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Harry Potter Fans: Movies at Oxford University’s Divinity School

July 21st, 2009 by Jasmine

harrypotter

In honour of the recently released Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we pay tribute to the unsung heroes in the movie: the landmark buildings and their interior at Oxford University. Oxford’s stunning Divinity School (top left), built in 1488, is the University’s oldest teaching room. The Divinity School, the Duke Humfrey’s Room (top right) at the Bodleian Library (bottom), and their surroundings have been featured prominently in the Harry Potter series.

At night: Wizard pupils Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley studied and found mischief in the Bodleian Library.

At night: Wizard pupils Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley studied and found mischief in the Bodleian Library.

I was more building-struck than star-struck

To capitalize on my fortunate work situation (Bicester Village is a 10-minute cab ride away from Oxford), I signed up for an exclusive tour of the Divinity School at Oxford University.  To be completely honest, I half-expected Anna, our tour guide at the Divinity School, to introduce us to wizard pupils from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If these buildings could speak, they would share with you these secrets:

  • In The Prisoner of Azkaban, the Divinity School was used in the ballroom scene at Hogwarts.
  • In Duke Humfrey’s Reading Room, a book ‘shouted’ at Harry Potter.
  • In The Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone released in 2001, the Divinity School became the sanatorium for Hogwarts. Wizard pupils Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson, Burberry’s newest icon), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) would go there if they fell ill.

If buildings could sign autographs…

The Oxford buildings are no strangers to the world of film, stars, and Hollywood glamour. You can also spot them in other big screen productions:

  • In 2006, the film The Golden Compass, starring Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, featured the Clarendon and Old Schools Quads, as well as a fake moon on a crane behind the camera.
  • In 1993, a short scene from Shadowlands, a film on C.S. Lewis, was shot in the Lower Reading room at the Bodleian Library.
  • In 1994, the Divinity School and the adjacent 17th-Century Convocation House was featured in The Madness of King George. Nigel Hawthorne was Mr King and Helen Mirren played Mrs King.

There are benefits to being a Muggle…

At the end of the tour, I was more building-struck than star-struck.

Lucky for us Muggles, the medieval Divinity School, the oldest teaching room of the University built in 1488, the 17th-Century Convocation House, and the Bodleian Library are available both for private function hire and tours–wicked!

So, why not combine a day of shopping at Bicester Village, with an afternoon of exploring the glamorous history of the Divinity School?

Information provided by the Bodleian Library, located on Board Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG. For tours and private hire, please contact them on +44 01865 277224.

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‘Behind-the-stacks’ secrets at Oxford University Bodleian Library

April 29th, 2009 by Jasmine
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The Duke Humfrey's Reading Room contains rare books, some are which are very old and are still chained to their shelves, as they were originally.

Bicester Village is at the heart of one of England’s most historic regions. The town of Oxford is only 14 miles away.  The Bodleian Library, situated in the centre of Oxford University, is a great destination to explore after a fun day of shopping.  After an exclusive tour with the librarians, we uncovered these useful pieces of  “cocktail-party” trivia:

  • No books can be taken out of the Bodleian Library; even King Charles I was refused permission to borrow a book in 1645. Only the ubiquitous Google, King of the Internet, was granted an exception when 1 million books were digitized in recent years.
  • Books in the Duke Humfrey’s Library, the Bodleian’s oldest reading room, are chained to their shelves. These books date prior to 1641.
  • To look at a book that cannot be found on the online catalogue, you relay a paper request in a pneumatic tube (cylindrical metal container that you pop into a vacuum) which was installed in 1940. This is transported in underground pipes and in 19 seconds, it reaches the New Library, a part of the Library dating from the 20th Century.
  • In the Library’s reserve, books are organised by size, not subjects.
  • Only in the 20th century were women allowed to take exams in the Divinity School alongside their male counterparts. Similarly in America, only in 1943-during WWII-did Harvard and Radcliffe sign an agreement, allowing women students into Harvard classrooms for the first time.
  • Some of the books are kept underground in salt mines in Cheshire. In 2010, construction on exhibition galleries and learning spaces will begin, transforming the largest academic library in Britain into one that is more accessible to the public.

Guided tours at the Bodleian Library, only a 20 min. car ride away from Bicester Village, can be arranged by calling 01865  277224.  Join Friends of the Bodleian Library. Admissions is free to their Exhibitions and Events.

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