Intro and Timeline

Question 1

Intro Para 1

Answer 1

Hello, and welcome to Footprints Tours [pause for response and laugh this off] “Guys we need to keep this energy for the next two hours!!”. (be friendly, be loud!)

Question 2

Intro Para 2

Answer 2

Today we are going to do a 2 hour tour of Oxford. Now unfortunately the University is made up of 38 constituent colleges, and many faculty libraries- all of which are spread over the city centre. So there is not one place I can take you to say “here is where it starts”, “here is where it ends”. So this is why we are going to go for 2 hours today.

Question 3

Intro Para 3

Answer 3

As you are no doubt aware, this is a free tour- this model runs throughout the world and we think it is THE best thing in the world! It means that after 2 hours you can decide what I’m worth as a human being!

Question 4

Intro Para 4

Answer 4

What I am now going to do is give you a brief little timeline of events in Oxford, in the hopes that as we go around and see these buildings from different periods, you can think back to the timeline. Don’t worry, there are no tests on the timeline.

Question 5

8th century

Answer 5

St Frideswide, the Patron Saint of Oxford:
She spurned the advances of a royal suitor in order to devote herself to Christ. When prayers and flatteries failed to work, he prepared to take her by force and so Frideswide fled in the city into nearby towns for 3 years. She then heard that her father was dying of a broken heart, and so being a good daughter she returned to Oxford to look after him. The Royal Suitor heard about this and arrived, but Frideswide prayed for protection and as the young man passed through the town gates he was struck blind. Realising his fault, he begged for her forgiveness and his sight was restored. He left her in peace and she lived out the rest of her days in St Frideswide priory, which we will see later in our tour down by Christ Church.

Question 6

911 AD

Answer 6

The residents of Oxford are so scared of raids from the Danes that they build the first wall around the city.

Question 7

1002

Answer 7

St Brice’s Day Massacre, 13th November. During the reign of King Ethelred the Unready, he felt the Danes we popping up like weeds, and so he made it legal for the English people to kill anyone from Denmark. The Danes in Oxford took refuge in St Frideswide’s church, whereupon the local populace set fire to it and destroyed it, killing all the men, women and children inside. Please note, that if someone is looking to kill everyone in your group; scatter! Most of you will get away; do not gather in one place!
Among those murdered was Gunhild, the sister of King Sweyn of Denmark. He responded by attacking England and gradually took over the whole country.

Question 8

1009

Answer 8

The Danes sailed up the Thames and sacked Oxford.

Question 9

1013

Answer 9

Ethelred was driven out of the country and Sweyn was declared King of England. Two years later, both rival kings were dead. Cnut, son of Sweyn and Edmund, son of Ethelred, agreed to a true, with Cnut ruling England north of the Thames and Edmund south of it.

Question 10

1016

Answer 10

One week after signing the true, Edmund was assassinated and Cnut became sole ruler. A disgruntled nobleman, Edric, had his son hide in a cesspit in Oxford. When the King entered the privy the youth stabbed him to death from below. When Edric presented himself to Cnut, the Danish King promised to exalt him higher than any other English noble - he chopped off his head and displayed it on a pole from the highest battlement in the palace.

Question 11

1355

Answer 11

St Scholastica Day Riots started on the 10th of February. They were not the first but they were definitely the worst of the riots where Oxford residents fought against the students. This underlines the two groups in Oxford society, town and gown.

Question 12

1556

Answer 12

Queen Mary Tudor had two bishops and the most powerful archbishop England had ever seen burned right here on the cross on Broad Street.

Question 13

1642

Answer 13

King Charles was fighting in the Civil War and made Oxford his capital. Roundhead enemies attacked and Charles managed to make his escape. Oxford then surrendered and the civil war ended.

Question 14

1683

Answer 14

The Ashmolean Museum, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, opened. It was the world’s first university museum and on display was the body of the last dodo bird seen in Europe. After a hundred years, all that is left of the bird is it’s head and a foot.

Question 15

1840

Answer 15

The Great Western railway is built to link Oxford and London. This was a move which the University attempted to stop, as they feared students would be influenced by the decadent lifestyles in the rest of Europe and they all feared a rush of tourists. Thankfully for us, they were right!

Question 16

1954

Answer 16

Roger Bannister, a medical student, became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. He set this new record at the Iffley Road track here in Oxford.

Question 17

2019 :))

Answer 17

And finally, perhaps the most important and remarkable occurrence in the history of Oxford: in October 2019 I came to Oxford as a student.

Question 18

Church and University Para

Answer 18

Religion was the main purpose for students being in Oxford for hundreds of years, it’s only in the last 200 years that the University would turn towards academics as we know it today. These religious institutions were the few places people could read and write. These would turn into academic halls, which would then turn into the colleges we know today! And that brings us on to our first college of the day, Balliol College! [Turn around so back is facing Balliol College]