Jane Burden

You won't find Jane Burden's name on many tourist maps, which is rather the point. She was William Morris's wife, the Pre-Raphaelite muse who modelled for Dante Gabriel Rossetti and became entangled in one of Victorian England's messiest love triangles. The connection to her is woven through Oxford itself - you can't properly understand the Arts and Crafts movement without understanding her story.

Visiting the sites associated with Jane means doing a bit of detective work around the city. The William Morris Gallery in nearby Walthamstow has material related to her, but Oxford itself holds the real threads. Walk the streets where she and Morris lived, see the houses that inspired the movement, and you start to grasp how this woman's image and presence shaped an entire aesthetic. It's not a traditional tourist attraction with opening times and admission fees - it's more an exercise in following a historical trail through the city.

History buffs and anyone interested in Victorian art and design will find this worthwhile. You're looking at a few hours minimum, wandering and discovering rather than a quick stop. Oxford's close to several holiday parks - Cedar Hollow and The Oaks are barely three miles away, while Oxford Riverside Glamping offers something more upmarket if you want a proper base. The city itself is endlessly walkable, and the Jane Burden story adds unexpected depth to what could otherwise be a fairly standard university town visit. Come prepared to dig.