New College

Oxford

The college we send guests to first

Oxford makes an easy day out from the cottage, and if you are only going to step inside one college we always point people towards New College. Founded in 1379 and grand rather than showy, it has the things that make the older colleges worth the ticket: a 14th-century cloister that has barely changed, a chapel full of quiet treasures, and gardens that back right onto the medieval city wall. It sits just off New College Lane, along the little bridge-and-alley route past the Bridge of Sighs, so getting there is half the pleasure. We tend to fold it into a slow morning in town rather than rushing it, and it rewards taking your time: this is somewhere to sit on a bench in the quad for ten minutes rather than tick off in five.

The cloisters are the thing you remember. Walk through them on a grey afternoon and you can almost hear the shuffle of medieval scholars, and in the middle of the quad stands the great evergreen holm oak that Harry Potter fans come for: this is where Draco Malfoy is turned into a ferret in The Goblet of Fire. The gardens beyond stretch up to some of the best-preserved sections of Oxford's old city wall, with a raised mound that gives an unexpectedly good view over the rooftops and spires. In spring the borders are genuinely lovely; by autumn the whole place has softened into something you do not want to leave.

What to look for once you're inside

• The cloistersFourteenth-century, atmospheric and almost untouched, with the fan-vaulted walks that stood in for Hogwarts corridors on film.
• The holm oakThe evergreen tree at the centre of the cloister quad, the one from the Draco Malfoy ferret scene. You cannot miss it as you walk in.
• The chapelHome to Epstein's stark sculpture of Lazarus and a set of medieval misericords worth a slow, quiet look on their own.
• The gardens and city wallA stretch of Oxford's medieval defences runs along the garden, with a grassy mound to climb for the view over the spires.

Check opening before you go

This is the one thing worth flagging. New College is a working college first and a visitor attraction second, so admission is ticketed and the opening hours shift with the season. The main summer window runs from spring into autumn with entry off New College Lane; the winter months are shorter and more restricted, with reduced afternoon hours and days when it is closed to visitors entirely. It also closes at short notice for exams, ceremonies and college events. We would never set off without a quick look at the college's own visitor page first, both to confirm it is open and to check which gate to use that day. Have a look at the official visitor page → for current times and closures.

Making a day of it from the cottage

Oxford is about thirty-five to forty minutes' drive from the cottage. Rather than battle the city-centre one-way system and its expensive car parks, we always use one of the ring-road park-and-rides and take the bus in, which drops you a short walk from the college and saves the whole headache of parking in town. Make a proper morning of it: New College sits within a few minutes' walk of the Bodleian Library and a genuinely good lunch at the Turf Tavern, tucked down the alley almost next door. For where else to wander, our guide to Oxford and the wider things to do in the area round out the day.

“I always tell guests: skip the bigger, busier colleges and head straight to New College. It's the one that actually feels like stepping back in time.”

Visit the official site →

Also nearby

• Bodleian Library · Library · Oxford
• The Turf Tavern · Pub · Oxford
• Oxford · Town · Oxfordshire