Oxford was originally located on the borders of the counties of Mercia and Wessex, and had several roads running through it. Now it is the largest city in the county of Oxfordshire, shown at right. It has a present-day population of around 140,000, and a University enrollment of 15,000. The city of Oxford is situated in the county of Oxfordshire, lying less than 50 miles to the west of London.As you can see below, Oxford is located just north of the junction of two rivers, the Thames (also known in the Oxford area as the Isis) and the Cherwell. This was a great location for a township, due to the protection of the rivers, and early Oxford was founded as a fording point (for Oxes). The town later became an outpost to protect the nothern county of Wessex from the Danes. Their method of invasion was through rivers, and Oxford has the added benefit of a hill on the only side that isn't surrounded by the rivers, giving even more security to the midevil settlers than that provided by the rivers. The protection lasted for a time, but the city was taken and burned by the Danes in 1010 AD. This original function of the city has since been abandoned, and now the city serves primarily as a place of higher education for some of the brightest students of the world. The old part of the city (the southeast) is nearly filled with colleges (the purple buildings), and Oxford is perhaps the original college town. Click on the map to see a larger version. Note the many winding streets and lack of an ordered grid pattern in much of the city.

Located mid-way between London and Birmingham, Oxford is part of the South East region - one ofthe richest and most accessible areas of Europe. It is linked to both London and Birmingham by a national highway, and is just under an hours drive from each. It is also similarly linked to both Heathrow and Gatwick international airports, and the port coasts of Southhampton, Bristol, and Portsmouth. Oxford has many of the benefits of being a small town, while still being accesible to London, one of the economic capitols of the world. Oxford has remained quite "green", with several parks, nature preserves, and a nearby national trail. Oxford consistently tops buisness surveys for "the most desirable UK city", and this is largely because of the quality of life for people living and working there. The city's architecture, history, intimacy and open spaces contribute towards a very desirable environment.

Here we have a graph of Oxford's average temperature in each month. Oxford is a cool-weather zone and even the hottest months only get to about 16 degrees Celcius, or about 61 degrees Farenhieght. Residents usually have light jackets in the summertime, and heavier ones in the winter months. Most residents have small plots of land, and almost all have a garden either in front or behind of their houses.

Unfortunately, there is also a steady amount of rain in Oxford. As you can see, there isn't much dropoff year-round, and there is usually light rain throuought a day, if any at all. October is the raniest month, and also fairly chilly with an average temperature of about fifty degrees farenhieght.