Radcliffe Square is the sumptuous baroque heart of Oxford

Radcliffe Square is the sumptuous baroque heart of Oxford. Its architectural set pieces are nothing less then breathtaking--comparable to Venice and Florence.

For in a few hundred cobbled yards of each other there are the spires of All Souls, the rotunda of the Radcliffe Camera, the Jacobean tracery of the Bodleian Library, and the Bridge of Sighs of New College. Dons rush around in flowing robes, tourists gawk, students cycle, and bells toll across this ancient square, which has seen the architectural hands of Wren and Hawksmoor. Take a deep breath, load your camera up, and enjoy the splendour around you.

Of course it is a mishmash of architectural styles and the colouring seems to be different from the rest of Oxford. All Souls is built in oolite honey stone--bright apricot and deep orange seem to be the colouring for many ancient buildings. On a hot summer day or a sharp winter one, this really contrasts with the bright blue sky. And of course there are the gargoyles which seem to stare down at you from every angle. Not all these are as antique as they look--if you peer closely, you can spot a rugby player over the grate of Brasenose or a bespectacled librarian in the Old School Quadrangle. Gargoyles and their fiendish sneering friends seem to follow you everywhere you move.

Radcliffe Square is best approached from the north on Broad Street (across from Blackwells bookshop). On Broad Street are 13 outsized "Emperor's heads" perched on railings at the entrance to Radcliffe Square. These weathered golden stone busts follow the curve of the Sheldonian theater and were put there in 1669. Time and weather have reduced their countenances, and there are several schools of thought on what they represent--one funny one is that they represent the history of beards down the ages.

As you enter from the north, you will pass onto an orange flagstoned area between the Old Clarendon building and the Divinity School. The Old Clarendon building is very striking and is as baroque as they come. Nicholas Hawksmoor was the architect--he who studied under Sir Christopher Wren--and its orange sandstone is very overpowering. Next door is the Sheldonian theater--one of Wren's first architectural projects (before he moved onto the big stuff like St. Paul's). The building houses the big university ceremonials, particularly the Encaenia, where the dean of the university hands out degrees. Robed scholars mutter into their sleeves while graduates look boredly at their shoes and wish they were somewhere else.

Most tourists cross the square to the giant Bodleian Library and Divinity School. If there is a heart of Oxford, then this is it, and the library dates from 1420. A small passageway takes you into the Old School's Quadrangle and the start of the library. The quadrangle is supremely beautiful, with scarlet sandstone and Jacobean ribbed tracing lacing its walls. Gold Latin inscriptions adorn the entranceways to the library, and a statue of the Earl of Pembroke stands in its centre

. There is still a sense of antiquity here, and the librarians moving fitfully from room to room enhances this. 

What you have to remember is that Theology and Divinity were the principal subjects at Oxford until the 19th century; all other subjects were merely a preparation. Beyond the entrance is a small vestibule and then the magnificent Divinity School proper, where that archaic subject was taught. Completed in 1488, one can imagine earnest medieval students scratching away under the firm gaze of tutors below the ribbed fanned ceiling.

The Bodleian Library is off-limits to non-academics and very hard to get a book out of. The new library was completed in 1612 and no book was allowed from its precincts. Strange bedfellows--Oliver Cromwell and King Charles I were both refused.

Back south under a passageway, you enter Radcliffe Square. The smack-in-the-mouth sight here is the rotund Radcliffe Camera (chamber). This is the most memorable sight in Oxford, and its rounded, ribbed domed form (see photo) is stunning when seen from up close or in the context of the harmonious square. On the western side of the square is the ancient Brasenose College, on the southern side is St. Mary the Virgin church, and on the east is the medieval fantasy of All Souls College.

Wherever you turn, there will be Gothic flutes, perpendicular windows, climbing ivy, and the low murmur of busy students. The Camera is not open to visitors and is only of use to students; you will have a fit of pique as you watch them cross the lawn and enter the building. The interior is meant to be as beautiful as the exterior. And then there is All Souls College, which has to be the most spectacular, after Christchurch, in the city. This college is almost smothered in statues, gargoyles, and towers, and the lawns and quadrangles are some of the most beautiful in the city.

One last sight: On the eastern side of the square on New Lane is a bridge. Arcing between the two buildings of Hartford is a complete replica of the "Bridge of Sighs" in Venice. The original arcs over a canal and is smothered in tourists from the nearby cruise ships. This one is bereft of crowds, allowing you a very close look at its fine carving. If you follow New College Lane east, it becomes Queens Lane and looks truly ancient. It is like a country lane, as it twists and turns with high walls and towering gateways. You can have a secret peek into the collegiate world from here, and it's bountifully festooned by gargoyles.

You may be heartily sick of gargoyles by now and begin pulling faces back at them. I did--the wind changed--and I stayed like that .