Discovering Lyra's Oxford on a ‘His Dark Materials' walking tour
'Lyra's Oxford has the same street-plan as ours,' says Steve Fisher, of Oxford Official Walking Tours. 'So the influence of the urban landscape is obvious. But the university's intellectual and academic history also spurred Pullman 's imagination.'
The quad of the Bodleian Old Library embodies 17th-century education, with doorways to the three schools of philosophy (metaphysics, moral, natural) and seven liberal arts (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, logic, grammar and rhetoric).
'Before the Age of Enlightenment, this was the curriculum of European universities,' explains Steve. 'Most Oxford students were in religious orders, like the Dominicans or Benedictines, and the goal of education was to reconcile Greek philosophy with Christian theology.
He continues: 'In Lyra's Oxford, the scholars explore science as 'experimental theology'. But the religious Magisterium sees this as a challenge to its authority and tries to put an end to the research, just as the real Catholic Church attacked academics who questioned papal cosmology.'
We pass the domed Radcliffe Camera and stroll down St Mary's Passage – believed to have inspired the wardrobe and streetlamp of CS Lewis 's Narnia – towards the High St.
'Remember how Lyra and her mates scrap with the 'townies' in the book?' asks Steve. 'That's a more benign version of the 'town and gown' violence between students and locals in the 1300s. Back then, Oxford was the murder capital of England and the students, most of whom were clergymen, were usually the instigators.'
He points toward the crenellated Carfax Tower, which is all that remains of a 12th-century church.
'There used to be a tavern near there,' he says, 'In February 1355, two students started a brawl with the owner, because they were unhappy with the wine. It turned into a three-day riot that killed 90 people. Medieval student life was more Game of Thrones than Fresh Meat.'
Pullman studied at Exeter College (which became Jordan College in Lyra's world), which was founded in 1314 and constitutes the fourth-oldest college of the university. Less than a minute away is the History of Science Museum, home to the world's largest collection of astrolabes: astronomical instruments that calculate time and latitude using star charts carved into brass, which inspired the alethiometer – a golden 'truth reader' of needles and cogs that Lyra uses to outwit the Magisterium.
The production company behind the BBC television adaptation have gifted their prop alethiometer to the museum, and it sits alongside antique telescopes, microscopes and globes from the museum's collection. It's a reminder that real instruments of scientific inquiry were once a direct threat to religious dogma in our own world, just as the alethiometer is in Lyra's.
Lyra's adventures bring her to our world where she visits the weird and wonderful Pitt Rivers Museum (free). Its entrance is hidden at the back of the Natural History Museum – an understated archway that takes visitors from an airy gallery of natural light to a sunken gallery of dark wooden cabinets.
'It always makes me think of the portals in Pullman's books,' says Kieran Brooks, a guide at the Pitt Rivers Museum. 'A hidden doorway between parallel worlds, taking you from a world of nature and geology, to a world of culture and anthropology.' In this atmospheric space, items are arranged by function and type, rather than age or place of origin. So, gas lamps from 19th-century north America sit alongside ancient pitch-torches from southeast Asia, to show how different societies solved the challenge of lighting.
We pass cases of 'charms' and 'sympathetic magic', filled with sprigs of pine, amulets of stone, birch twigs and animal totems, before pausing at a case of fur-coats and Arctic sleds.
'The Pitt Rivers was both a setting and inspiration,' says Kieran, 'Lyra comes to this very corner to see these items, and the birch, pine and talismans are associated with her world's witches and polar bears.'
In a later book, a witch sends Lyra to the north Oxford Jericho neighbourhood and the Eagle Ironworks, which once existed in the real world. The factory has since been converted into flats, but the terraced houses that were home to factory workers remain, as does the canal that transported goods to the city. I follow it to the Thames, then cross the boggy Port Meadow to Godstow Abbey. The nunnery here fell into ruin during the Civil War, but in Lyra's world it survived until 1986.
Across the river is The Trout pub (the Trout Inn for Lyra), but I head back into town along the right bank of the Thames, stopping at the magnificent garden of The Perch pub in Binsey for devilled eggs and ale.
