This morning
we took a short walk over to the Bodleian Library, which is situated very close
to Brasenose College and the Radcliffe Camera.
After first entering the impressive building and we met our tour guide,
we walked to the Convocation House, which served as a meeting place for University
officials. We were all fortunate enough
to sit in a seat where Charles I once sat.
Once we had spent our time in that room, we made our way directly
upstairs to the Duke Humfrey’s Library.
This library is home to thousands of books. The older books, which have been in the library
for hundreds of years, contain information on subjects such as astronomy,
physics and psychology. While the
massive collection of books was very impressive, what caught my eye the most
was the ceiling. The ceiling was
completely covered by paintings of the seal of the library. I can only imagine how much time it must have
taken to completely intricately paint the ceiling of such a large library.
After seeing
this amazing library, we were taken by our tour guide to have a rare look
inside the Radcliffe Camera. In the
upper reading room of the Camera, I could gaze up at the spectacular domed roof. While staring upwards towards the center of
the ceiling, it was near impossible for me to gauge how tall the ceiling actually
was. We then descended below street level
to find a modern age passage back to the library. Eventually, our tour ended in the Divinity School. In this passage-like room, two scenes in the
Harry Potter series were filmed. The
Bodleian Library was a very interesting, and it was a great way to close off
the week.
Submitted by Bennett Setzer
Woodberry Forest School students experience throne once occupied by Charles I.
Oxford program participants learning about the Old School Quadrangle at the entrance of the Divinity School and Duke Humfrey's Library.
Various religious symbols carved into the stone ceiling of the Divinity school are pointed out.
Carving in ceiling of Holy Trinity.
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