One Oxford open space walkers sometimes forget about is Christ Church Meadow.

With an entrance off St Aldate’s, the meadow is popular with tourists and is a good location for people to take a break from the shops, traffic and offices for an hour or more.

The Oxford University college opened a new visitor centre at the end of 2019 and this is the perfect place to start a walk.

Oxford Mail:

There are one million visitors each year to the meadow, with 452,000 of them paying visitors to see inside the college where The Hall was used for Harry Potter films.

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The new visitor centre with thatched roof features a shop and ticket office, with toilet facilities attached.

And a neighbouring 19th century barn has been converted and includes an interpretation space in an old bull pen for material about Christ Church, focusing initially on the meadow, civil war defence, plus facilities for academic research and conference use.

The college has devised its own walk around the meadow for visitors at: chch.ox.ac.uk/plan-your-visit/brief-guide-meadow

It’s about one-and-a-half miles long and should take about 40 minutes.

After leaving the visitor centre, walkers will find themselves in New Walk.

The college website says: “Trees were originally planted here in 1865, to form a path down to the river from the newly-completed Meadow Building.

Oxford Mail:

“This replaced a less direct route along the Trill Mill stream. None of the original trees survive - they may well have been elms, which are very susceptible to disease.

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“Today, the avenue is a mix of lime and poplar trees. Many of the poplars are reaching the end of their lives and are now being replaced by a more appropriate lime species.”

Another highlight is The Cherwell Path, which forms part of the ornamental Meadow walk, visible in maps of the area as far back as 1578.

The trail along the Cherwell Path back towards the city runs parallel to a drainage ditch for the flood Meadow; the old channel of the River Cherwell is to the right, with Boat House Island beyond. This island was formed in the 1880s, when the Cherwell New Cut was dug to take flood water more quickly to the River Thames.

The largely untouched woodland in this area is a haven for wildlife.

Walkers can also see Jubilee Bridge, which links Christ Church Meadow with the Christ Church sports ground and Liddell Annexe on the Iffley Road.

Oxford Mail:

The bridge was installed in 2013 thanks to a donation by Christ Church alumni.

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If they have time, walkers could finish their visit to the meadow by calling in at the Botanic Garden, via Rose Lane. Connecting the Cherwell Path and Broad Walk to the High Street, Rose Lane separates the meadow from the Botanic Garden.