Glorious cities of great britain the oldest university centres Богданова, Тилязева

Edinburgh, a city of great beauty, the cultural heart of the nation is the ancient capital of Scotland.

The city commands a superb natural setting and was unique in the way it developed. The Flodden Wall, built rapidly to guard the city after the English victory at Flodden, in 1513, limited expansion and the buildings rose upwards.

In 1767, when Parliament approved the extension of the city, a New Town was conceived. Its buildings are classical rather than medieval. The New Town extends to the Forth water front, the Old Town with the Castle towering over Princes Street is situated on Castle rock, one of several hills over-shadowing the modern city.

The annual International Festival of Music and Drama in Edinburgh is held late in August each year.

Edinburgh University, one of the ancient universities was found before 1600.

Oxford is like London: it is international, it is very old and it has great charm. It is also a town that grew up near the river Thames.

Oxford is international because people from many parts of the world come to study at its university. They come to study at one of the twenty-seven men’s colleges or at one of the five women’s colleges that make up the university: they join the university “family” that has more than 9000 members.

Oxford is old and historical. It has existed since 912. The university was established in 1249. The oldest of the twenty seven men’s colleges is University College.

You can see the charm of Oxford in the green fields and parks which surround the city and you can see it in the lawns and gardens which surround the colleges. You can see the charm of Oxford in the river Thames and its streams which pass near the city.

Do you know that the name Oxford means the part of the river Thames where the oxen forded?

City of Glasgow. Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city and the industrial and commercial capital of the Strathclyde Region. Strathclyde means the valley of the river Clyde.

Glasgow is the gate to much scenic beauty: the Clyde coast, Robert Burns country, the West Highlands and Lock Lomond.

In its two Universities and twelve colleges study more than 21000 students. Glasgow is famous for its Academy of Music and Drama also.

72 large and 200 little parks and public gardens decorate the city.

The Architecture of Glasgow is the perfect model of Victorian Style.

Manchester is a town of recent growth. It cannot boast of many ancient buildings. There are over fifty beautiful public parks in it. The largest of them Heaton Park is over one square mile in extent. In libraries and schools the city is also rich; and the University of Manchester, founded in 1880 and reorganized in 1903 is famous for its modern studies.

Birmingham. In the heart of England, about 112 miles north-west of London, is Birmingham, a city with over a million inhabitants. The growth of this city during the last century has been very rapid for it owes its importance almost entirely to its iron industry.

The district around Birmingham is known as the Black Country. It is a land of factories and mines.

The city of Sheffield. The modern, with over half a million people, has grown from the tiny hamlet of Escafield. Here arose the great industries which have made the words “Sheffield, England” famous throughout the world.

The people of Sheffield are fortunate also in their homes, the lovely hillsides of their widespread city provide them with delightful residential suburbs, and most of the valleys still retain vestiges of the woods which grew close to the hamlet.

It is an industrial concentration which makes Sheffield unique among English manufacturing towns. Packed workshops have marred the beauty and the whole city seems dull and grimy.

The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the Scottish Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. All the Universities were founded in the nineteenth or twentieth centuries.

Admission to the universities is by examination and selection’s Women are admitted on equal terms with men but at Cambridge their numbers may be limited by ordinance. The general proportion of men to women students is about three to one; at Oxford it is over four to one, and at Cambridge seven to one.

The choice of the small rural village of Oxford as a seat of learning was significant. Far removed from foreign influence, Oxford was within comparatively easy reach of all parts of England. From the beginning the university was designed not for the aristocrats but for the English commoners. It was established in 1249.

Oxford is international because people from all over the world come to study at its university; at one of twenty-nine men’s colleges or at one of the five women’s colleges that make up the university: they join university “family”, which has more than 8000 members. The oldest of the colleges is University college. They are scattered throughout the town and were founded at various times. In addition to the men’s and the women’s colleges there are five coeducational colleges. The present faculties at Oxford include theology and oriental studies, law, English language and literature, medieval and modern history, humane letters, social studies, medicine, physics and chemistry, biology, anthropology, geology, agriculture, forestry and music.

Cambridge is world famous principally as a university city. Many of the colleges are grouped together, and with their buildings, surrounding green courts, their fine chapels, halls and libraries and the tree-lined parks, they create a picture of Cambridge as one of the most interesting and beautiful cities in Great Britain.

The University of Cambridge may be said to have originated in the 12-th century and before the beginning of the 13-th was almost certainly a recognized centre of study.

In medieval times it taught all who could live in the town and pay their lecture fees. At first there were no colleges in the modern sense of the world, nor were there professors. Lectures were delivered by licensed teachers of the university, and oral examinations for degrees were conducted in Latin. In 1276 was laid down that “no one shall receive a scholar who has not a fixed master within 15 days after the said scholar has entered the university”, and in 1284 the first college, Peter house, was founded on the model of Merton College, Oxford. In the 17-th century the reputation of the university declined a little and its educational curriculum became less liberal. By the end of that century, however, the university was the home of the Cambridge Platonints and of Sir Isaac Newton (professor permanent). Serious tests were imposed upon candidates for degrees. During the early part of the 19-th century examinations were further improved. Written examinations were more frequently employed.

The university in the mid- 20-th century was a body of more than 55000 members, about 7000 of whom were graduators.

Admission to the university may be secured only by members of the colleges and of Fitzwilliam House, and as a general rule membership of these bodies is open only to persons who possess the necessary qualifications for matriculation.