Over the Hills and Through the Vale to Oxenford

Tuesday, 14 August

Vale of the White Horse

In the morning, we departed from Downside and headed to the Vale of the White Horse at Uffington. We met up with Fr. Daniel Seward, priest of the Oxford Oratory, for a picnic lunch overlooking the White Horse and the English countryside. During lunch, Fr. Seward shared legends and facts about the Vale of the White Horse. The "White Horse" is a giant chalk horse carved into the side of a hill, dating from the Bronze Age - that's over 3,000 years ago. It is said that great battles were fought here by King Arthur and King Alfred (I highly recommend G.K. Chesterton's Ballad of the White Horse). Additionally, legend has it that the dragon was slain by Saint George upon the hill next to the White Horse. Following lunch, we climbed to the hilltops to see Uffington Castle, the outline of an ancient fort. It was spectacularly windy, as you can judge by my hair in the picture below. From the top, we saw the Giant's Staircase, an area of furrowed land, and Victorian follies off in the distance.

View of Oxfordshire from the hill - a gloriously beautiful day!

Atop the hill - quite windy up here!

So you can see what the White Horse looks like.

Close-up of the White Horse

The Giants' Staircase on the left side of the hill.

The mound upon which the dragon was slain by Saint George.

Our next destination was Mapledurham, a tiny village centered around a mansion built in the 1580's by the sheriff of the Tower of London as a recusant house, aka a refuge for priests and Catholics hunted by  Protestant government officials. The current squire of the house, a first-in-line descendant of St. Thomas More, gave us a special tour. We were able to see parts of the house not normally open to visitors, such as the attic chapel and the tri-level hiding place reaching from the attic to the cellar.

Mapledurham Mansion

Our tour guide, the descendant of St. Thomas More.

See the shells? Those marked the house as a safe place for Catholics and could be seen from the River Thames. 

From Mapledurham, we drove to OXFORD!
Around 5 PM, I set foot for the first time in the city that is to be my home until April. I was not sure if the enchantment of the city would ever wear off. We arrived at St. Benet's Hall, a private Catholic college hall of Oxford, and moved into our accomodations. My room was on the very top floor of the hall - four floors up, to be exact, reached by a fabulously creaky spiraling staircase.

After a couple trips up the staircase (as I had all my belongings for the year in tow), I changed and headed to the Oxford Oratory for the Solemn Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. The Oratory was absolutely beautiful, and from the moment I entered I felt at peace - I knew this would be my parish church whilst in Oxford. What a comfort it was to be able to find a home within hours of arriving in Oxford. The homily tied so much together for me. Father talked about how the Lord is faithful to His promises, and how Our Lady totally trusted in His Providence. We are called to make each day, each moment, a Magnificat for the Lord.

Following Mass, I returned to St. Benet's for a short academic orientation session. Then, we began our Oxford pub orientation. We started in the Eagle and Child, the pub in which The Inklings met. I had my first plate of fish and chips and tried Pimms. Next stop was The Bear, held to be Oxford's oldest pub. It is quite small, with a particularly low ceiling, but has a great selection of local brews and plenty of outdoor seating. Then we went to the Turf Tavern, the popular place to celebrate special occasions, followed by The King's Arms, a large pub with a wide range of drinks. I enjoyed the Double Chocolate Stout. We ended the pub orientation at The Lamb and Flag, directly across the street from The Eagle and Child.