While Christ Church has strong links with Alice in Wonderland creator Lewis Carroll, it is also a popular destination for Harry Potter fans.

The Oxford University college and the Bodleian Library’s Divinity School provide a focal point in the blockbusting fantasy films, and Oxford Official Walking Tours, or other tour guides, can give visitors a special insight.

A guide will take walkers close to the staircase and cloisters used in the films, and explain how computer generated imagery is used to alter some of the locations in various scenes.

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A spokesman for tourism organisation Experience Oxfordshire said: “Christ Church Dining Hall looks striking from the outside and it is easy to see why it was the inspiration for Hogwarts Great Hall.

Oxford Mail:

“The Bodleian’s Divinity School was a location in several Harry Potter films and it is the oldest teaching hall in the University of Oxford, dating back to 1427.

“You can walk into The Schools Quadrangle where it is located.”

Harry Potter was filmed in the following Oxford locations.

•Christ Church - Bodley Staircase

•Christ Church College Hall

•Christ Church College Cloisters

•Bodleian Library - Divinity School

•Bodleian Library - Duke Humfrey’s Library

•New College - cloisters

•New College - courtyard and tree.

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Scenes of Christ Church Great Hall were filmed on a special set in the Warner Bros studios but the set was created with close reference to photos and descriptions of Christ Church’s hall.

The Bodleian’s Divinity School is another spot where Oxford University and Harry Potter meet.

Oxford Mail:

It was used as a filming location in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and in subsequent films as the Hogwarts Infirmary.

Remember that scene in the Philosopher’s Stone when Harry is recovering after his first encounter with Voldemort and Dumbledore comes to visit him.

Or when Harry and Hermione use the time turner leaving poor Ron in the hospital bed in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

No doubt you recognise it, the combination of the beautiful vaulted ceiling and those windows isn’t easily mistaken.

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The Divinity School features as Hogwarts hospital, it makes an appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the hall in which the students practice their Triwizard Tournament dances.

Oxford Mail:

Once you have seen the key Harry Potter locations, there are several shops where you can buy merchandise.

In March 2019, Sally Moss and her sister Joanne opened The Shop of Secrets, Oxford’s first specialist Harry Potter store in Broad Street.

Flaggs and Watsons in the same street had been selling merchandise based on JK Rowling’s stories for a number of years. House of Wonders opened in Cornmarket in 2020.

Oxford Mail:

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