Museum of Oxford Walks: Oxford’s Rebels and Radicals

Part of the Museum of Oxford Walks 2025 series.

Oxford University is well known as a bastion of tradition and training ground for future Prime Ministers, but how much do you know about the city’s radical past and present?

On this two-hour alternative walking tour of Oxford, you will hear about epic ‘town vs gown’ riots, fiercely independent medieval women, determined but doomed Levellers, acid-sprinkling Suffragettes and the locals who kicked fascists out of the city for good.

From Oscar Wilde, through Oxfam, to Rhodes Must Fall, this tour tells the fascinating and inspiring stories of those who have pushed back against power, privilege, colonialism and discrimination throughout Oxford’s thousand-year history.

This alternative walking tour aims to tell the forgotten stories of Oxford’s radicals, and to spark respectful debate and discussion. Please come prepared to listen and engage.

As part of the tour, you will see: Carfax Tower, the site of an infamous riot; Gloucester Green, where Oliver Cromwell crushed Britain’s first great egalitarian movement; All Souls College, whose library was funded by a slave owner; University Church gardens where a bench is dedicated to one of Oxford’s most determined campaigners for women’s education – plus more locations from Oxford’s rebellious history. Please note that this tour does not include entry into any buildings and stops may be subject to change.

Join a tour of Oxford’s Rebels and Radicals to see Oxford through the eyes of an expert and unlock the secrets of its radical history.

Tickets cost £15 and are available to purchase online (booking fee applies) or at the Museum shop.

Accessibility and further information

Meeting point: Museum of Oxford shop (located inside the Oxford Town Hall). Please arrive 5 minutes before the start of the walk and check in at the Museum Shop with our friendly front of house team.

The walk lasts up to 2 hours.

The itinerary includes cobbled streets, uneven surfaces and narrow pavements. The walk includes a few steps down to the University Church gardens; a step-free option is also available here. Please email museum@oxford.gov.uk if you would like to discuss any access requirements ahead of booking a walk.

Please note that this walk is recommended for ages 16+.

Meet your tour guide: Jess Worth

Jess Worth is an award-winning Green Badge tour guide and has lived in Oxford for over 25 years. She loves sharing her enthusiasm for the extraordinary history, culture and people who have shaped our city of dreaming spires. Before becoming a tour guide she was a campaigner, journalist, activist and theatre-maker working on social and climate justice issues. This experience has led to a fascination with the social, political and imaginative role that Oxford has played – both good and bad – in the wider history of Britain, and the world.