Some people make pilgrimages to sports venues, famous concert venues, or even the world’s biggest thermometer (which by the way, is in California in between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.) I took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and walked the sacred steps of Jesus, from Bethlehem to Nazareth, down the Jordan River Valley, and all around and inside the Old City of Jerusalem and the Via Dolorosa. Some people make pilgrimages to more unique locations. When an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom presented itself, I knew I needed to make another pilgrimage. I knew I needed to go to Oxford, to Wolvercote Cemetery, and walk around Oxford University.
Why? Located in Wolvercote Cemetery, near the outside of the city, is the final resting spot of a person who, above all other non-family members who lived in the 20th century, impacted my life the most; John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien.) Yes, Tolkien’s burial spot rests not far from the house he wrote The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and his beloved Oxford University.
If you’ve read my About me page, you will know that The Hobbit is the first full book I remember reading as a kid. I now read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings once every other year. Why? Besides the fact that I love them, they informed and shaped the base of my formative years and who I am. My love for history, maps, adventures, exploration, high fantasy, reading, writing, and a solid foundation of good versus evil all come from Tolkien’s books. This pilgrimage needed to happen. This pilgrimage was vitally important to me.
My pilgrimage
I landed in London in the morning, took the train into the city, dropped my bags off at the hotel, and rushed back to Paddington Station. For about $38 and 54 minutes, I took a train from London to Oxford.
Travel Tip
Purchase the out and back trip tickets at the same time…it will save you money. I didn’t know that at the time but fixed it the next morning when I went to Dover to visit the Dover Castle. Watch for that article soon. Here is a link for the UK Rail system and tickets. This link will help you plan trips by choosing train times and locations. You can purchase from the website, or from a machine at the station.
Getting to the Wolvercote Cemetery and Tolkien’s grave
The train hugs along the Thames, through quiet villages and fields of flowers towards the northwest. The train station in Oxford is considerably smaller than Paddington Station in London. Hopping off, I flagged down a famous UK taxi for the over 3-mile ride (and about a $12 fare) to the cemetery. The taxi driver pointed out the signs that mark the path to Tolkien’s grave (and asked if I needed a ride anywhere else…I declined, for now, not knowing how long I would be at the cemetery. That decision would prove very fruitful in a few minutes.)
Signs to follow
From the small central chapel, you follow a path to the left, then turn right and go approximately a hundred yards. Among other gravestones, and without much fanfare, sits a gravesite with a low border, some flowers inside the border, and a headstone with a cross above two names. The name on top is Tolkien’s wife Edith. Edith preceded her husband by about 2 years. Underneath Edith’s name is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Tolkien also inscribed the name Luthien under Edith’s name and under his name sits Beren. Luthien and Beren are characters in an epic tale of love written by Tolkien as an early work of Middle Earth. Tolkien used a memory of watching Edith dancing in a wooden glade to help him through the horrors of war and then turned that imagery into an unfinished tale from Middle Earth, with Luthien representing Edith and Beren representing Tolkien himself. Their son Christopher finished editing the tale after Tolkien passed and published the book in 2017.
As I was walking up to the gravesite, an older couple walked away. As far as I could tell, the three of us were the only people visiting the cemetery. I spent some time saying a simple prayer, taking pictures, reflecting on the impact Tolkien had on me, and reading the notes inside the border. I am not the only person Tolkien touched with his work.
After a few minutes, the older gentleman walked back over and we started to talk. They too stopped at the cemetery to visit Tolkien’s grave while traveling to visit their son and his family. Thankfully he took a picture of me at the grave and then asked what I planned on doing next. I told him my plan to travel to the house in town where Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first two books of The Lord of the Rings. I knew the location due to a listing on blue historic plaques which I will explain in a bit.
Tolkien’s House
Both he and his wife we unaware that the Tolkien home was a short distance away, and after learning I had no way to get there, offered to take me if they could tag along. So, Norm, Jane, and I drove to 20 Northmoor Road to find the house. I knew a blue plaque, annotating people or events in the United Kingdom, hung at the site, I just didn’t know where it hung. Additionally, I knew the house recently sold (I believe it sold in 2018 or 2019) but I expected to be able to walk along the sidewalk and take a picture with the plaque right there on the sidewalk wall. I was slightly wrong.
Norm and I walked back and forth a few times before I looked at the top of the house. Near the peak of the front wall hung the blue plaque. From the street, there is no good way to take a picture. So, I quickly snuck into the driveway and asked Norm to take another picture. I felt bad, I even saw the owners through their windows in the backyard. I apologize to them…but I needed to be there. Hopefully, they will forgive me.
Norm and Jane then offered to drive me back to the center of Oxford. During the drive, in their beloved ‘matchbox car’ we chatted about their family, their visit to Florida years ago, some geography/pronunciation lessons (they are from ‘Leicester’ and tried to teach me how to say it properly, not with an American accent, although I failed) and how the US and UK have a special relationship (minus those two little incidents in the late 1700s and early 1800s.) Meeting them made this pilgrimage so much more special.
The city of Oxford
Once back in the city center, I said goodbye to my new friends and started walking around. The city is a dichotomy of the UK.
