Author's Note: Oxford

Oxford is often referred to as the city of dreaming spires – and the famous skyline indeed supports this poetic rendering. It is dominated by University colleges: 39 altogether which form the body of the University. Oxford has been a centre of learning since medieval times. The old city wall is still visible: in some instances it emerges in the midst of a college garden, or can be found in the basement of shop building.

The colleges are self-contained worlds, each with their own particular personality, rituals and academic strengths. Within this, the colleges all operate in the same hierarchical structure. The college is governed by a Dean, and houses Professors of various disciplines, who are also known as the “Fellows” of the college. The remaining rooms are taken by the students.

The architecture of the colleges varies greatly: some are dominated by towers, others have a more modest design. However, they all share the same basic layout. There is a main gate at the entrance to every college. This leads to the central quadrangle, commonly referred to as the quad. The rooms of the students and the Professors are housed around this open courtyard. Every college also has its own place of worship: a chapel or a Cathedral. Professors and students eat together in the main dining hall.

The colleges gain their reputation through academic prowess and, in this modern age, students who then go on to achieve political greatness or fame. Behind this public show of learning there is an impressive workforce who maintain the buildings. There are kitchen staff and the “scouts” who clean the rooms. But most respected of all are the porters who guard the college gate.

The sheer number of colleges means that the majority of the general populus live outside that main centre. In Victorian times, these areas were self-contained villages, separate from the academic city. Although these districts have now become absorbed into the main body of the city, they still retain their names: Jericho is one such suburb.

In Edgar’s time this established centre of academic excellence was undergoing a huge upheaval. The combination of the expansion of empire and the development of invention lead to a generation of educated men who developed a love of investigation: of observing the “mechanisms of life.” This was the beginning of the definition of modern science.

It may seem remarkable to our modern mind, but in the mid 19th century there was no doubting of God the Creator. In fact, the academics who discovered fossilised bones in the hills just outside Oxford in the 1820s, saw this as further proof of God’s presence, rather than part of an alternative theory. These men hoped to understand God better through looking at the minutiae of his creations.

At the start of Edgar’s story, there was no schism between science and religion. Men of every class and culture had a sense of their place in the world. But as we know, this was all about to change. Along with invention, scientific investigation and class mobility the Victorian era was also the beginning of our modern psychological problems of doubt, disillusionment and anxiety.

Click here to read about the historical background - WARNING - CONTAINS SPOILERS