield, and Hertford were established in Victorian times. In one part of the High Street the scene is architecturally magnificent. On the south side is University College, which claims the oldest foundation, although the present building only dates from the seventeenth century. Opposite is Queen's College, then comes All Souls'.

On the same side is St. Mary's Church, and a little further All Souls'

Church. A turning by St. Mary's Church leads to the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre, and the Ashmolean Museum. At one end of St.

Giles' Street is the Martyrs' Memorial and the Taylor Inst.i.tution.

Returning to High Street, and going towards the stations, a turning on the left leads to Oriel, Corpus Christi, and Merton Colleges, and still further on, St. Aldate's Street, on the left, leads to Pembroke College and the fourteenth-century church of St. Aldate's. Opposite the church are the buildings known as Christ Church, which has the Cathedral Church of St. Frideswide for its chapel. In the princ.i.p.al entrance is "Great Tom," the famous bell that tolls at 9.5 P.M. Christ Church, though the smallest cathedral in England, and possibly in Europe, is of great interest on account of its very distinct transitional style. Magdalen College, near the bridge over the River Cherwell, and the Botanic Gardens, are at the other end of the High Street.

There was a monastery in Oxford in the eighth century. A castle was built by William I. after he captured the town, and from that time it was often visited by English kings. Several parliaments have been held there, and the courts of law as well as the parliament removed to Oxford during the plague of 1665. Charles I. made it his headquarters until Fairfax took the town.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD.]

MIDHURST

AND THE HOME OF RICHARD COBDEN

=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Midhurst.

=Distance from London.=--64-1/2 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 2 to 3-1/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 10s. 2d. 6s. 6d. 5s. 0-1/2d.

Return 17s. 10d. 11s. 3d. 10s. 0d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"The Angel," "Spread Eagle,"

"New Inn," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Victoria and London Bridge.

London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.

Though only a small town, Midhurst is a place of some antiquity, and was of some size prior to the Conquest. It is situated in Mid-Suss.e.x on the Rother, and on a site close by it, now marked only by a mound, was the castle of the Bohuns, a powerful Norman family, who were lords of the manor here. In 1547, King Edward VI. was entertained with great splendour here. It is curious to note that the custom of ringing the curfew bell is still maintained at Midhurst.

The town is picturesque, and contains many old houses and buildings of interest, notably those in West Street and Wool Lane, near the church, and the Grammar School at the further end of the town, where Sir Charles Lyell and Richard Cobden were educated. Cobden was born at Durnford, close to Midhurst. Durnford House, built for him by the nation, is still standing, and at c.o.c.king Causeway is a monument to his memory.

In Cowdray Park, within easy walking distance, are the ruins of the magnificent Tudor mansion, Cowdray House, destroyed by fire in 1793.

There was an old tradition, "The Curse of Cowdray," that the building should perish by fire and water, and this was curiously fulfilled, for the house was burnt and the last Lord Montague drowned almost on the same day.

A custodian who shows visitors over Cowdray House has a cottage here.

Over what remains of the entrance gateway are the arms of Sir Anthony Browne, the favourite of King Henry VIII.; and on the porch are the initials of the Earl of Southampton.

West Lavington Church, beautifully situated on a height two miles south of Midhurst, has in its churchyard the grave of Richard Cobden, the political reformer, and originator of Free Trade. Cardinal Manning was rector here at one period.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _F. Coze, Midhurst._

COBDEN'S PEW IN HEYSHOTT CHURCH.

The pew is immediately beneath the pulpit, in which a small bra.s.s plate may be noticed. Here Cobden regularly worshipped.]

PEVENSEY CASTLE

LANDING-PLACE OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

=How to get there.=--Train from London Bridge or Victoria. London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Pevensey and West Ham.

=Distance from London.=--65 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 2 and 3 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 10s. 0d. 6s. 2d. 4s. 8d.

Return 17s. 6d. 11s. 8d. 9s. 4d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Royal Oak Inn" at Pevensey village.

Pevensey, the scene of so many notable events in English history, was probably a fishing-port in prehistoric times. It is situated on flat and low-lying marsh-land, about 15 miles westward along the coast from Hastings. Here the Romans built a town and fortress. Entering Pevensey Castle by the main gateway, you stand on the site of the Roman city of Anderida, of which many evidences remain in the shape of Roman cement and tiles in a wall which surrounds the enclosure. The Romans retired from Anderida in the fifth century, when it was destroyed by the Saxons under Ella, and the inhabitants slain for their obstinate resistance.

A fortnight before the great battle on Senlac Hill, William of Normandy landed at the old Roman city. After the Conquest, Roger, Earl of Mortmain and Cornwall, half-brother of the Conqueror, built the Norman building whose shattered walls are to be seen to-day. William Rufus, Simon de Montfort, and Stephen each attacked the castle, and it remained a fortress until the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the south-eastern corner of the Brito-Roman city, there still stands an interesting old culverin, bearing the crown, Tudor rose, and the initials of Queen Elizabeth. It is one of two cannon placed there in 1587 in readiness for the Spaniards. The present castle shows the different work of several centuries. The remains of a much-weathered stone font, surrounded by an iron cage, stand in the centre of the enclosure. Near by, within a palisade, is the old castle well, with hart's-tongue ferns growing on the damp brick lining.

At one time Pevensey formed, with Hastings, one of the Cinque Ports. It began to decline as a seafaring place with the loss of its harbour, owing to the receding of the sea along the Suss.e.x sh.o.r.e--the walls, which were formerly almost washed by the waves, being now quite a mile inland. Visitors may enter the castle on week days without charge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PEVENSEY CASTLE.

Before the sea receded the waves almost reached the Castle walls.]

WINCHESTER & ITS CATHEDRAL

=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Winchester.

=Distance from London.=--66-1/2 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 1-1/2 to 2-3/4 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 11s. 0d. 7s. 0d. 5s. 6d.

Return 19s. 3d. 12s. 2d. 10s. 6d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"George Hotel," "Royal Hotel,"

"Black Swan Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.