On the up: the Ashmolean museum strides into the 21st century | Art and design | The Guardian Architecture On the up: the Ashmolean museum strides into the 21st century It's Britain's oldest museum – and it's just had a thrilling revamp. Here's a sneak preview of the all-new Ashmolean New school … a glass walkway snakes its way through the Ashmolean Museum Extension, Oxford. Photograph: Richard Bryant/Arcaid Monday 26 October 2009 17.30 EDT First published on Monday 26 October 2009 17.30 EDT Share on Messenger Close The redevelopment of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum cost £61m. Where has all that money gone? Looking from the street, it's hard to believe a single penny has been spent on this glorious early Victorian building that contrasts so strikingly with the medieval and neo-Gothic buildings it faces. The Ashmolean – an architectural wonder by Charles Robert Cockerell that fuses ancient Roman, Greek and English baroque design – seems all but unchanged since the day it opened in 1845.

This, though, is part of the conjuring trick Christopher Brown, director of the museum since 1998, and his architect Rick Mather have pulled off. While Cockerell's facades have been spruced up a little and the magnificent central door once again forms the museum's principal entrance (a side door was used for many years), those millions have been spent almost entirely out of sight. It is behind Cockerell's neo-classical facades that a new world opens up, one that radically transforms the scale of this, Britain's oldest public museum. Beyond the Grecian entrance lobby, Mather's unexpectedly large six-storey extension might easily be considered the tail that wags the Ashmolean dog, were it not so restrained and refined. Mather has shoehorned a huge, modern concrete-and-glass box into the courtyard behind Cockerell's creation. From the surrounding streets, this generous extension is invisible; the streetscape, a heady mix of medieval, Georgian, Regency and Victorian Oxford, is untouched. The huge concrete-and-glass extension is invisible from the street By any standards, this is a clever sleight of hand, since Mather's extension actually doubles the museum's display space.

Its six floors – one underground – boast no fewer than 39 new galleries, including four for temporary exhibitions, together with an education centre, offices and Oxford's first rooftop restaurant. Yet, for all its space, clarity and light, this is a complex design. The galleries are set on two different axes (north-south and east-west) over the six floors. Some are three metres high, others six. They come together like a multidimensional jigsaw puzzle, the pieces connected by enclosed glass bridges passing through and over a great central stairwell, lit from above. This stairwell is itself a quietly spectacular space, one side of which is given over to a gleaming white architectural cliff into which are set flight after flight of white Portland stone stairs, linking the tiers of galleries and the rooftop restaurant. While the geometry is intricate, the effect is relaxed, engaging and generous. "The idea," says Mather, "is to entice visitors to make a great figure of eight – up, down and through the galleries. The contents of each can be glimpsed from the one before, through openings and windows. So you get pulled along.

And, wherever you go, whatever you're looking at, the central stairwell, which holds the design together, is easy to find. We know a lot about 'museum fatigue', so we've made a sequence of spaces that, hopefully, will keep this to a minimum." Wherever they walk, on whatever crisscrossing floor or bridge, visitors will circle back to that six-storey stairwell, only to be lured into ever more galleries, each presenting more of the Ashmolean's rich collection than has ever been seen before. "Much of what we have has been in store for donkey's years," says Brown, the Ashmolean's 17th director. The first was Robert Plot in 1683, when the museum was housed in what is now the University of Oxford's Museum of History and Science, a building commissioned for the celebrated antiquary Elias Ashmole's collection of curiosities. "Our problem was that the Cockerell building, although very fine, is actually tall and narrow. It's not that roomy.

Every bridge and walkway leads back to the enormous six-storey stairwell "In the early 1890s, to get more space, the courtyard was filled with five pitched-roof sheds, rather industrial affairs rushed up by the local architect HW Moore. These were never satisfactory. A part of one shed's roof blew off a few years ago. They were, though, listed Grade I, because they were seen as part of the historically important Cockerell design. So they might have stood in our way. Luckily, the conservationists let us off lightly when we proposed demolition. Once we managed to convince everyone of what we could do with the space, without it being visible from the surrounding streets, we were up and running." In fact, Brown has been working on the project for 11 years. But then his is a complicated museum, one that houses collections of both art and archaeology. Here you will find Constable cloudscapes and pre-Raphaelites, along with paintings by Dutch masters and Picasso. Balancing these are Greek and Roman sculptures, fragments from Minoan excavations, Middle Eastern robes and even a wooden doorway from Yemen donated by Lawrence of Arabia.

