Oxford, UK is a very popular area for tourists to visit in all of England
. This is because it is a somewhat small city but has many different attractions for tourists to enjoy which are all close to each other so they are able to visit many in one day without worrying about the hassle of finding how to get from one to another.
One of Oxfords best and oldest attractions is the Ashmolean Museum. It actually has the title of the first museum in all of Britain. The building first allowed visitors on May 24th, 1683 over 300 years ago. In 1718 the Alfred Jewel was added to the collection and quickly became the most prized possession in the entire collection. It is meant to be placed on the end of a scepter or staff and is an ornament that is gold encrusted to add to its tremendous value and worth. The museums collection was split during the mid Victorian period and some objects were placed in other museums. Admission to the museum is free.
The Bodleian Library is a unique library that has a variety of different libraries which are spread throughout the entire city. The oldest portions of it were erected in the year 1488. Thomas Bodley began the series of Bodleian buildings though in 1613. Every single book that is printed in Britain mails a copy to the library so their collection cannot be rivaled by any other library facility. No one is allowed to borrow its books either so all individuals must read at the location and they must be members to access the reading rooms.
Blackwells Book is another tourist attraction in Oxford which was founded in 1879 originally and unique because it is uncommon to see book stores as attractions for tourists w. It lays claim to have the largest room dedicated to selling books in all of Europe at 10,000 square feet and is called the Norrington room. It is actually located underground under the Trinity College Gardens and the store itself has 9 individual branches which specialize in different book genres.
The Oxford Botanic Gardens are another tourist hit. Henry Danvers founded it under the name Physic Gardens in 1621 to study plants for medicinal purposes. It lies on what used to be an old Jewish cemetery and cost a whopping 5000 pounds. The Oxford Botanic Gardens are proud to be the oldest in all of Europe.
The Radcliffe Camera is a landmark that is present in the city of Oxford as well. The word camera in this context actually means room and cost 40,000 pounds which was given by Doctor John Radcliffe. Building it took 12 years from 1737-1749 and designed by James Gibbs. It had a library in it which first was used for a variety of books in both general and scientific varieties before they were re-located to others. The public cannot visit the camera unfortunately but it does hold over 600,000 books underneath Radcliffe Square which is quite the remarkable fact.