On streets with Burger Kings, ATMs, photoshops, modern sports cars, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, you have a Church that dates to 1040 AD and a pub (The Crown) that William Shakespeare frequently visited.
You see rich history and modernism all over the place. Since history is more important to me, here are some other examples.
Oxford’s history
Near the city center (or centre) sits a monument to those lost during WWI and WWII.
Right near the monument is St. Giles church with a map, listing the location of all 39 semi-autonomous constituent colleges of Oxford, which dates back to 1096 AD.
Inside Magdalen College, one of the many colleges that make up Oxford University hangs a memorial to college members who lost their lives during WWII.
At an intersection sits a pub called the Bear, established in 1242 AD. Although I didn’t go inside, I overheard a tour guide telling people the pub has unique wall ornaments. Ties are forbidden inside the pub, so if you wear one inside, it gets cut off and attached to the wall. There are thousands of signed ties on the walls.
A sign marks the spot Robert Boyle discovered ‘Boyle’s Law’ and Robert Hooke, who developed a microscope and first identified the Living Cell.
James Sadler, the first English Aeronaut, made a successful balloon flight from Oxford on 4 October 1784.
Old Red Telephone Boxes are all over the city.
Christ Church, one of the largest colleges of Oxford University, was founded in 1546 AD and includes such notable alumni as King Edward VII, 13 British Prime Ministers, 17 Archbishops, author Lewis Carroll, and philosopher John Locke among dozens more famous leaders of their fields.
A large mound sits near a new Center for Innovation and is the location of a Castle built by Robert d’Oilly, a member of William the Conqueror’s forces. The castle dates back to 1071 AD, with other buildings, including a Debtor’s Prison Tower, built in 1790 AD, erected over the centuries.
I stopped for lunch before I found The Crown. There are a couple of ‘newer’ sandwich and deli shops called Taylors in town. Although only 20 years old, there are 8 locations around the city. I stopped for a Lamb Samosa (heated of course) and absolutely enjoyed my choice. For less than 3 GBP it did the trick on taste, affordability, and quickness to get back to my exploration.
Travel Tip
I want to stop at the Crown next time. The history alone draws me to it. Granted I enjoyed my lunch at Taylors (and it was quick and cheap), my next adventure to Oxford will include The Crown and the Bear pub (at least to see the ties.) I failed in looking for places to eat on this trip and I am kicking myself for it. Make sure you have an idea about places, as well as ask locals. They will hopefully not lead you astray.
Besides knowing that Tolkien taught at Oxford, I admit I knew a bit more. Granted that knowledge comes from a 1980’s movie starring Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy (Oxford Blues), but I had some knowledge. Like, for example, Rob Lowe’s character went to Oriel College. I even visited Oriel College, but, like so many others, Oriel was closed during my visit. I’m guessing either due to covid or because of graduation weekend.
Tolkien’s Oxford
The other two colleges I needed to visit were Pembroke and Merton. Why those two? Tolkien. Besides attending Oxford (Exeter College) to study English Literature before deploying to France for WWI, Tolkien taught at Oxford. Pembroke College and Merton College are the two colleges Tolkien taught at. From 1925 to 1945 Tolkien served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and then from 1945 to 1959, he served as the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College.
Pembroke
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings while teaching at Pembroke. When I visited Pembroke, the College was closed, but thankfully they let me into the courtyard to take some photographs. Again, I was fortunate, because shortly after I walked out and started taking pictures outside, the staff closed the entrance.
Merton
Merton was closed too, but I was able to see the courtyard and walk around the entire college area. There is a large field outside the walls where kids were playing cricket. I can just imagine Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (author of the Chronicles of Narnia among others), who also taught at Merton walking through the field and talking about so many things. Tolkien and Lewis were very close.
I then quickly visited Magdalen College, which was open, and toured the grounds. If the other colleges are similar to Magdalen, they are beautiful. In fact, Magdalen has deer roaming around the grounds in its Grove and signs to close the gate so the badgers don’t ruin the grounds.
There are dozens of other historical spots and events in Oxford. I only visited a few of them. Some that I missed included Radcliffe Infirmary, where the use of penicillin was pioneered, and the University Museum of Natural History. The Museum holds a reconstruction of Europe’s last Dodo, which inspired Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” stories, and the museum includes early editions of his books. Norm chided me on history. He told me the UK was so much richer in history compared to the US. I’ll be nice and let an older gentleman win a ‘battle’ or two.
End of my pilgrimage and back to London
In all, I must have walked well over 5 miles around the streets of Oxford. The same streets Tolkien walked. This pilgrimage exceeded all expectations.
As I rode the train back to London I thought about my day. Like my time in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, after visiting Oxford my understanding gained new depths. Although I did not spend nearly enough time in Oxford, I feel fulfilled. I made it back to London, hopped off at the Baker St stop to take a couple of pictures because I am a geek, back to the hotel near Trafalgar Square then off to one of the many pubs near Trafalgar. I chose The Old Shades that night and ordered a burger and fries. A perfect end to an awesome day.
Thank you for walking on the pilgrimage with me and reading my article. As always, stay safe and I wish you good luck traveling!
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