St George's Tower
101 narrow, uneven Saxon steps rewarded with a sweeping view over Oxford's roofs and domes.
Tejvan Pettinger — CC BY 2.0 · Simon Cobb — CC0 · Simon Cobb — CC0 · Des Blenkinsopp — CC BY-SA 2.0
Until 1996 this was a working prison in the middle of Oxford, a few minutes' walk from the famous colleges. The Norman castle went up here in 1071 and over the centuries slid into use as the county gaol, still taking inmates at the end of the twentieth century before it closed and reopened as a visitor attraction. What you see today is that double history: the Saxon St George's Tower, older than the castle itself, a crypt roughly nine hundred years old beneath it, and iron-doored cells from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries left much as they were. Entry is by guided tour only, led by a guide in period costume playing a character from the prison's past. The tour runs about fifty minutes to an hour and departs every twenty to thirty minutes between 10:00 and 17:00, capped at twenty people, so book online ahead, especially in the summer holidays. The high point is literally the 101 uneven steps to the top of the tower, with Oxford's roofs and domes spread out below; you then go down into the candle-lit crypt and on to the prison wing, and afterwards you are free to wander the exhibitions and climb the grassy castle mound outside. The style is unapologetically theatrical: tales of executions, escapes and ghosts told in character, which children over about seven tend to love and some adults find a bit much. If you want a quiet museum where you read the panels at your own pace, you will come away feeling short-changed. A few practical notes: under-fives are not allowed up the tower and an adult stays with them at the base, pushchairs do not fit through the old doorways and stay at reception, and the tour route is narrow staircases, so it is not for anyone who struggles with steps, though D Wing has a lift to the crypt and exhibitions and a video stands in for the tower climb. The site sits in the Castle Quarter, ten minutes on foot from Oxford railway station, with restaurants next door and the Westgate shopping centre car park close by. In summer Oxford is packed and tours sell out; in winter this is a mostly indoor attraction open daily to 17:30 except 24-26 December, making it a sound wet-weather option between the colleges.
101 narrow, uneven Saxon steps rewarded with a sweeping view over Oxford's roofs and domes.
A roughly nine-hundred-year-old chamber below ground where the castle's oldest stories are told.
Iron-doored cells from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that stayed in use until 1996.
New Road, Oxford OX1 1AY
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The tower, crypt and cells are tour-only; there is no free-flow visit. The Castle Quarter courtyard, its restaurants and the prison's stone frontage are open to everyone, so if time is short or the in-character tour is not your thing, walk through on the way to Westgate and save the ticket money.