Broad Walk
walkway in Oxford, England, UK
Broad Walk is a wide walkway running east–west on the north side of Christ Church Meadow and south of Merton Field in central Oxford, England.
The walkway runs between St Aldate's though the Christ Church War Memorial Garden at the western end and
the River Cherwell to the east at the southern end of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden. To the north, at the western end is Christ Church, one of the Oxford colleges. The tower of Merton College Chapel dominates the view north from Broad Walk across Merton Field, beyond Dead Man's Walk and the old Oxford city wall which runs parallel to Broad Walk, connected via Merton Walk.
Broad Walk used to be lined with large elm trees, but has been denuded due to Dutch elm disease.
The Meadow Building of Christ Church, in an imposing stone-faced Venetian Gothic style, is immediately to the north of Broad Walk. Opposite to the south, the tree-lined Poplar Walk, laid out in 1872 by Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, leads down to the River Thames.
Views of some of the spires and towers of Oxford include (west to east) Tom Tower, the spire of Christ Church Cathedral, Merton College Chapel Tower, and Magdalen Tower.
The first hot air balloon ascent in Britain was made by James Sadler (1753–1828) from Merton Field on 4 October 1783, to the north of Broad Walk.
Postwar development planned for central Oxford included a relief road passing through the Christ Church Meadow along the route of Broad Walk and joining the district of St Ebbe's.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Broad Walk” as walkway in Oxford, England, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as walkway in Oxford, England, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q16985389. Authority coordinates are 51.749, -1.252. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1872, 1753, 1828 and 1783.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Broad Walk”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Broad Walk primary sources, Broad Walk archive and Broad research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Broad Walk”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Broad Walk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.