Oxford University attracts visitors from all over the globe who want to pay homage to the people who came to study, many of them shaping the way we see the world.
From the hallowed halls to grand architecture, and from honorary statues to commissioned portraits, the whole city is like a living, breathing museum dedicated to great discoveries and talented minds.
At the centre of study lies the Bodleian Library, or “The Bod” for short, standing as a bastion of knowledge. You might expect that such a regarded place might be off-limits to external visitors to the university, but the good news is that you can visit the Bodleian Library on a guided tour.
On a recent trip to Oxford, I joined one of the tours and now I want to share my thoughts about the tour with you.
Bodleian Library tour options & how to book
There are three tours to choose from that last either 30, 60 or 90 minutes. Unfortunately the longest tour was fully booked, so I opted for the 60-minute tour granting access to all the main rooms apart from the Radcliffe Camera. If you want to see inside this specific library, you will need to join the 90-minute tour. I recommend booking online in advance as it often sells out quickly.
For the shorter tours, you can book in person on the day from the information desk in the Weston Library. If you’re going in peak season or the weekend, I suggest heading there as soon as you arrive in Oxford to avoid disappointment.
The Bodleian Library – a collection of libraries
The Bodleian Library is actually a collection of libraries or rooms and my tour brought me inside the Duke Humfrey’s Library, the Divinity Room, the Convocation House and the University Courtroom. These rooms make up the Bodleian Library along with the Weston Library which was completed in the 21st century to facilitate the need for more storage when the university started running out of space for their huge collection.
Unbelievably, the libraries hold 13 million printed items! It is the second largest library in England, after the British Library.
Each room has something special and unique to offer. My delightful tour guide brought each room alive in a way that only someone can when they are genuinely passionate about a topic.
She delved into the history of library and pointed out interesting facets of each building. She regaled us with stories of famous students misbehaving and how some rooms have adapted their purpose over the course of centuries. I can’t forget to mention the library’s link to Harry Potter too.
Hogwarts Library
On my tour there were a couple of Potterheads eager to step foot inside the Duke Humfrey’s Library, the same library used for Hogwarts Library. This tour isn’t just for book lovers, it’s for anyone interested in history, architecture, and of course, Harry Potter.
🪄If you’re a self-confessed Potterhead you will be happy to learn that you can join a special Harry Potter tour of Oxford that focuses on taking you to filming locations dotted around the city.
Now I will share with you some information and anecdotes that my guide shared with us about each room:
Duke Humfrey’s Library
The tour began in the stunning Duke Humfrey’s Library, the University’s oldest reading room. Founded in 15th Century, it’s also one of the oldest in Europe. Despite seeing photos of the room beforehand, I wasn’t prepared for how inspired I would feel in person.
It is named after Humfhrey of Lancaster (3 October 1390 – 23 February 1447), 1st Duke of Gloucester, and son of King Henry IV. He donated his important manuscript collection to the University and set the ball rolling for what would become one of the world’s most important book collections.
If you could dream up a perfect library, I bet this wouldn’t be far off the mark. Walls panelled with dreamy dark wood, a ceiling that looks more like something you would find in an Italian palace, and leather bound books stretching from floor to ceiling.
Today, it’s still a working library that is open for students. However, unlike many libraries, it does not lend any books out. If students need access to a particular book, they’ll have to do all their reading in that room. For someone like me, who likes to read in bed, this might pose a problem. In reality, since I never received the marks in school to attend such a university, this would never be an actual problem for me! Silver linings, eh?
The books are extremely old and precious with many being first editions, or completely one offs. So precious in fact that they used to be fixed to the bookcase with metal chains which all seems very medieval now.
Realising that heavy chains were damaging the books, most have now been carefully removed. My guide took a book from the shelf to evidence where the chains used to be, and indeed I could see the marks.