Then there are Anglo-Saxon jewels, prized majolica pottery, and the famous "Messiah" Stradivarius violin no one is allowed to play ("A condition of its being here," says Brown. "Rather sad, don't you think?"). Guy Fawkes's lantern (yes, the very one he carried with him on the gunpowder plot) is there, too, as well as antique bowls from Iraq and Iran, and Chinese political posters from the Cultural Revolution . . . and so the list goes on. The only things missing are a Cézanne, stolen (probably to order) from the Ashmolean in 1999; and what was one of the museum's greatest treasures – the world's only stuffed dodo. Had it not been allowed to rot back in the 18th century, it would have been quite a crowd-puller today. The genius of 'fat walls' When it reopens on 7 November, the new Ashmolean should certainly engage a wider public than before, although Brown is cautious when discussing visitor numbers.

"Best not to get carried away," he says, suggesting a yearly figure of 500,000, which would be an increase of 100,000. It seems a conservative estimate: this is the first major modern museum in Oxford, a city of wealthy yet small independent colleges that rarely join together to shape a big building for public events. A magical combination of cool stone, oak floors, steel and glass While Mather's Ashmolean addition is a magical combination of cool stone, oak floors, spruce plywood, polished plaster, steel, glass and zinc, all its elements have been brought together with a lightness of touch. This is a characteristic of Mather buildings, from his Zen restaurants of the 1980s to the new Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, but here it is also down to the way the architects and engineers have tucked the mechanical and electrical services into the walls. So floor-to-ceiling heights are as generous as they can be, while what Mather calls his "fat walls" double as recessed exhibition spaces. The result is a building in which every last inch is hard at work, while giving the opposite impression.

Brown and Mather have not only brought fresh life to the Ashmolean; they have also given Oxford a fine new public place where visitors can meet, eat and while away rainy days rummaging happily through one of the country's great treasure chests. The fact that this enchanting museum is also an active seat of research and scholarship only adds to its lustre, while the reality of seeing so many objects – squirrelled away for too many years – out on display will make the Ashmolean a museum to return to, time and again. The Ashmolean - The World's Oldest Museum in Oxford What is the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology: The Ashmolean is the UK's oldest museum open to the public. It is also part of Oxford University and museum staff and collections are often incorporated in the univeristy's degree courses. The Ashmolean is named after Elias Ashmole, a seventeenth century collector of antiquities, who gave his collections to the museum on condition that they be housed in a custom built museum.

The museum, as it exists today, is the product of a 1908 merger of the original Ashmolean with an even older institution, The University Art Collection, which was founded in 1620 as a collection of portraits and curiosities displayed in the University's Bodleian Library . A Cabinet of Curiosities: As was often the case in the 17th to the early 19th centuries, collectors of antiquities amassed objects of curiosity in a relatively random, though fascinating way. Some of those kinds of objects are still displayed at the Ashmolean. continue reading below our video Before Your Road Trip, Watch This So, for example, visitors can see the lantern Guy Fawkes was carrying on his way to blow up Parliament in 1605 and a sword which may have been given to Henry VIII by the Pope - before he decided to divorce and break away from the Church, no doubt. The museum also exhibits a Stradivarius violin known as the "Messiah",one of the most famous Stradivari in existence.

It is not called the Messiah because it is in any way miraculous, but simply because one of its owners in the 19th century often boasted about it but never showed it. A friend commented that it was like the Messiah, "always promised but never appearing." The violin is never played but forms part of the university's study collection. The "dickhead" Plate and Other Treasures of the Ashmolean: Also among the eccentric treasures of the Ashmolean are: Powhatan's deerskin mantle. Powhatan was Pocahontas' father. The Alfred Jewel, an Anglo Saxon ornament of gold, enamel and rock crystal. An Anglo Saxon inscription on the jewel says "Alfred ordered me to be made," indicating an association with King Alfred the Great. Drawings by Michaelangelo , Raphael and Rembrandt Several other old master paintings A striking sculptured bust of Sir Christopher Wren , credited to a sculptor in his studio and most likely done from life. The Jericho Skull, a 10,000 year old representation of the human form and one of the oldest ever found. A Renaissance dirty joke in Maiolica.

The pottery plate, painted by Francesco Urbini, is decorated with a head composed entirely of penises, an inscription on the plate says "Every man looks at me as if I were a head of dicks" Astonishing to realise that particular vulgarity has a history that goes back almost 500 years. The plate, painted between 1530 and 1537, it is said to be a satirical comment on the sexual explicitness of many of the writers of the period. The Ashmolean Transformed: In 2009, the Ashmolean reopened to the public after undergoing a £61 million renovation. The transformation involved creating an entirely new, five story building within the Ashmolean's historic facade. The new building has given the Ashmolean 100% more exhibition space and has turned it from a fusty institution, academic in a very old fashioned sense, to an exciting contemporary museum, capable of showing off its world famous collections to a modern audience. Today's visitors can explore 39 new galleries, learning about the history of civilizations through time, east and west. The renovations did not simply create a new look museum but a virtually new museum.

