I've been wanting to visit The Kilns, or CS Lewis's home for quite a while now. I've read many of his books (I highly recommend Til We Have Faces if you haven't read it) and a few biographies written about him as well. I wanted to see the home and surroundings where he was inspired and where he worked and lived and loved. It didn't disappoint! Though much of the empty land around his home is now built up, an 8 acre preserve of woodlands and pond have been made public for all to enjoy. The kids found the green covered pond enchanting and enjoyed poking it with sticks and watching the ducks swim through it. I'm sure it was even more magical in Lewis's day!
Stone bench next to the pond.
Playing with sticks.
We were told it isn't usually green, but it was fun to see it this way!
The wanted a picture with the stone lion they discovered in the yard.
Living room with the top part painted to represent the yellow nicotine caused color of the walls as they were when the Lewis brothers lived there. 💨 The blackout curtains were made of old army blankets and had been just nailed to the walls originally.
Warnie's Room
Piano is original to when Lewis lived here!
Books everywhere! It's said that the brothers had over 5000 books in the house while they resided there.
Jack's bedroom. Simple and humble and cozy looking. Though we were told this room was usually freezing in the winter as they conserved fuel and didn't light fires in this exterior room
Elizabeth in his office - maybe she'll be inspired to be a great writer and thinker!
A recreation of what Jack and Warnie's attic room back in Ireland may have looked like. They would play in there and created the imaginary world of Boxen together in it.
The dining room. The men would play Scrabble and the only rule was that the word they used had to be in one of the thousands of books in the house! I think I would have lost against those two.
The girls found Peter Rabbit sleeping in the garden.
Beautiful flowers were everywhere. These smelled as good as they looked!
We stopped by the church Lewis attended and where he is buried. It is set in a charming, secluded area of the city and was very peaceful and beautiful.
The graveyard had a memorial for those who died during The Great War.
We walked down this lane from the main street to get to the churchyard. I want to move to Oxford...
These were all along the lane.
The parish church. Old and stately and beautiful.
Very detailed window done to honor Lewis and remember his stories.
Plaque showing where he sat and worshipped.
I'm glad we were able to add this excursion into our trip. I really enjoyed learning more about Lewis and experiences a bit of life as he did.
Our next stop was lunch in the Oxford covered market. Three of us had pies here and they were delicious!! I had deer and beer with gravy and mash, while Tom and Laura opted for steak and ale. Now I need to perfect my hot water crust pastry.
Another stunning flower market. I would spend so much on fresh flowers if I lived in England!! Just too tempting and pretty to pass up!
After lunch we headed to Christ Church College, Oxford. Laura said she could definitely see herself going there. Ha! I guess this doubled as a college tour for her!
I really liked all the flowers and greenery.
The dining hall - pictures just don't do it justice. The Harry Potter dining hall was based on this one, so it is very popular to tour.
Poor Carolyn is getting really tired of touring old buildings. But I bet she'll enjoy looking back on all these pictures one day when she's older!
Stained glass window in Christ Church's chapel.
The ceilings!!
This window is rare and know for having a surviving image of Thomas Becket. King Henry the VIII got mad at him (I mean, who didn't get get mad at??) and ordered all his images destroyed. This was all after Henry II became murderously angry with Becket and had him killed - hence his portrayal in windows. This image of Becket is one of the few that remains and is near the top.
An activity for the kids! It turned out that we all really enjoyed it - and we got to rest our feet!
Punting on the River Cherwell.
We hired a guide so we didn't risk losing our pole and getting stuck. We saw two other boats that this happened to!
Lovely, peaceful ride.
The girls tried to entice ducks to eat grass and sticks from their hands the entire ride. We saw one duck jump into another boat in quest of the toddler's snack that the mom had just opened. The kids really liked watching those antics!
First all girls college at Oxford. Initially they were only allowed to attend. Being able to graduate came later.
The Sheldonian Theatre
Bridge of Sighs
I like seeing all the unique doors in England. This one caught my eye.
In the courtyard of the Bodleian Library.
I can't remember what this building was, but it was so picturesque framed by the archway.
Narnia door. Can you find Mr Tumnus? Aslan?
Church tower of Magdalen College - where Lewis was a professor.
Another stunning building.
We finished our time in Oxford at Blackwell's bookstore - any book lover's dream come true! It was three stories tall and full full full of books. It is said to have over three miles of bookshelves! Laura and Andrew were tickeled to find books in Latin, and Elizabeth managed to find the next book her the Anne series that she was wanting to read. We could have spent a looong time in here!!
(I'll get these Kilns picures in order later, but going to go ahead and publish now to get it done!)
A late night fish and chips at the pub downstairs for Tom!
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