A few days ago, I had the opportunity to go on a short tour of Christ Church in Oxford along with a group of close friends. Christ Church is one of the older and largest colleges in Oxford and is one of the colleges falling under the umbrella of the University of Oxford.
View of Tom Quad at Christ Church, Oxford.
Most of the colleges in Oxford contain at least a few quads. A quad, from quadrangle, refers to a small courtyard, normally with a lawn, surrounded on all four sides by buildings or parts of a building. The buildings might be student accommodation, or offices for college staff or academics to work and hold tutorials for their students.
The Tom Quad is the largest quad among the colleges in Oxford, with a pond filled with koi fish and an ornate statue in the middle. It certainly is grand and makes for a very photogenic spot!
The Christ Church Cathedral is located on one of the sides of the Tom Quad. Besides being the college chapel, used by college staff and students for religious services and prayer, it is also the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford under the Church of England. Thus, it is also one of the few college chapels that are also open to the public for services.
I only managed to take a single picture with my smartphone, which failed to capture the vastness and sense of calm in the space.
Finally, a picture of the dining hall in Christ Church, which is also famous because it was used as the dining hall of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. In real life, the dining hall in the college is not as large and magical as the one in the books and movie. The hall was enlarged for the purpose of the movie using CGI. But, all the same, a large number of tourists come to Christ Church constantly to snap photos.