His Dark Materials ends with the portals being closed, and Lyra being separated from her love, Will, who lives in our world. They promise to visit the Oxford Botanic Garden in their respective worlds at noon on Midsummer's Day, to sit on a particular bench.
The bench is a real one, overlooking the river beneath a Cornelian cherry tree. In 2019, a sculpture was unveiled there, featuring Lyra's pine marten daemon and Will's cat daemon. They are watched over by a raven – Pullman's own daemon – which he chose because ravens steal things for good use.
Pullman may have stolen some of Oxford for his books, but by remixing its history and legends, he has made this old city feel more storied than ever.
How to do it
The former Boswells department store on Broad Street has been revamped as The Store hotel and is unbeatably located. The highlight is its rooftop bar, which overlooks Oxford's dreaming spires, including the Exeter College rooftops that Lyra scampers across. Doubles from £285 including breakfast.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Terraced homes fire in Gainsborough caused by exploding vape
An exploding vape caused a major fire which badly damaged a row of houses in Gainsborough, a fire service has blaze started at a property on Grey Street at about 13:15 BST on Friday before spreading to three other Fire and Rescue described it as a "significant fire" but said that nobody had been its height, eight engines were on scene, including from Nottinghamshire and Humberside Fire and Rescue, with nearby residents told to keep all doors and windows shut. The fire service said their response was scaled back to one crew later in the to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
What kind of country is this, where a lollipop man can't high-five the kids?
When my three children attended the local state primary school, we had a wonderful lollipop lady called Moreen who would safely escort them across the busiest road in the village. The children adored her and would often buy her chocolate bars from the village newsagents. Moreen was a bit of a local legend. As well as helping with the children, she volunteered at the village football club, called the bingo numbers at the village hall, worked in the local village café – and even manned the village post office at one point. When she passed away quite suddenly several years ago, the village was bereft – we'd lost one of those community-spirited people who willingly sacrificed their time for the benefit of others. You would have thought any local authority – propped up by ever increasing amounts of taxpayers' cash – would cherish these sorts of stalwarts. But no. This week we learnt that a lollipop man in East Yorkshire has been told he can no longer high-five children while they are crossing the road because it slows down traffic. Neil Cotton, 57, has spent the past two years working as a school crossing patrol officer in Howden, where he has formed a close bond with the children from the infant, junior and secondary schools as they crossed the junction known locally as Cross Keys Corner. But in a social media post he announced that he would not be able to high-five the children anymore, because 'it upsets some drivers having to wait another 10 seconds'. Clearly some idiotic and impatient drivers had complained – and rather than telling them to slow down, and take more care driving around at school drop-off and pick-up – the council has sided against Mr Cotton. A council fun sponge, sorry, spokesman said it was 'vitally important children learn to cross the road safely, without any distractions'. How utterly ridiculous. It takes seconds to give a child a high-five and put a smile on their face. No doubt some jobsworth at the council has decreed it poses a health and safety problem – even though pandering to road rage-prone commuters poses an even greater risk.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Major Bristol care provider celebrates its 100th birthday
A major care provider has marked its 100th birthday with a large garden of St Monica Trust's villages and care homes celebrated with cream cakes, strawberries and glasses of Pimm's, as well as music from brass quintet and poetry party was held at Cote Lane Retirement Village in Westbury on Trym, where the charity opened its doors in June Williams, head of the trust, which has care homes across Bristol and North Somerset, praised the residents, saying: "They volunteer in the organisation, they run the shops, they're even brewing their own beer at the moment!" He said the trust "believe in contribution" and "want to enable people to flourish by allowing them to develop relationships".VIP attendees at the summer party – where temperatures hit 30C – included the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Peaches Golding. Monica Carp, who has lived at Cote Lane for almost 20 years, spoke about the benefits of activities at the trust."You get what you give in," she said. "You can do what you like or you can help to organise events. I organised a craft group which I called 'pin and needles'."The charitable foundation works with older people across the west of England to improve their quality of life.