All the books were pretty hefty and bound tightly, which thankfully helped prevent the books from completely falling part under the weight of chains and general handling over the centuries. Yes, I’m not talking decades with most of the books in this library, I’m talking centuries.
The Convocation House
Next up we entered Convocation House which was built as a meeting place for the University’s governing body. In the past it has also served as a parliament chamber during turbulent times such as during the Civil War (1642 to 1651) when Oxford was used as an alternative to Westminster.
It was also used intermittently during plague outbreaks. Those who had the financial means to flee London, did so.
Little has changed about the room, making it easy to imagine a posse of posh old men getting into heated debates while donning silk-lined capes and gold-rimmed monocles.
Nowadays, the room is used for conferring degrees, and it also side gigs as a wedding venue. You can see why with its stunning fan-vaulted ceiling. It’s an absolute beauty.
I could have spent hours just gazing up at the ceiling. You won’t find craftsmanship that his on new buildings. As the old saying goes, they don’t make them like to they to. You need to head to old cathedrals or prestigous institutions, many of which are probably closed to the public.
The University’s Courtroom
Next door to the Convocation House is a smaller room that was formerly the University’s courtroom. However, by the late 19th Century it lost many of its earlier powers and became chiefly a debt-recovery court.
The matters were mostly trivial, such as shopkeepers and tradespeople trying to recoup money owed to them by students at the University. The words privileged and entitled springs to mind…
Amusingly, one of the universities biggest culprits for skipping bills was none other than Oscar Wilde. You might be thinking that he forgot to pay for items related to his studies like books and writing materials, but far from it!
Documents show that he owned large amount of money to local jewellers and tailors. On the tour, we were shown some of the letters which I thought was a nice touch. I found myself chuckling at at the sheer audacity of Mr Wilde.
Instead of seeing his obvious wrong-doing, Wilde doubled down and wrote a letter to the University Commission, stating that these people needed to be investigated for corruption. In true fashion, he ended the letter ‘I trust that this monstrous claim will not be allowed to remain’ but it appears that his protests were to no avail. Hah! I’m not sure if I ever paid off the debt, he probably absconded to Paris.
The Divinity Room
The last room we visited was the Divinity Room and for want of a better word it is truly divine. It was formerly used for theological studies before it was given to the Bodleian Libraries in 1968.
The fan-vaulted ceiling, drenched in detail and architectural magnificence, really is a thing of absolute beauty. The Divinity Room was built between 1427 and 1483. You might be wandering why it took so long to complete, well, to pull off something so detailed and elaborate took a painstakingly long time.
So long in fact, the university grew tired and impatient. Time and money became an issue which led to the master mason, Richard Winchcombe, being sacked and then replaced by Thomas Elkyn. He completed the rest of the room to a high standard, albeit in a simpler style at the behest of the university. I wouldn’t have noticed, but our guided pointed out the differences where you can see the style shift from being incredibly ornate to something that is only marginally less so. Richard Winchcombe was certainly a perfectionist!
Final thoughts…
If you were thinking of doing this tour, hopefully I’ve convinced you.
Joining a guided tour grants you access to rooms you wouldn’t be able to visit on your own unless you’re a university student. In addition to the tour are the wonderful guides who typically work as librarians at the Bodleian. They have a wealth of behind-the-scenes knowledge to truly bring the history of this fascinating place alive. You’ll be privy to lots of interesting tadbits and entertaining anecdotes. Out of all the things I did on my trip to Oxford, visiting the Bodleian Library ranks at the top.
If you’re visiting Oxford and looking for more things to do, check out my comprehensive city guide: Oxford Travel Guide – the Quintessential and the Quirky
Staying overnight in Oxford
There’s a lot to see in Oxford so I recommend staying overnight if you can – make a weekend of it, or travel through the week. Experiencing the city at night feels particularly magical. The old-fashioned street lamps cast a beautiful warm yellow hue over all the cobbled streets and grand architecture.
Want to stay overnight? → Check hotels in Oxford