When it was reopened by the Queen in 2009, Christopher Brown, the museum's director, told the BBC, "From the outset, our ambition has been to create not just an improved and expanded version of Britain's oldest public museum, but something significantly different in kind: A new way of showcasing the Ashmolean's remarkable collections, for the benefit of the widest possible audience." If you are planning a visit to Oxford or the nearby areas - The Cotswolds , Stratford-upon-Avon , Blenheim Palace are all within striking distance - you can see for yourself whether they succeeded. Knossos: Though it began in the eccentric curiosities of early collectors, the Ashmolean has since become one of the world's great centers for study collections of European and Eastern Antiquities. The Ashmolean's collection of Greek antiquities is considered one of the finest in the world, outside of Greece. Sir Arthur Evans, who unearthed the Bronze Age, Minoan city of Knossos on Crete, was Keeper of the Ashmolean from 1884 to 1908.

He bequeathed his archive, including architectural plans, elevations and drawings done during the excavations and reconstructions, to the museum. The archive can be explored online as part of the Oxford Digital Library. Objects from Evans' excavations in the Palace of Minos at Knossos form the bulk of the museum's important Cretan collection, given to Evans by successive Greek governments in recognition of his work. Anyone familiar with the criticism that followed Evans' Knossos reconstructions - which many believe masked much of the real archaeology of the site - will be interested in the materials that show the site as it was excavated and describe the reconstructions in detail. Egyptian Antiquities: Egyptian and Nubian antiquities formed part of the Ashmolean collection almost from the very beginning - with objects coming into the collections as early as 1683. But most of the Egyptian collection dates from British excavations from the 1880s to the late 1930s. The Oxford archaeologist and professor cum adventurer could have been the model for Indiana Jones. Today, the Ashmoleans Egyptian collections are the most extensive in Britain and cover every period of Egyptian history from prehistory through the 7th century AD.

In November 2011, the museum opened new Egyptian and Nubian galleries, created at a cost of £5million. The new galleries take visitors on a chronological journey of 5,000 years and allow the museum to exhibit parts of its world famous collection that have been in storage for decades. The Western Art Print Room: Looking at portfolios of drawings and small watercolors is a very intimate way of looking at works of art. Some of the Ashmolean's greatest treasures - including its Michaelangelo and Raphael drawings - are displayed in this way in the Western Art Print Room. Also there, prints and drawings by Rembrandt, Leonardo, Durer and Guercino. Among the watercolors are 100 by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. The John Ruskin teaching collection includes more than 300 of his own drawings and seventy seven sheets by J.M.W. Turner. Some of the treasures of the print room can only be seen by appointment, so check before you go.

Visiting the Ashmolean: Ashmolean Museum - About - Google+ Ashmolean Museum Beaumont St Oxford OX1 2PH UK‎ Beaumont StreetGBOxfordOX1 2PH Friday 10AM–5PMSaturday 10AM–5PMSunday 10AM–5PMMonday ClosedTuesday 10AM–5PMWednesday 10AM–5PMThursday 10AM–5PM Google+ URL Ancient and modern art and antiquities covering world civilisations, plus fine and applied arts.- Google "The main staircase was an excellent place for the group wedding pictures." "Even the staff seemed bored our of their minds." Photos colin seabrook a week ago Lovely compact museum that's recently had lots of money spent on refurbishment. Could easily spend a morning wandering round the galleries. Only had an hour so will have to go back. Really convenient in the centre of Oxford. Highly recommended. Linda Grace a month ago Brilliant museum, free entry but please, please donate. Look for the Alfred jewel and Lawrence of Arabia's robes! Some gorgeous exhibitions with paid entry too. Great but noisy cafe in basement and a Benugo rooftop restaurant.

Jesse Huang 5 months ago Not only does the Ashmolean have some really unique and exemplary pieces of each culture and time period, but the format of the museum really helps you appreciate the significance of each piece. The way pieces are displayed sets up the viewer not only for a great viewing experience, but also a great learning experience. Important historical or cultural context is often provided, and in many cases, the exhibits may have mini-exhibits demonstrating how a piece could have been made at the time - so you walk away with a deep connection to what you saw. Floor -1 stands out, which gives context on all the materials that humans have ever used to make craft and art, and was simply superb. Visiting this museum will help you appreciate every other museum you go to. Highly recommended. • • • Not only does the Ashmolean have some really unique and exemplary pieces of each culture and time period, but the format of the museum really helps you appreciate the significance of each piece. The way pieces are displayed sets up the viewer not only for a great viewing experience, but also a great learning experience.

