Bridge of Sighs
Hertford College's 1914 covered skyway over New College Lane — Oxford's most photographed bridge, despite resembling neither of the actual Bridges of Sighs.
The best photograph is taken from Catte Street looking east as the bridge rises against the Bodleian — early morning before the tour groups arrive. The arch beneath leads down New College Lane to the city's quietest medieval lane and Halley's house.
The Bridge of Sighs is the popular name for Hertford Bridge, a covered skyway built in 1914 to connect the two parts of Hertford College across New College Lane. It was designed by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, a prolific late-Victorian Oxford architect responsible for much of the Examination Schools and the Indian Institute.
Despite its nickname, the bridge bears little resemblance to the original Bridge of Sighs in Venice — a covered passageway between the Doge's Palace and the prison. It is in fact closer in design to the Rialto Bridge, also in Venice, with its arched single span. The "Bridge of Sighs" tag was attached by tourists in the early 20th century and has been used as Hertford's unofficial branding ever since.
A persistent local myth holds that medical staff once measured Hertford students and found them the heaviest in Oxford, leading the college to close the bridge so the students would have to use stairs and stay fitter. There is no truth to it; the bridge was closed only briefly during World War II, and the story dates from the 1990s.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
