Insight Guides: Great Breaks Oxford

If you walk northwards along Walton Street, and then turn left down Walton Well Road, you come to a bridge that crosses the railway and canal and leads to one of Oxford’s most beautiful and enduring treasures, the 400-acre (160-hectare) expanse of Port Meadow 1 [map].

Kayaking in Port Meadow make for a wonderful break away from the city centre bustle.

Tony Halliday/Apa Publications

Used continuously for grazing ever since its first mention in the Domesday Book (1087), the meadow is a rare piece of Old England; it has never once been ploughed over, and today visitors are still usually outnumbered by horses and cattle. This pristine meadow is also rich in birdlife and wild flowers. Annual winter floods bring spectacular flocks of wildfowl and waders, and the meadow is a magnet for migrating birds, with Canada geese taking off and landing in their hundreds. In summer, you can often make out the outlines of Iron Age farming enclosures and hut circles, delineated by the buttercups that grow taller over buried features such as ditches and foundation trenches.

Across the Meadow

Visitors can wander all over the meadow as long as they do not pick the wild flowers. But a popular route follows the main path across to the Thames. At the first bridge, an arm of the river is used for mooring houseboats and leisure craft, and the bank is popular with children who want to feed the ducks, swans and geese on the other side. The Thames itself is crossed a little further upstream over a steel-arched bridge, and if you continue past the sailing club, a path on the left leads to the village of Binsey, with its popular pub, The Perch 2 [map].

Walking in Port Meadow make for a wonderful break away from the city centre bustle.

Tony Halliday/Apa Publications

Treacle Well

To the north of Binsey, a narrow lane leads for about half a mile to St Margaret’s Church, where the principal attraction is the Treacle Well 3 [map], described by the Doormouse at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The well is also associated with the story of St Frideswide, Oxford’s patron saint. Her suitor, the King of Wessex, was struck blind when he tried to carry her away, but she agreed to cure him on condition that he leave her in peace. The well miraculously appeared and its waters restored the king’s sight. The name ‘treacle’ commemorates this miracle; in Middle English, ‘triacle’ signified any liquid with healing or medicinal properties – only later did it come to mean syrup.

From Perch to Trout

A fun way to follow a good portion of this route – from The Perch to The Trout – is to hire a boat. Oxford River Cruises (tel: 0845 226 9396; www.oxfordrivercruises.com) operate from moorings at the bottom of the garden of The Perch pub. Visitors can hire rowing boats, punts, canoes, and even (if you are feeling lazy) electric launches. When you reach The Trout, you can make fast your vessel and disembark for a refreshing pint before sailing back again.

Hundreds of pilgrims used to visit St Margaret’s. Few come now and the rustic nave, lit only by oil lamps has been colonised by bats. The simple wooden pulpit has a carving of St Margaret trampling on a dragon. There is another relief of St Margaret on the pulpit’s inside – not by Eric Gill, as has been claimed – with clearly delineated breasts. Regarded as rather too sensual, she is condemned to face the feet of the incumbent preacher rather than risk arousing the passions of the congregation.

Peeking into the Treacle Well at the Church of St Margaret, Binsey.

APA Glyn Genin

Godstow Nunnery

Returning to the path along the Thames, continue the walk north, and after about a mile you reach Godstow Lock and the remains of Godstow Nunnery 4 [map]. Founded in 1138 by Benedictine monks, the nunnery is now a romantic ruin. It was here that Rosamund Clifford, mistress of King Henry II, was buried in 1175. According to legend, ‘fair Rosamund’ was murdered by the jealous Queen Eleanor, but the truth is probably less melodramatic – she seems to have retired to the nunnery when Henry finally grew bored with her.

Godstow was also the destination of Charles Dodgson (alias Lewis Carroll) as, together with a friend, he rowed Alice Liddell and her two sisters for a picnic at the lock, in the summer of 1862. It was while they were rowing that Dodgson recited to them for the first time the lines that subsequently appeared at the beginning of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

All in the golden afternoon

Full leisurely we glide;

For both our oars,

with little skill,

By little arms are plied,

While little hands make vain pretence

Our wanderings to guide.

Nearby, The Trout 5 [map], originally a fisherman’s cottage, was rebuilt in 1737. The pub overlooks a roaring weir and a wooden footbridge over the river, and peacocks and swans are often to be seen in the grounds. It is a popular place on long summer evenings, but nice also in winter with its roaring log fires. The easiest way back to Oxford is the way you came, but the weary can follow the road over the river to Wolvercote, and then either follow the canal towpath or take a bus or taxi back to the city centre.

Eating Out

Mamma Mia Pizzeria

102 Walton Street; tel: 01865 311 211; www.mammamiapizzeria.co.uk; Mon–Fri noon–3pm and 5–10.30pm, Sat–Sun noon–10.30pm.

Well-run and reliable restaurant serving some of the best pizzas in Oxford as well as excellent starters, salads and pasta dishes. Sister restaurant to the long-established Mamma Mia in Summertown (8 South Parade; tel: 01865 514 141). £–££

Brasserie Blanc

71–72 Walton Street; tel: 01865 510 999; www.brasserieblanc.com; daily noon–2.45pm and 5.30–10pm.

Part of Raymond Blanc’s chain of upmarket restaurants, the Brasserie Blanc serves light but traditional French dishes in a bright and airy dining room designed by Terence Conran. Children’s menus available. ££–£££

The Perch

Binsey Lane; tel: 01865 728 891; www.the-perch.co.uk; Mon–Sat noon–11pm, Sun noon–10pm.

Once known as ‘The Cathedral’ because the landlord served alcohol on Sundays, today the pub offers an unusually extensive wine list. The restaurant serves British produce cooked with a French twist as well as a special children’s menu. In summer, there is even a BBQ in the garden. £££

The Trout

195 Godstow Road, Wolvercote; tel: 01865 510 930; www.thetroutoxford.co.uk; daily 11am–11pm.

This large and comfortable riverside pub was a favourite haunt of Inspector Morse. He no doubt enjoyed the beer, but the jury’s out on whether he preferred the traditional British dishes or thestone-baked pizzas. ££–£££