Important historical or cultural context is often provided, and in many cases, the exhibits may have mini-exhibits demonstrating how a piece could have been made at the time - so you walk away with a deep connection to what you saw. Floor -1 stands out, which gives context on all the materials that humans have ever used to make craft and art, and was simply superb. Visiting this museum will help you appreciate every other museum you go to. Highly recommended. • • • Steve The Techy 2 months ago Our visit was to attend a wedding in the evening. Venue was fabulous for a wedding. The main staircase was an excellent place for the group wedding pictures. The canapes were served under the main staircase, the meal was held in the statue (cast) gallery. The organisation was great. The wedding coordinator was always at hand and made sure everything progressed to schedule. Daniel Avery 3 weeks ago Good cafe which can be a great place to get work done in the city centre. The exhibits are all interesting, although often lack the level of detailed description about the pieces which I would like. There is a small Etruscan exhibit, which I haven't really seen elsewhere. Sally Lush a month ago Love Ashmolean Museum.

There is so much to see here and despite having lived around Oxford all my life have never found going uninteresting. Lovely café upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs has a (limited) view of university building spires etc. Rob Dewfall 2 weeks ago An absolute must-see if you are in Oxford. A beautiful museum with brilliant displays. If almost feels like a miniature version of the British Museum. The cafe is horribly overpriced, but then entrance is free. Titian to Canaletto: Drawing in Venice Until 10 January 2016 Discover how the splendour of Venice and its shimmering light influenced artists, resulting in compelling portraits, atmospheric landscapes of exceptional beauty and sensuous figure studies. This is the first major exhibition of Venetian drawings in the UK and it includes over 100 magnificent works from the Uffizi, the Ashmolean, and Christ Church, Oxford, by artists such as Titian, Tintoretto and Canaletto. In a parallel exhibition, Jenny Saville Drawing, one of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Jenny Saville, has produced new work on paper and canvas in response to the powerful qualities of Venetian drawing.

Find out more and book online at: ﻿ Read moreShow less Britain’s Ashmolean Museum Reopens - Biblical Archaeology Society Britain’s Ashmolean Museum Reopens The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology Fax: (01865) 278018 Dates: Reopening November 7, 2009 After a multi-million pound renovation, Britain’s oldest public museum—the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford—reopened on November 7, 2009. The revamped museum consists of 39 galleries that include 4 temporary exhibition galleries, an education center, state-of-the-art conservation studios and Oxford’s first rooftop restaurant, The Ashmolean Dining Room. The museum’s curators have attempted a new strategy of displaying the museum’s collections as means demonstrating how civilizations from all over the world have been part of an interrelated world culture. The Crossing Cultures Crossing Time strategy explores connections between objects and activities common to different cultures, such as money, reading and writing, and the representation of the human image. As a teaching and research department of the University of Oxford, The Ashmolean publishes research from the fields of art history, history, archaeology, numismatics and Oriental studies.

The Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum - Britain's oldest museum The Old Ashmolean - Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3AZ The Ashmolean Museum is the world's first university museum. Its first building (the Old Ashmolean) was built in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities of Elias Ashmole - he gave them to Oxford University in 1677. It is a Grade I listed building built in Headington stone by the Oxford University in, and patched with Clipsham stone in 1960. It was the first museum in the world to open its doors to the public and is the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum building. This museum was probably designed by the Oxford master-mason Thomas Wood, and was opened in 1683 by James, Duke of York (later King James II) whose cipher and crown can be seen on the north front elevation. It cost the then massive sum of £4,500.

The collection of curiosities included antique coins, books, engravings, geological specimens, and zoological specimens, one of which was the stuffed body of the last dodo ever seen in Europe; but by 1755 the stuffed dodo was so moth-eaten that it was destroyed, except for its head and one claw. The museum opened on 24 May 1683, with naturalist Robert Plot as the first keeper. The Old Ashmolean museum is now the home of the Museum of the History of Science, and has an unrivalled collection of scientific instruments from medieval times to the 17th century. Its collection of 18th and 19th-century instruments is also substantial. The new Ashmolean - Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH The 'new' Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology dates from 1845. In 1908 the present Ashmolean museum format was created by combining two ancient Oxford institutions: the University Art Collection and the original Ashmolean Museum.

