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Sight seeing in Oxford loop – Bridge of Sighs, Botanic Gardens and Wheatley Windmill

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Bike touring routes & trails

Sight seeing in Oxford loop – Bridge of Sighs, Botanic Gardens and Wheatley Windmill

Easy

3.8

(20)

riders

Sight seeing in Oxford loop – Bridge of Sighs, Botanic Gardens and Wheatley Windmill

01:33

25.6km

140m

Cycling

Easy bike ride. Great for any fitness level. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: June 5, 2024

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

1.27 km

Hertford Bridge

Highlight • Monument

Hertford Bridge, often called "the Bridge of Sighs", is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane in Oxford, England. Its distinctive design makes it a city landmark.

There is a false legend saying that many decades ago, a survey of the health of students was taken, and as Hertford College's students were the heaviest, the college closed off the bridge to force them to take the stairs, giving them extra exercise. However, if the bridge is not used, the students actually climb fewer stairs than if they do use the bridge.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Sighs_(Oxford)

Tip by

1.98 km

Danby Gateway, Oxford Botanic Garden

Highlight • Monument

Oxford Botanic Garden was founded in 1621 as the first botanic garden in the UK. It is part of the University of Oxford and contains over 5,000 different plant species. This makes it one of the most diverse yet compact collections of plants in the world and includes representatives from over 90% of the higher plant families. The Botanic Garden has been a rich source of inspiration. In the 1860s, this is where Charles Lutwidge Dodgson took the Liddell sisters, inspiring the stories that became Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. See if you can find the grinning Cheshire Cat, tucked away in the Literary Woodland in the Walled Garden. Equally, the author JRR Tolkien spent much time here, in particular in the company of the late great Austrian pine tree (Pinus nigra), whose twisting branches is said have resembled the 'ents' in his 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Perhaps most poignantly, in Philip Pullman's brilliant 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, the protagonists Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry meet between their respective parallel worlds on a bench in the back of the garden. At the end of the novels, they promise to sit on the bench for an hour at noon on Midsummer's day every year to feel each other's presence. Just behind their bench, you will find a stainless steel sculpture by the sculptor Julian Warren, depicting the ‘daemons’ of the novels.

Tip by

9.71 km

Wheatley Windmill

Highlight • Historical Site

Wheatley Windmill is an 18th-century tower mill at grid reference SP 589 053 between the hamlet of Littleworth and Wheatley in Oxfordshire, England. The windmill has an octagonal plan which narrows to form the circular rotating cap.

The Mill Building.
The octagonal shape of this 18th-century tower mill is distinctly unusual; there are only two or three such towers in the UK. The tower has three storeys. There are two fireplaces on the ground floor (some mills only had one, and others none at all) and a properly framed staircase leads to the 'stone floor', i.e. the first floor, where the mill stones are set. The original curved dome cap was copper clad and has been described as being 'picturesque without being elegant'. There were originally four sails (which turned clockwise rather than the more usual anti-clock) but for a time the windmill operated on two sails only. These were of the 'common' type with a wooden frame rigged with canvas which could be set according to the state of the wind and the amount of work the miller had to do. The canvas used was similar to that used on Thames barges.

Tip by

20.1 km

Thames Path

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

The path is shared with walkers and is not massively wide, so caution and respect are required. Absolutely beautiful scenery though and the surface is very good as well.

Tip by

25.6 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

13.5 km

6.94 km

3.14 km

1.59 km

381 m

Surfaces

21.0 km

2.06 km

1.34 km

583 m

530 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (130 m)

Lowest point (60 m)

Weather

Friday 17 July

25°C

12°C

14 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 16.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

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This route was planned by komoot.

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Sight seeing in Oxford loop – Bridge of Sighs, Botanic Gardens and Wheatley Windmill

Hertford Bridge

Danby Gateway, Oxford Botanic Garden

Wheatley Windmill

Thames Path

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