Oxford's Best Writing Spots – Part I

Oxford has always harboured deep literary associations. Now the home of Wykeham’s Journals, we are proud to situate ourselves within the city’s long lineage of literature lovers. From Matthew Arnold’s ‘dreaming spires’ to Alice Oswald, now the University of Oxford Professor of Poetry, the city has a litany of cultural heavyweights to its name. What better place to do a bit of writing yourself?

There’s no shortage of fusty pubs to hole up in, secluded college gardens and punts for hire (if you want to whet the Oxonian whistle further). 

But for the uninitiated, the city can be a maze of thirteenth-century walls and over-priced tourist traps with spurious claims to cultural significance. 

So, to save you traipsing over godforsaken cobblestones, and to maximise time spent writing, here’s a list of the spots you really need to know about.

Lamb & Flag, St. Giles

If the idea of sipping on a cleansing ale in the same pub that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien frequented tickles your thirst and your fancy, then you’re in luck. In business since 1566, the Lamb & Flag has one of the finer selections of beer in Oxford. Best enjoyed, like many of its drinks, from the  bustle of the street. A selection of outdoor tables and chairs fringe the west-facing side, which means you catch the last of the sun as it disappears behind the roofs of Jericho. We suggest you take a pew, journal in hand, and pen a few thoughts whilst wistfully contemplating the sky. One of its many benefits is that it’s slightly too far out of the centre for many tourists to stray into its path. This means you’re shoulder to shoulder with locals (or students with great taste in public houses), and can easily eavesdrop on conversations about transubstantiation in John Donne or epistemology. If it happens to rain, scurry inside to the historic shelter of medieval-cum-Georgian interior. Nab one of the arm chairs, if you can, but if you really can’t find a seat, make your way to the back room near the loos… there’s always a seat going there. A writerly spot for thinkers and drinkers alike.

Independent Cafe, St. Aldates

Second on our list (in no particular order) is the charming Independent Cafe, located at 85-87 St. Aldate's. Whilst the weather is no more compliant in Oxford than the rest of the country, this small café with its wood-lined interiors, low ceilings and arched, Gothic-style windows is really best frequented on those rare sunny days when the light streams in, reflecting off your laptop screen and making working pleasingly difficult. You have, therefore, no choice but to sit and contemplate the nature of existence, with the rays warming your back and the (very reasonably priced) coffee warming your innards. A café like no other, which has doubtless served as a petri dish of ideas for students, academics and writers for years. Possibly one of the best people-watching spots in Oxford if you get the right seat. Why not lose a few hours gazing out at the multitudes from on high, coffee in hand, pen poised. Whether it's aestheticism or productivity you seek, the Independent Café is serving up more than just hot beverages. All in all, a great fixture in Oxford’s hospitality scene, highly recommended by all at Wykeham’s.

University Parks, Any Vacant Bench...

Post-exams, Oxford’s University Parks exchanges its usually propulsive rhythm (early morning sports practice, students striding purposefully to their respective faculties), for a more heady state. Groups gather on picnic blankets in the afternoon sun, friends amble with ice creams, punters throng in bottle-necks on the river and a merry indolence descends. The parks are part of the city’s pulse. A cut-through for many students from college to town, and a place to secure a little quiet in the mayhem of term. But amid the trees spots of solitude can be found, and various benches – dedicated to those who loved the park long before we did – encourage moments of repose. Take a stroll to the east side of the park and follow Lazenbee’s Ground Walk, which loops about a pool of bullrushes before settling into your stride alongside the river. Find a bench and open your journal. This is the perfect place to write. 

Christ Church Meadow, North-Facing Side

Perhaps an obvious choice for those in-the-know, but it goes without saying that Christ Church Meadow is one of the pastoral jewels of Oxford. Triangulated by the River Cherwell, the Thames and a cluster of the oldest colleges (including Christ Church, Merton and Corpus Christi), walkers are afforded the dual, if incongruous pleasure of watching both the elegant flotillas of rowers on the Thames, and the markedly less elegant punters who venture along the Cherwell. We would highly recommend getting down there in the early hours, when the first of the rowers are out. Settle yourself on a bench with your journal, and allow your thoughts to taper into the air. There’s a steady stream of walkers and runners, voices come and go and the breeze ebbs through horse-chestnut trees. The long-horn cows which roam in the centre of the meadow are a curiosity, and there’s peace to be found in watching them munch rapaciously through the foliage. Allow your writing to flow beneath the green-gabled canopy of old trees.