Broad Walk is a wide walkway running east–west on the north side of Christ Church Meadow and south of

Merton Field Merton Field is a grass playing field north of the main part of Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, Christ Church Meadow and south of Merton College in central Oxford, England. To the west are Merton Walk and Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, on ...

in central

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. The walkway runs between

St Aldate's St Aldate's () is a street in central Oxford, England, named after Saint Aldate, but formerly known as Fish Street. The street runs south from the generally acknowledged centre of Oxford at Carfax. The Town Hall, which includes the Museum o ...

though the

Christ Church War Memorial Garden Christ Church War Memorial Garden is a garden in Oxford, England, created in 1926 to commemorate the First World War. The war memorial garden, in memory of members of Christ Church, Oxford, one of the Oxford colleges, is located east off St A ...

at the western end and the

River Cherwell The River Cherwell ( or ) is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Hellidon, Northamptonshire and flows southwards for to meet the Thames at Oxford in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to the Cherwell local g ...

to the east at the southern end of the

University of Oxford Botanic Garden The University of Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. The garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research. Today it conta ...

. To the north at the western end is Christ Church, one of the

colleges. The tower of

Merton College Chapel Merton College Chapel is the church of Merton College, Oxford, England. Dedicated to St Mary and St John the Baptist, the chapel was largely completed in its present form by the end of the 13th century. The building retains a number of original ...

dominates the view north from Broad Walk across Merton Field, beyond

Dead Man's Walk ''Dead Man's Walk'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the ''Lonesome Dove'' series but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the ''Lonesome Dove'' chr ...

and the old

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

which run parallel to Broad Walk, connected via

Merton Walk Merton may refer to: People * Merton (surname) * Merton (given name) * Merton (YouTube), American YouTube personality Fictional characters * Merton Matowski, an alternate name for "Moose" Mason, an Archie Comics character * Lord Merton, in ...

. Broad Walk used to be lined with large

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

trees, but has been denuded due to

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

The Meadow Building The Meadow Building (known as "Meadows" to students, aka Meadow Buildings) is part of Christ Church, Oxford, England, one of the Oxford colleges, looking out south onto Christ Church Meadow on Broad Walk and then along the straight tree-line ...

of Christ Church, in an imposing stone-faced Venetian

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, is immediately to the north of Broad Walk. Opposite to the south, the tree-lined

Poplar Walk Poplar Walk is wide footpath running north–south in Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, England. The footpath runs between The Meadow Building of Christ Church at the junction with Broad Walk to the north and the River Thames near Folly Bridge t ...

, laid out in 1872 by

Henry Liddell Henry George Liddell (; 6 February 1811– 18 January 1898) was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School (where a house is now named after h ...

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Christ Church, leads down to the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. Views of some of the spires and towers of Oxford include (west to east)

Tom Tower Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named after its bell, Great Tom. It is over Tom Gate, on St Aldates, the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford, which leads into Tom Quad. This square tower with an octagonal lantern and facett ...

, the spire of Christ Church Cathedral,

Merton College Chapel Tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

, and

Magdalen Tower Magdalen Tower, completed in 1509, is a bell tower that forms part of Magdalen College, Oxford. It is a central focus for the celebrations in Oxford on May Morning. History Magdalen Tower is one of the oldest parts of Magdalen College, Oxford, ...

. The first

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

ascent in Britain was made by James Sadler (1753–1828) from Merton Field on 4 October 1783, to the north of Broad Walk. Postwar development planned for central Oxford included a

relief road A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety. A bypass spec ...

passing through the Christ Church Meadow along the route of Broad Walk and joining the district of

St Ebbe's St Ebbes is a district of central Oxford, England, southwest of Carfax. St Ebbes Street runs south from the western end of Queen Street. __TOC__ Overview The area takes its name from the parish church of St Ebbe's, dedicated to Saint � ...

. The proposal was defeated after strong opposition.

Gallery

File:Christ Church War Memorial Garden from Broad Walk - geograph.org.uk - 1292727.jpg, Christ Church War Memorial Garden, looking north from the western end of Broad Walk, with

in the background File:The Christ Church Meadow adjacent to the Meadow Building.jpg, Broad Walk at

on the far northwestern corner of the Christ Church Meadow File:The Meadows Building from Broad Walk - geograph.org.uk - 1293065.jpg,

viewed looking north from Broad Walk File:Merton college2.jpg, View north from Broad Walk of

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...

with the tower of

, looking across

File:Christ Church Meadow, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 192076.jpg, Christ Church Meadow viewed looking south from Broad Walk

References

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