A TREASURED children's tale came to life in one of the locations that inspired its author.

Anyone who wandered around Oxford's Christ Church Meadow on Friday might have spotted a headmaster dressed as a Mad Hatter, and children wearing flamboyantly-decorated waistcoats.

Christ Church Cathedral School staged an Alice Afternoon for pupils, including a trail of activities with an Alice in Wonderland theme.

Boys and girls got to 'pin the grin on the Cheshire Cat, concoct 'drink me' potions, create 'eat me' labels for little pots of marmalade and make 'caterpillars' from elderflower branches.

Lewis Carroll first met Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired the famous character, at Christ Church, and the idea for the story is said to have struck him as they boated along the River Thames.

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Christ Church Cathedral School transformed its woodland school into a wonderland on Friday, and challenged pupils to decorate waistcoats using the Mad Hatter as inspiration.

Parents enjoyed cream teas in the Mad Hatter’s tea tent with headmaster Richard Murray, who had dressed up as the eccentric character for the occasion.

The school’s senior and junior brass band provided the music while children played croquet with flamingo mallets, which they had made in woodwork classes.

Richard Morton, who used to teach at the independent school, read excerpts from Alice in Wonderland in a rainbow-coloured storytelling tent.

He said: "Mrs Morton and I found the whole afternoon enchanting.

"Judging the best waistcoats competition was such a difficult task, however, as they were all truly magnificent."

One of the pupils, Ben, said: "I put hearts on my waistcoat because I was the Queen of Hearts. I had a big axe. At the end the Queen of Hearts chases Alice to the door and that’s the end of the dream."