OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE
REFORMATION WALKING TOUR
By Julia Cameron
Dictum Press. 48 pages. £3.99
ISBN 978 1 999 662 103
This lavishly colour-illustrated guidebook originated in a walking tour led by the author to mark the 500th anniversary in 2017 of the Reformation.
It contains two tours of sites in Oxford and Cambridge of particular significance to the Reformation. A brief timeline and four-page overview of the history of the Reformation in England preface the book, and three appendices supply additional detail including some thought-provoking ‘Lessons for Today’.
Family on their feet
I took my family on the Oxford tour, which we easily completed (nine sites in total), at a leisurely pace, in under two hours. I imagine the Cambridge tour (six sites) is of a similar length. The Oxford tour has in fact been made available online by the university’s Taylor Institution Library (http://oxfordstories.ox.ac. uk/reformation-walking-tour), and we found this mobile edition a little more practical to carry around than the guidebook itself. The book contains clear maps of central Oxford and Cambridge, with smaller inset maps throughout for each site on the tour. Although the division between the Oxford and Cambridge tours could be clearer, generally the layout is very attractive. Alongside a brief description of each site and its relevance to the Reformation, small insets contain information about additional features of interest, such as notable alumni of nearby colleges.
Occasionally the book strays into post-Refor-mation history. One of the appendices, for example, covers Charles Simeon, the origins of the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union and John Stott, of undoubted interest but perhaps diluting the focus of the book.
Overall the book includes plenty of material of interest to first-time visitors or local residents who are unaware of the wonderful history available on their doorstep. It would make a good present for anyone moving to Oxford or Cambridge, such as new students.
