Pembroke Square

Pembroke Square lies in central Oxford, just west of St Aldate’s street. It is a small enclosed space with Pembroke College on its south-west side and St Aldate’s Church built into the college’s old library. Christ Church, the largest Oxford college, faces the square across the road, its main gate topped by Tom Tower. The square’s buildings range from a 17th-century pair at numbers 13–14 to Jacobean and Georgian houses at 17–18 and 36–37. The square is worth a pause because it links two famous colleges and holds centuries of Oxford life. Samuel Johnson, later a great lexicographer, lived here as a Pembroke student. J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, once had rooms overlooking the square while he taught at Pembroke. The mix of building styles shows how the area grew from the 1600s to the 1800s. Visitors find a quiet rectangle of lawn and paths surrounded by old brick and stone façades. The college’s North Quad now covers what was once Beef Lane, closing the square off from the street. From the square a short walk leads to St Aldate’s Church, Christ Church gate and Pembroke’s main entrance. The view east shows Tom Tower rising above the rooftops, while the west side opens into Pembroke’s own enclosed garden.