Where is Parson's Pleasure?

Former bathing place on the River Cherwell, University Parks, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England (51.76000, -1.24700).

Is the Parson's Pleasure story fact or fiction?

Documented history. Research coordinate for the former Cherwell bathing place; no operating bathing facility remains.

Where is Parson's Pleasure today?

Parson's Pleasure is in the Holywell ward, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, in the Oxford West and Abingdon parliamentary constituency (OS grid reference SP 520 070). Nearby: Pitt Rivers Museum (0.6 km), Oxford University Museum of Natural History (0.6 km), Radcliffe Camera (0.9 km).

The Map→Al Fresco & Wild→Parson's Pleasure

Al Fresco & Wild · Oxford, Oxfordshire

Parson's Pleasure

Spice 2/5 · Warm

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.

StatusDocumented history

Dateearly nineteenth century–1991

The peopleOxford dons, C. S. Lewis

The siteFormer bathing place on the River Cherwell, University Parks

Coordinates51.76000, -1.24700 (confidence 4/5)

SpiceSpice 2/5 · Warm

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.

Visiting today

Parson's Pleasure was a male-only nude bathing area on the River Cherwell, at the south-east corner of the University Parks in Oxford. It closed in 1991, and the site now forms part of the Parks.

Council: Oxford, Oxfordshire
Ward: Holywell
County: Oxfordshire
Region: South East
Nation: England
Constituency: Oxford West and Abingdon
OS grid reference: SP 520 070

Landmarks nearby

Pitt Rivers Museum · 0.6 km — Archaeology and anthropology museum, founded 1884
Oxford University Museum of Natural History · 0.6 km — University natural history specimens on Parks Road
Radcliffe Camera · 0.9 km — Baroque library building of 1737 to 1749

Directions in Google Maps →

Sources

Outdoor Swimming Society, Queer Connections

Nearby on the map

Al Fresco & WildDame's DelightOxford, Oxfordshire · EnglandSpice 1/5 · Chilled

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 history Queer HeritageMagdalen College, Oxford (Wilde's aesthetic years)Oxford, Oxfordshire · EnglandSpice 1/5 · Chilled

Where 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 history Bohemian & LibertineGarsington Manor (Lady Ottoline Morrell's set)Garsington, Oxfordshire · EnglandSpice 3/5 · Simmering

Ottoline 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 spot

Spotted an error, or hold a better source? Write to marquis@marquisdemayfair.com — corrections are made, never defended. Our methodology.