Chapter 5: Potter, Dodson, Frideswide, and Van Dyck - Part II

Tuesday after class, Susan took a group to tour Christ Church. Chrrrist Church is a college within Oxford Univeristy. While its full name is Christs Church College, it is most often called Christ Church. Walking into the main seciton of the college, I turned left down a corridor and then right into a courtyard. In the courtyard was a fountain inscribed with all kinds of religious phrases, but mostly incribed with the prhase, “Praise him” the Next to the fountain is a tree whose base is inscribed with , “ The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nation.” Then I proceeded to the right into a room with a large staircase. This is the staircase in the first Harry Potter film where Harry and his classmates wait to enter the Great Hall for the first time. I then walked up the stairs and entered into the antechamber to the Christ Church dining hall. This is the same hall used in the first two Harry Potter films for the Great Hall. It is much smaller in reality. Everything is done in blue and the walls are covered in portraits. On the back wall to ther right when hyou walk into the room is a portrait of Charls Dodson (aka Lewis Caroll). He was a graduate of Christ Church and it was while he was there that he created the Alice in Wonderland stories. The fire irons in the dining hall are actually the inspiration for Alice is allowed to walk on. I actully saw someone get in trouble for steping on the grass. I walked forward and entered Christ Church Cathedral on my right. It was a facinating and beautiful cathedral. I followed the brochure around the cathedral finding the objects it pointed out. As I was looking at the intrecate designs of the stained glass a priets stood up and asked everyone to be still and quiet. He said a prayer for all those who were sick or hurting and he prayed for all the conflicts in the world. Then he asked that everyone join him in reciting the Lords Prayer. Though the acts may not have been totally scriptural, the respect for God and acknowedging that he is in control was touching.

After the priest’s prayer I found the placque to St. Frideswyde. In Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale, th miller swears by St. Frideswyde. This is no made up phrase, but a referance to the patron saint of Oxford. There is also a banner dedicated to her memory. In the farthest stained glass window in the middle panel was a depiction of the murder of Thomas a’Becket. However the original head of Becket was carfully cut out during the time in which having any efagy of him was illegal.

I in awe of the intrecacy of the design of every inch of the cathedral from the winows to the floor, to the furnicure and ceiling, left the cathedral to visit the gallery. The gallery was an extra pound to three pounds, but well worth it. It was not a large galllery, made up of only four rooms, yet every piece was authentic and came with a history. There was not photography allowed in the galllery, because the accidental flash of a camera damages the paintings by causing them to fade more quickly.