n than the tower. Inside the castle walls
was an immense mound, and there it stands to this day. No one rightly
knows its age, and, except for the romance which hangs about anything,
the origin of which is lost in the mists of ages, it adds but little to
the charm of Oxford.

Another grand old tower is said to have been the work of Robert D'Oily,
viz. that of St. Michael's Church in Cornmarket Street. Besides being
part of a church, this was also one of the watch towers on the city
walls. It is well worth looking at, for it has the further interest of
having adjoined the north gate into the city, over which were certain
chambers forming the Bocardo Prison, which remained in use until
comparatively modern times.

The severity which marked the outward appearance of the city during the
first few centuries after the Norman Conquest gradually disappeared, to
make way for the brighter and more exquisite beauty of later days. Thus,
in the fifteenth century, the massive walls and watch towers still
dominated the place. From close to Magdalen College they ran by the edge
of New College gardens (where the most perfect remains are still to be
seen), and then turned to go along the city ditch (now Broad Street),
and so to St. Michael's in "the Corn", and away down to the castle tower
near St. Thomas's. Nowadays these severe lines have practically
disappeared. Oxford has laid aside the armour which once she had in
self-defence to wear, and has clothed herself in lovelier garb.

One by one the objects upon which we feast our eyes to-day sprang up,
and more and more beautiful became the view of Oxford. Mr. Andrew Lang
in his charming book tells us that at the end of the thirteenth century
"the beautiful tower of Merton was still almost fresh, and the spires of
St. Mary's, of old All Saints, of St. Frideswide, and the strong tower
of New College on the city wall, were the most prominent features in a
bird's-eye view of the town." To these must be added (as has been
mentioned) the walls and watch towers, which must have lent a certain
grimness to the whole.

[Illustration: MAGDALEN COLLEGE FROM THE CHERWELL]

Two hundred years later Oxford's most beautiful tower came into being,
on the site of what had been the ancient Hospital of St. John, and had
been given about the year 1560 by King Henry VI to William Patten, in
order that he might there establish the college of St. Mary Magdalen.

Magdalen Tower, rising 150 feet in exquisite