The older partner in this merger, the University Art Collection, was based for many years in what is now the Upper Reading Room in the Bodleian Library. The building was designed by Charles Cockerell in a classical style and stands on Beaumont Street. One wing of the building is occupied by the Taylor Institution, the modern languages faculty of the university. The main museum contains huge collections of archaeological specimens and fine art. The museum has one of the best collections of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, majolica pottery and English silver. The archaeology department includes the bequest of Arthur Evans and so has an excellent collection of Greek and Minoan pottery. The department also has an extensive collection of antiquities from Ancient Egypt and the Sudan, and the museum hosts the Griffith Institute for the advancement of Egyptology. The objects of curiosity include Guy Fawkes’ lantern and a sword said to have been given by the pope to King Henry VIII.

The collection was enhanced by the addition of its prize possession, the Alfred Jewel (discovered in 1693 at North Petherton in the English county of Somerset), in 1718.This Saxon relic is a gold-encrusted, enameled ornament intended to grace the end of a staff, or scepter. The association with King Alfred the Great is uncertain, though the Latin inscription (which translates as "Alfred had me made") and the richness of the jewel makes it likely that only someone as powerful as Alfred could have been responsible for its creation. Visiting - Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH Open: Tues – Sunday 10am – 6pm, Bank Holiday Monday 10am – 6pm The Museum is closed 24 – 26 December, 2012. Tel: +44 (0)1865 278002 Admission Free The Ashmolean at Broadway For the first time in the Oxford's museum history the Ashmolean is expanding to the small picturesque and historic Cotswold village of Broadway.

Ashmolean : Broadway is due to open on 25 May 2013 at 17th Century Tudor House, High Street, Broadway, Worcestershire. Furniture, objects, paintings and textiles from the Ashmolean’s reserve collections, as well as works from the private collection of the Keil family, will go on display in six rooms of the house. There will also be a gallery space dedicated to rotating exhibitions of works by local artists. The museum will recreate the original interior, furnishings and styles of the house, including from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Admission charges will apply Open Log Fires Await You 4 Star accommodation in the beautiful Cotswold village of Bledington near Stow-on-the-Wold Luxurious home and gardens offering top class accommodation and food. Close to Stratford upon Avon Stay in the beautifulAbbot's Broadway summer residence - a truly unique Cotswolds experience. Old Cotswolds Inn at Broadway - Jewel of the Cotswolds. Providing good accommodation and restaurant.

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300 year mellow stone traditional Cotswold Inn overlooking the Windrush Valley - great accommodation, food & drink THE PERFECT MATCH ENCHANTINGLY LOST IN TIME SET ON ITS OWN ISLAND WELCOMING COTSWOLD INN BACK TO TOP USE GOOGLE'S POWERFUL ENGINE TO SEARCH THIS WEBSITE Quick Links Ashmolean Museum - Google+ Ashmolean Museum Shared publicly - 2016-05-17 Dive into the past and discover the extraordinary story of the island at the crossroads of the Mediterranean through spectacular finds rescued from the sea by underwater archaeologists. Storms, War & Shipwrecks Treasures from the Sicilian Seas Open 21 June – 25 September 2016 Titian to Canaletto: Drawing in Venice Until 10 January 2016 Discover how the splendour of Venice and its shimmering light influenced artists, resulting in compelling portraits, atmospheric landscapes of exceptional beauty and sensuous figure studies.

This is the first major exhibition of Venetian drawings in the UK and it includes over 100 magnificent works from the Uffizi, the Ashmolean, and Christ Church, Oxford, by artists such as Titian, Tintoretto and Canaletto. In a parallel exhibition, Jenny Saville Drawing, one of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Jenny Saville, has produced new work on paper and canvas in response to the powerful qualities of Venetian drawing. Find out more and book online at: ﻿ Read moreShow less An Elegant Society From 16 July until 4 October The work of Adam Buck, Regency portrait and miniature painter, provides a fascinating insight into the faces and fashions of this time. Buck’s portraits of The Royals, landowners, Serving Officers and society hostesses, dressed in white muslin, seated or standing in fashionable interiors, brings the world of Jane Austen vividly to life. Jane Austen enthusiasts know Adam Buck’s work better than most. Find out more, and book tickets, at: Great British Drawings Open now until 31 August 2015 See the very best of British drawings and watercolours exhibited together for the first time.

