Touring Oxford’s Closed Museums, and Minster Lovell Hall

Continued from Part 4…

Today we needed to move hotels, from the Jurys Inn to Eynsham Hall where our friends Claire and Dan are due to marry tomorrow afternoon. We packed up and had breakfast, then I decided to drive in to Oxford for a museum tour while Helen had a relaxing morning.

I arrived in Oxford shortly after 9:30am for the tour, though it didn’t get off to a great start.

First off: The Gallery of Modern Art. This was terrible. Several large rooms with videos playing of mundane activities. One of a man sticking his tongue out, another of him playing with his children, then a final room where 4 amateur (individually bad) music videos played over each other out of tune and out of time making a dreadful din. Complete waste of time and space.

Second: The Museum of Oxford. This was closed due to repair work.

Third: The History of Science Museum. This was closed, it’s only open 12-5.

Fourth: The Ashmolean Museum. This was open, and was very enjoyable! My morning was saved! It was similar to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, with historic artefacts and art from all over the world. The only downside was that I arrived at the same time as 4 large groups of school children.

The best sights were on the ground floor, with statues, mummies, and other artefacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The piece I liked the most was the burial of Djeddjehutyiuefankh, or “Djed” for short, a nest of 3 coffins. Like the ancient Egyptian version of a Russian nesting doll! There was also the shrine of Taharqa here, then over in the Roman section, a few panels from the Arch of Trajan (the one photographed was called “Gods of Rome”).

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I checked out all the other exhibitions, but nothing else really stood out to me. I normally find a few paintings I like in 19th century history, but the pieces on display weren’t very captivating. I walked around for about 90 minutes before setting off back to the hotel.

Back in the hotel around midday, we arranged a late check-out and an early check-in at our next destination, so we packed up and relocated in preparation for tomorrow’s wedding. We met up with Claire and Sue for a quick sandwich, then the women went off to have their nails done, so I needed to amuse myself once more.

I got back on the road after unpacking my suitcase and headed to the nearby Minster Lovell Hall, which we’d seen signposts for but couldn’t actually find yesterday. It was tucked behind a remote church in the middle of nowhere with no nearby signage at all, very secluded!

Just as I arrived, it started pouring with rain, but I managed to brave the elements to take a 360 photo.

Most of the hall was built in the early 15th century next to the River Windrush. The proximity to the river makes for a very picturesque setting.

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The adjacent graveyard belongs to St Kenelm’s Church. If it weren’t for Google Maps, I don’t think I’d have ever found this place. Lovely setting, with lots of country walks in all directions, I’d recommend this one (if you can find it).

After Minster Lovell Hall, I still had a couple of hours to kill before I was needed back at the hotel, so I drove up to Stow-on-the-Wold for a walk around. Traffic was terrible though, and it took me over 40 minutes to travel the short distance.

Stow-on-the-Wold was a pleasant little market town, similar to Burford but a little more spread out. There were less independent shops here, a few more chains, and many more estate agents, hairdressers, etc. Between the two towns, I’d recommend Burford, it’s more interesting and unique.

I had a quick drink then headed back to the hotel. After an hour or so rest, we joined up with the wedding party for dinner in the brasserie downstairs. The food was delicious, I had duck with veg and Helen had a burger. It was also great to meet up with the rest of the wedding party too, so there will be some familiar faces in the morning.

After some sticky toffee pudding, we called it a night and went to bed to get some rest before Claire and Dan’s big day tomorrow.