Museum of Oxford Walks: Rash or Rational? Victorian Leisure & Entertainment

Part of the Museum of Oxford Walks 2025 series.

This city walking tour of Victorian Oxford will introduce you to a different side of Oxford’s urban history. See the ‘city of dreaming spires’ from the perspective of ordinary townspeople, who found themselves with leisure time – and the money to spend on it – for the first time.

You will learn about both the rash and the rational sides of Oxford’s Victorian entertainment, visiting sites including the Pembroke Street Public Baths, where you could be attended by a “first-class shampooer and teacher of swimming”, and the YMCA on George Street which promised to guide young men away from the “temptations of city life”.

As part of the tour, you will see: The Town Hall and Public Library, the Wilberforce Temperance hotel (where alcohol was banned), The Jolly Farmers Pub, the New Theatre – plus more historic Oxford locations!

Join our Rash or Rational? Victorian Leisure and Entertainment walking tour to see Oxford through the eyes of an expert and discover a different side to this famous city’s history.

Please note that this tour was previously run under the name ‘Leisure and Entertainment in Victorian and Edwardian Oxford’.

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 1.5 hours.

The itinerary includes cobbled streets, uneven surfaces and narrow pavements. One of the stops involves going through Whatsheaf Yard which is very narrow and has an uneven surface. An alternative route to the next stop is available through St Aldate’s. 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: Liz Woolley

Liz Woolley is a local historian specialising in the history of Oxford’s ‘town’ – as opposed to ‘gown’ – and of the everyday lives of ordinary working people, chiefly during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Liz has lived in Oxford for forty years and has an MSc in English Local History from the University’s Department for Continuing Education. She is an experienced tour guide, speaker, tutor, researcher and writer, who enjoys helping people discover the perhaps less well-known history of Oxford and its citizens.