The uncomfortable truth about Oxford University

Oxford is a city that makes you proud to be British: its beautiful dreaming spires attract tourists and the cleverest students from across the world. But is there something darker lurking beneath the glorious architecture? Some Oxford students think so. 

‘Uncomfortable Oxford’ is a student-run company which, for £13, takes you on a tour of the city centre. It promised to raise difficult questions about the university and society. ‘Through unique walking tours, we generate discussions about racial inequality, gender and class discrimination, and legacies of empire,’ its website says.

The group met outside Carfax Tower, the last remnant of a church standing at the centre of Oxford. The day’s party consisted of a scattering of tourists, some interested students, an American who insisted on wearing a face mask for an activity which took place entirely outside on a windy day, and one undercover Spectator contributor.

Carfax Tower was the perfect place to begin with a discussion of the history of ‘town and gown’, overlooking as it does the site of the St Scholastica Day riot of 1355.