Those of you who are familiar with C.S. Lewis and his series The Chronicles of Narnia will see Mr. Tumnus on this doorway in Oxford. It is said that this doorway was an inspiration for C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Warning: This is a long post, be ye forewarned…

On Saturday September 17th we had our first taxi experience in Oxford. Our first ride was to Holy Trinity Parish Church in Headington Quarry where C.S. Lewis worshipped.

We had a tour of The Kilns, C.S. Lewis’ home while he lived on the outskirts of Oxford, scheduled for noon. We wanted to visit the church before our tour to see the Narnia Etched Window and to visit Lewis’s grave.

We had the church to ourselves.

It’s not easy to take photos of an etched window.

The church had this prayer by the window.

O God of searing truth and surpassing beauty, we give you thanks for C.S. Lewis, whose sanctified imagination lights fires of faith in young and old alike. Surprise us also with your joy and draw us into that new and abundant life which is ours in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

From the church we headed out to find The Kilns, a mile walk.

The site was so understated we walked right past it and headed into the C.S. Lewis Nature Preserve. After a roundabout we made it back to the home of C.S. Lewis and waited in the garden for our tour to begin.

As we waited in the garden, several other people arrived to wait for our scheduled tour. Everyone who arrived were also from the United States. The home states represented were Texas, Illinois, Virginia, Florida, Minnesota and Washington State.

Colin was our tour guide and he shared many interesting things about Lewis and his brother. More information about the Kilns and C.S. Lewis can be found here.

The home is modest and is maintained by the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

This poster was in the meeting room in the house with a nod to the Eagle and Child or the Bird and Baby where Lewis and the Inklings would meet up.

Sadly, the Eagle and Child in Oxford was closed when we visited and was closed since March of 2020. Hopefully someone will take over the renovations and open it again in the future.

After our tour we had scheduled another Taxi to take us to The Trout for our meal of the day. We were happy to see the taxi waiting for us when the tour was completed.

We had reservations for a meal at 2pm at The Trout a favorite of C.S. Lewis. It was good we made those reservations because when we arrived we noticed a sign that said they were fully booked and wouldn’t accept walk-ins.

We had a good meal experience and our server took care of all our needs including arranging for our third taxi ride of the day back to our apartment. A very full Saturday and we were happy to enjoy the evening in our apartment making plans for our Sunday.