From famous watercolours by Gainsborough and Turner, to the outstanding draughtsmanship of Rossetti, Millais and Holman Hunt, to 20th-century works by David Hockney, Gwen John and Walter Sickert, Great British Drawings showcases more than one hundred works by some of Britain’s greatest artists. Many of the drawings are shown for the first time in public. With works spanning over three centuries, from an exquisitely sensitive portrait by Samuel Cooper drawn in 1650, to an arresting portrait of Salman Rushdie by Tom Phillips made in 1993, the exhibition includes the very best British drawings from the Ashmolean’s world renowned collection. Find out more, and book tickets, at: Shared publicly - 2016-02-09 Andy Warhol: Works from the Hall Collection - exhibition open until 15 May 2016 at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford #AshmoleanWarhol ﻿ Read moreShow less Halloween late night at the Ashmolean, Friday 30 October 2015. Find out more at: ﻿ Read moreShow less Reply Hello lady how are you today?

thanks you for be my friend OK see you later bye bye ﻿ Read moreShow less Shared publicly - 2015-08-03 The Ashmolean has raised the money needed to acquire a major painting by JMW Turner. Local people and museum visitors have sent in over £60,000, helping the Museum reach its fundraising target in just four weeks. Thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign. Love Bites: Caricatures by James Gillray Until 21 June 2015 "This is a timely look at Unions and Coalitions from the master-satirist James Gillray. After two hundred years his work is still fierce, fascinating and funny. I have always admired what I think of as his beautifully ugly drawings." – Ian Hislop To mark the 200th anniversary of the death of British caricaturist James Gillray (1756–1815), the Ashmolean presents more than 60 of Gillray’s finest caricatures from the outstanding collection of New College, Oxford.

Find out more and book online at: Beaumont St Oxford OX1 2PH UK‎ Beaumont StreetGBOxfordOX1 2PH Friday 10AM–5PMSaturday 10AM–5PMSunday 10AM–5PMMonday ClosedTuesday 10AM–5PMWednesday 10AM–5PMThursday 10AM–5PM Google+ URL Ancient and modern art and antiquities covering world civilisations, plus fine and applied arts.- Google "The main staircase was an excellent place for the group wedding pictures." "Even the staff seemed bored our of their minds." Photos colin seabrook a week ago Lovely compact museum that's recently had lots of money spent on refurbishment. Could easily spend a morning wandering round the galleries. Only had an hour so will have to go back. Really convenient in the centre of Oxford. Highly recommended. Linda Grace a month ago Brilliant museum, free entry but please, please donate. Look for the Alfred jewel and Lawrence of Arabia's robes! Some gorgeous exhibitions with paid entry too. Great but noisy cafe in basement and a Benugo rooftop restaurant.

Jesse Huang 5 months ago Not only does the Ashmolean have some really unique and exemplary pieces of each culture and time period, but the format of the museum really helps you appreciate the significance of each piece. The way pieces are displayed sets up the viewer not only for a great viewing experience, but also a great learning experience. Important historical or cultural context is often provided, and in many cases, the exhibits may have mini-exhibits demonstrating how a piece could have been made at the time - so you walk away with a deep connection to what you saw. Floor -1 stands out, which gives context on all the materials that humans have ever used to make craft and art, and was simply superb. Visiting this museum will help you appreciate every other museum you go to. Highly recommended. • • • Not only does the Ashmolean have some really unique and exemplary pieces of each culture and time period, but the format of the museum really helps you appreciate the significance of each piece. The way pieces are displayed sets up the viewer not only for a great viewing experience, but also a great learning experience.

Important historical or cultural context is often provided, and in many cases, the exhibits may have mini-exhibits demonstrating how a piece could have been made at the time - so you walk away with a deep connection to what you saw. Floor -1 stands out, which gives context on all the materials that humans have ever used to make craft and art, and was simply superb. Visiting this museum will help you appreciate every other museum you go to. Highly recommended. • • • Steve The Techy 2 months ago Our visit was to attend a wedding in the evening. Venue was fabulous for a wedding. The main staircase was an excellent place for the group wedding pictures. The canapes were served under the main staircase, the meal was held in the statue (cast) gallery. The organisation was great. The wedding coordinator was always at hand and made sure everything progressed to schedule. Daniel Avery 3 weeks ago Good cafe which can be a great place to get work done in the city centre. The exhibits are all interesting, although often lack the level of detailed description about the pieces which I would like. There is a small Etruscan exhibit, which I haven't really seen elsewhere. Sally Lush a month ago Love Ashmolean Museum.

