Parson's Pleasure in the
University Parks
The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, thoug ...
at
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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, was a secluded area for male-only nude bathing on 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 ...
.
It was located next to the path on the way to
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
at the south-east corner of the Parks. The facility closed in 1991 and the area now forms part of the Parks.
History and folklore
Parson's Pleasure was traditionally frequented by
don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
s of the
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. Ladies sitting in passing
punts were saved from potential embarrassment by being directed to a path that skirted the area behind a high corrugated iron fence. If a pretext was needed, the ladies could be told that the men needed to haul the punt over "the rollers"—a track made of concrete with metal rollers—next to the nearby weir. Women's use of the path declined in later years but the path and the rollers remain.
The title poem of
Christopher Morley
Christopher Darlington Morley (May 5, 1890 – March 28, 1957) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet. He also produced stage productions for a few years and gave college lectures.''Online Literature''
Biography
Morley was bo ...
's 1923 collection ''Parsons'
icPleasure'' describes the area as
A greengloom sideloop of the creek,
A sodden place of twilight smell:
Clear dayshine did not often touch
That water; and a mouldy hutch
For the convenience of undressing.
An ancient, far from prepossessing,
Offered uncandid towels (eschewed
By most).
There men’s white bodies, nude,
Unconscious, comely, gallant, Greek,
Stretched, tingled cool, shone sleek, lived well
In the one patch where sunwarm fell.
In response to this, Morley's friend
C. E. Montague wrote that 'considered physically as a bathing place and not as a temple. Parson's Pleasure was mediocre. Slugs in the dressing hutches, no life in the water, no sun to stand in when drying, the chill of a morgue over the whole place on all but the most fervent dog days. And yet a grave part of death's menace is that under the mould we may forget Parson's Pleasure.'
Parson's Pleasure is now only a scene for tales from the folklore of the university. One anecdote has it that a number of dons were sunbathing naked at Parson's Pleasure when a female student floated by in a punt. All but one of the startled dons covered their genitals—
Maurice Bowra
Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra, (; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Univer ...
placed a flannel over his head instead. When asked why he had done so, he replied, "I don’t know about you, gentlemen, but in Oxford, ''I'', at least, am known by my face."
Robert Robinson's ''Landscape with Dead Dons'' contains a scene set in Parson's Pleasure. Edmund Crispin's first Gervase Fen novel, 'The Moving Toyshop,' puts the climax of a riotous chase at the entrance to Parson's Pleasure.
Anthony Gibbs's autobiography ''In My Time'' (UK, c. 1969) / ''In My Own Good Time'' (US, 1970) describes the author's regular visits to Parson's Pleasure,
"the most enchanting spot in Oxford", during his time as an undergraduate. He writes that it was usual for one punt per afternoon to pass, in which two girls "scarlet-faced and staring straight before them, would meander by. They did it on purpose, of course. No one paid them the slightest attention. Absolute disdain was the code of behavior."
In 1996, the Oxford University Beer Appreciation Society commissioned a local brewery to produce a barley wine called "Parson's Pleasure Ale". There also exists a
bell-ringing method named ''Parson's Pleasure Surprise Maximus'', which was rung for the first time in September 2010 by a band of ringers composed of former members of the University of Oxford.
A similar area existed nearby for clothed female bathers, named
Dame's Delight
Dame's Delight was a place for women to bathe on the bank of the River Cherwell in the meadows near the Oxford University Parks opposite Mesopotamia Walk in Oxford, England.
The site existed from 1934 to 1970, when it closed because of mainten ...
.
This was closed prior to the closure of Parson's Pleasure.
References
External links
Oxford University Parks: a historical guide*
' (c.1944) painting by
William Roberts
{{coord, 51.76017, N, 1.24653, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SP521071), display=title, format=dms
1991 disestablishments in England
Culture of the University of Oxford
Defunct sports venues in Oxford
Former public baths
History of the University of Oxford
Nude beaches
Parks and open spaces in Oxford
Public baths in the United Kingdom
Swimming venues in England
University of Oxford sites