New College Lane is a historic street in central Oxford, England, named after New College, one of the older Oxford colleges founded in 1379.
At the northwestern end of New College Lane is a junction with Catte Street, with the Sheldonian Theatre opposite.
The main feature is the Bridge of Sighs, a covered bridge connecting two parts of Hertford College, which was completed in 1913 (there's a plaque on the bridge and on the drainpipe to the side) and attracts many tourists for the view.
Also to the north is a small alley leading past some of the historic city wall to the Turf Tavern, a hidden but favourite public house for students and tourists.
The lane has three bends as it winds its way between the surrounding colleges.
We start at a rear door entrance to New College.
Some good examples of grotesques and gargoyles can be seen, a feature of Oxford college architecture.
A gargoyle must have an orifice from where rain water exits, normally this is the mouth, but there is one on Magdalen College where the discharge is from the rear! Grotesques are the other stone carvings gracing many of the roofs. Their remit is to deter evil spirits, it works most of the time...
A plaque on a terraced house on the north side of the lane records that it was occupied by Edmond Halley (1656-1741), after whom Halley's Comet is named. His observatory is on top of the house.
Ghosts. The most haunted lane in England.
1. During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert gathered volunteers here for an unsuccessful mounted raid on a Parliamentarian pay train. The reports of the sound of clattering hooves and men in armour here have been linked to this legend via Stone Tape theory.
2. A phantom horse and carriage was reported here by on 5 June 1968.
3. On dark and windy nights you mght hear the gruesome cries and gagging death throes of a 15th century student who fell into the pit latrine late at night and drowned. Death by drowning in years and years worth of accumulated human waste.
4. The Black Scholar. The ghost of a very naughty 16th century former Warden (Head) of New College who haunts their cloisters and is always seen walking backwards.