Al Fresco & Wild · Oxford, Oxfordshire
Parson's Pleasure
Parson's Pleasure was Oxford's men-only nude river-bathing place for well over a century, complete with screens, punt etiquette and a folklore polished by generations of dons.
The story
This secluded Cherwell bend was reserved for male nude bathing from at least the nineteenth century until its closure in 1991. Screens and rules redirected women passing in punts, making the management of who could see whose body part of the place's history. Its most famous towel anecdote is told of several dons and should be enjoyed as folklore; the bathing place and its long institutional life are documented.
More stories at this spot
Sources
Nearby on the map
Dame's Delight was Oxford's comparatively short-lived answer to Parson's Pleasure: a documented women's and family bathing place downstream on the Cherwell.
Documented historyQueer HeritageMagdalen College, Oxford (Wilde's aesthetic years)Oxford, Oxfordshire · EnglandWhere Wilde perfected the pose — blue china, sunflowers, a double first — that became the aesthetic movement. Oxford also formed the circles through which, years later, Bosie entered his life
Documented historyBohemian & LibertineGarsington Manor (Lady Ottoline Morrell's set)Garsington, Oxfordshire · EnglandOttoline Morrell's Tudor manor was the great house-party of literary modernism: Bertrand Russell was her lover, Lawrence repaid her hospitality by putting her in 'Women in Love', and the peacock-stalked gardens hosted more entanglements than the guest book could decently record.
Documented historyHot spotSpotted an error, or hold a better source? Write to marquis@marquisdemayfair.com — corrections are made, never defended. Our methodology.