There is so much to see here and despite having lived around Oxford all my life have never found going uninteresting. Lovely café upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs has a (limited) view of university building spires etc. Rob Dewfall 2 weeks ago An absolute must-see if you are in Oxford. A beautiful museum with brilliant displays. If almost feels like a miniature version of the British Museum. The cafe is horribly overpriced, but then entrance is free. Oxford attractions Oxford attractions Gail Simmons , Destination guide expert 9 September 2016 • 12:34am Shopping Gail Simmons, our Oxford expert, gives advice on the best things to see, do and visit in the city. For many first-time visitors, Oxford means the university. The atmospheric, golden-stone colleges, clustered around medieval streets, are irresistible, and most travellers will want to peek inside at least one. The charm of college-hopping in Oxford is that each has its own special character – only apparent once you’re inside – from the grandeur of Christ Church and Magdalen to the cosy intimacy of Corpus Christi.

Attractions abound In Oxford - and they're all within easy reach Credit: ALAMY Most are open to visitors at varying hours and charges. The recently refurbished Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Britain’s oldest public museum, is another draw, as is the University Museum, which houses the Pitt Rivers Museum, with its collection of extraordinary finds from around the world. These days it’s not just Oxford’s old favourites that are worth a visit but some newer attractions, many of them learning-related, also aimed at a younger crowd. Some of Oxford’s very finest attractions are its open spaces – parks, gardens and rivers, which are just as worth visiting as its buildings and museums. First-timers Christ Church College If you visit just one college it must be aristocratic Christ Church, or “the House”, as it’s known. It’s more like a country house than an educational establishment, with the porters (or “bulldogs”) still sporting bowler hats. Scenes from Brideshead Revisited and Harry Potter were filmed here, and it’s where Lewis Carroll, the author ofAlice in Wonderland, taught mathematics.

Its chapel is the city’s cathedral, which opens to residents and visitors for evensong at 6pm every evening – a magical experience, especially in winter. Christ Church is arguably Oxford's most impressive college Credit: AP/FOTOLIA Address: St. Aldates Contact: 01865 276150; chch.ox.ac.uk Prices: admission charges vary, though the chapel (Oxford’s cathedral) is usually free to members of Oxford diocese and visitors to evensong Opening times: visitors are welcomed throughout the year (closed on Christmas Day). The Hall is often closed between 11.40am and 2.30pm and the Cathedral closes for choir practice every day at 4.45pm Pitt Rivers Museum Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers was an anthropologist who collected more than 20,000 objects of scientific and cultural interest when he was posted around the British Empire. These are now housed in the Pitt Rivers Museum, a part of the University Museum crammed full of weird and wonderful knick-knacks from around the globe. Ethnic masks, items of clothing, musical instruments and jewellery are arranged by type rather than geographical area.

The shrunken human heads, mummies and trophy scalps are spooky hits with children. Pitt Rivers Museum is crammed full of weird and wonderful artifacts Credit: ALAMY Address: South Parks Road Opening times: Tues–Sun 10am-4.30pm (and bank holiday Mons); Mon 12-4.30pm Radcliffe Square This cobbled square is the heart of the university, formed by a trio of great architectural gems: the medieval University Church of St Mary the Virgin, the 15th-century Bodleian Library and the Palladian-style Radcliffe Camera. You can visit the ground floor of the Bodleian (known as the Divinity School), with its intricate rib vaulting; St Mary’s is open to the public, with its magnificent view from the tower of college quadrangles and dreaming spires. The Palladian-style Radcliffe Camera dominates Radcliffe Square Credit: AP/FOTOLIA Contact: bodleian.ox.ac.uk Botanic Garden Down the appropriately named Rose Lane, just off the High Street, Britain’s oldest botanic garden is a haven of stone-walled peace in the heart of the busy city centre.

The emphasis in the formal gardens is on traditional herbal remedies and their use in modern medicine, while the heated greenhouses are a great refuge on chilly days. Oxford's Botanic Garden is the oldest of its kind in Britain Credit: AP/FOTOLIA Address: Rose Lane Contact: 01865 286690; botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk Opening times: variable opening throughout the year – check website for details Prices: admission is £4.50 (also gives entry on the same day to Harcourt Arboretum, six miles south of Oxford) Guided walks The best way to see Oxford is on foot. If you don’t have the time to find your own way round the second best way is to join a group guided by someone who knows its quiet cobbled back streets, narrow alleyways and secret corners. Several organisations offer this service, from professional outfits to student guides who’ll also give you an insight into university life.

