Today's
Novanna website hotspot is Oxford.
Dating from Saxon Times, Oxford
was originally named Oxenaforda, telling us that it was 'the ford of the
oxen'. By the tenth century, Oxford was an important border town
between the two kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, as well as being raided
several times by Danes. The Normans constructed a castle following the
severe damage suffered by the town during the conquest, although this
castle has never been used for military purposes. Some remains survive
to the present day.
The castle soon became home to a small community of
monks and was one of the first places of formal education established in
the town. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his 'History of the Kings of
Britain' here, which was actually a compilation of Arthurian legends
rather than a true history.
These days, Matthew Arnold's 'city of
dreaming spires' is home to about 165,000 inhabitants and the oldest
university in the English-speaking world.
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