Grand Tour Blog

One Final Stop: Oxford, England

Writing and photos by David Rowe, TCS Head of School

Imagine that you are visiting Oxford University where C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein and other members of the informal Inklings group once lived and worked. Imagine, too, that there is snow on the ground around the lamppost, rather than the bare concrete we saw today. Imagine further that a doorway right nearby sports an engraved picture of a lion and a figurative fawn carving on both sides of the door, as seen in the second picture.

These fascinating details, and this flight of imagination, were provided to us today by our local Oxford guide who conducted our tour with her son, an Oxford student himself. Both she and her son were immensely helpful in pointing out things, providing information, and stimulating our imagination in ways that we would have otherwise been unable to attain.

Later in the day we had a second guide at Lewis's home, The Kilns, who provided us with a great deal of information from his work as an authority on C.S. Lewis. At least one of our students purchased his book.

Throughout the Grand Tour, such local guides have been an invaluable aide in the process of entering into history, culture, language, and context of the places we have visited. Beginning with our guide in Greece, through our time in Italy, France, and England, each one has shared their knowledge and their passion for the places we visit. They have provided a depth of understanding that we would have otherwise missed in our travels, just as we would have almost certainly passed by the Oxford lamppost without noticing it.

Did this little out-of-the-way place figure somehow in Lewis’s own imagination as he wrote The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? We can't know for sure but our guide certainty helped us think more creatively and pointedly; it seems only fitting, then, to recognize them as we prepare to return home, enriched by our experiences and thankful to God for the opportunity to enjoy a once in a lifetime Grand Tour.