Oxford Official Guided Walking Tours are led by guides and include an Inspector Morse tour, cost from £9 and begin outside the Tourist Information Centre in Broad Street (book in advance as groups sizes are limited: 01865 252037). The best hotels in Oxford Oxbridge Tours (01865 522570; oxbridgetours.com ) is a social enterprise run by students and offering cultural walking tours. With its guides all Oxford undergraduates or postgraduates, it’s a chance to get an insider’s view on student life in Oxford (there’s a Cambridge version too). Daily tours depart from outside Balliol College on Broad Street, or you can also book a private tour. Punting Hire a punt from one of the three punt stations on the Rivers Thames (or Isis) and Cherwell, and float serenely past the college gardens and through the university meadows to the countryside beyond. If you don’t know how to punt then hire a pro – otherwise you’ll waste much of your time going round in circles and bumping into other river traffic.

If you don't know how to punt you can always hire a pro Credit: ALAMY Punts can be hired from the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse ( riverthames.co.uk ) and Salter’s Steamers ( salterssteamers.co.uk ) at Folly Bridge in the city centre, and the Cherwell Boathouse ( cherwellboathouse.co.uk ) in North Oxford. Modern Art Oxford Hidden behind one of the prime shopping streets, this gallery, which opened in 1965, has developed an international reputation for its displays of contemporary visual arts. Painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, installations, design, crafts and performance are all represented in a changing programme of exhibitions. May 20, 2016 at 8:05am PDT Address: 30 Pembroke Street Opening times: Tues-Sat 11am-6pm; Sun 12–5pm Prices: admission free Holywell Music Room Said to be the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe, this music room in Holywell Street has been hosting recitals for more than 250 years.

The acoustics are excellent for chamber music, with events throughout the year performed by individuals and ensembles from around the world. Particularly delightful are the Oxford Coffee Concerts, held at 11.15am every Sunday: the ticket (£12) includes a coffee in the Vaults and Garden Café from (see coffeeconcerts.co.uk for programme). May 21, 2016 at 5:09am PDT Old hands Ashmolean Museum Although this is the oldest public museum in England, founded in 1683 to house Elias Ashmole’s collection of curiosities, old Oxford hands may not have visited since the Ashmolean received its £61 million pound refit in December 2009. This has doubled the display space and transformed the building’s interior into a light, free-flowing exhibition space linked by walkways with galleries.

Welcome to the oldest public museum in England Credit: GETTY Address: Beaumont Street Opening times: Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; bank holiday Mon 10am–5pm Prices: admission free Castle Museum Oxford’s 1,000-year-old castle and former prison were recently redeveloped to create one of the city’s busiest and liveliest quarters. Part of the old prison was transformed into the Malmaison Hotel and the remainder, plus the original castle, has reopened as a museum telling the story of the castle from 1071 until 1996, when the prison closed. Tours guided by “characters” from the prison’s history dressed in period costume really bring the story to life. Great for both adults and children.

Apr 11, 2016 at 2:45pm PDT Address: 44-46 Oxford Castle Contact: 01865 260666; oxfordcastleunlocked.co.uk Opening times: daily from 10am; last tour at 4.20pm Prices: admission £7.85 adult (if booked online), £7.15 senior, £5.90 children 5-15, under fives free. Walk-up prices are slightly higher Day trips Blenheim Palace Along with Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, this is Vanbrugh’s masterpiece, created for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, after the battle of Blenheim in 1704. Just eight miles north-west of Oxford, this magnificent Baroque World Heritage Site in undulating Capability Brown parkland is still home to the Marlborough dukes, and the Churchill family who count Sir Winston (who was born here and whose grave is at the nearby village of Bladon) and Lady Diana Spencer-Churchill among its members. You’ll need a day to see the house and gardens properly, and explore the old town of Woodstock.

Unesco-listed Blenheim Palace is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture Credit: AP/FOTOLIA Address: Woodstock OX20 1PP Contact: 0800 8496500; blenheimpalace.com Prices & opening times: depends on which parts of the palace you want to visit and the time of year. See website for details Getting there: the S3 bus from Oxford railway station stops outside the palace gates and old Woodstock ( stagecoachbus.com ) Burford Twenty miles west of Oxford is this archetypal Cotswold market town, with one of the best medieval “wool” churches in the country. It’s no accident that the Lord Chancellor sits on a woolsack: in the late Middle Ages England’s wealth came from wool, and was used to build and adorn magnificent churches. St. John the Baptist is a gem, while the High Street is worth exploring for its antique shops and tea rooms. Eat at the flagstoned Lamb Inn (01993 823155; cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk ) on Sheep Street.

Bucolic Burford is the archetypal Cotswold market town Credit: ALAMY Getting there: car is best, though Swanbrook Coaches (01452 712386; swanbrook.co.uk ) runs a service a couple of times each day from central Oxford (St Giles)

Question: The Ashmolean Museum is Britain's oldest public museum. In which city is it located?
Answer: OXFORD