University College and Logic Lane

The narrow lane you’re now walking down is called Logic Lane. It was previously known as Horseman Lane because it led to an old mill powered by horses. But Logic Lane primarily runs alongside University College, known to be the oldest in Oxford and for having educated, among others, Bill Clinton and Stephen Hawking! It was founded in 1249, but according to legend, it might have been established much earlier, in 872, by King Alfred, which would also explain why the college’s coat of arms still bears the king’s emblem. Pinpointing the exact founding of the University of Oxford is challenging, however it’s certain that there was some form of teaching there in 1096. What’s also certain is that the university gained importance during the early stages of the Hundred Years’ War and conflicts with France when King Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, one of the earliest in Europe after Bologna in Italy. English masters and students then left the Sorbonne to fill the classrooms of Oxford, which is now the oldest university in Britain and one of the most prestigious in the world. It’s organized in a complex manner, with each of its 38 colleges and 6 private halls being independent and spread across 260 buildings on 13 sites scattered throughout the city. Now you understand why Oxford is so closely associated with its university and inseparable from its nearly thousand-year-old academic past! At the end of the lane, you’ll see a covered bridge connecting the college’s ancient buildings on the left to the more recent ones on the right. The college had to sue the Oxford City Council to get the bridge built. The council demanded an annual fee of £5 because the lane was a bridleway and not private property. The college argued that it had been more than 200 years since that was the case and that no one could pass without their permission. After much deliberation, the college won, and the bridge was built in 1905.