18 June 2025, 14:00 - 15:30
Oxford is exceptionally rich in its associations with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a 19th-century artistic movement known for its veneration of detail, elegance and beauty. This insightful 90-minute walking tour will bring the artistic spirit of mid-19th century Oxford to life, taking you to the key locations in Oxford associated with the art movement and its artists, and with particular reference to Oxford-inspired paintings.
You’ll see where Jane Burden, embroiderer and muse, once lived at ‘Hell’s Passage’, the Oxford Union, home to Pre-Raphaelite murals and a noteworthy debacle involving Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Magdalen College Tower and the story of a particular May Morning, plus more locations significant to the works and lives of John Millais, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, Jane Burden, Elizabeth Siddall – and not forgetting author-cum-photographer Lewis Carroll – plus their important patrons, John Ruskin and Thomas Combe.
The walk is near-circular, beginning at the Museum of Oxford and ending outside the Oxford Union (St Michael’s Street).
Join a tour of Pre-Raphaelite Artists in Oxford to see Oxford through the eyes of an expert and uncover the artistic histories embedded in our city.
Tickets cost £15 and are available to purchase online (booking fee applies) or at the Museum shop.
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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 1.5 hours.
The itinerary includes cobbled streets, uneven surfaces and narrow pavements. Additionally, one of the stops is accessed via a very narrow passageway (optional). 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: Mark Davies
Mark Davies is an Oxford local historian, public speaker, and guide. His publications include the social and cultural importance of the city’s waterways (A Towpath Walk in Oxford; Alice in Waterland; Alice’s Oxford on Foot; What a Liberty!); historical crime (Stories of Oxford Castle; The Abingdon Waterturnpike Murder) and a biography of the Oxford pastry cook who was the first Englishman to fly (King of all Balloons). Until 2020 he had lived on an Oxford residential narrowboat for nearly 30 years, and is the Chair of the Jericho (Oxford) Living Heritage Trust. He is also a trustee of the Lewis Carroll Society, a member of the Society of Authors, and on the committee of the Alliance of Literary Societies.
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