Shakespeare's Oxford

Many literary greats have sprung from Oxford. We think of Carroll, Lewis, and Tolkien, for starters, but we don't often associate Shakespeare with Oxford. In fact, Shakespeare spent a fair amount of time in Oxford. Here was his resting place on his journeys back home to Stratford. Shakespeare stayed at the home of John Davenant. Most people don't realize that the Davenants lived on Cornmarket St. A bright green advertisment that reads "bet tote sport" marks the stairway that will take you into an office building that now occupies the Davenant's house.

The building manager said we couldn't take pictures, so in my quest to be unobtrusive, I had to sacrifice photo quality. What you see is the actual wall of where Shakespeare stayed while in Oxford (and where it is rumored that an illegitimate son was concieved). Curtains and wooden panaling mask the walls normally. The inscription above the fireplace reads IHS - I'm guessing In His Service because our guide said it had protestant significance. (I was mistaken - what a surprise - IHS is a Christogram formed from letters of the name of Jesus. Sometimes read as standing for Jesus, Saviour of Man. Thank's Chee-Seng!) The wall to the left is richly painted in a floral motif.