John Henry Brookes

The man himself never built anything, which is rather the point. John Henry Brookes was the landscape architect who revolutionised Oxford's green spaces in the 1960s, and his influence is stamped all over the city if you know where to look. His most visible legacy sits in the colleges and public gardens - clean lines, purposeful planting, spaces that actually work for people rather than just looking decorative.

You won't visit a single "John Henry Brookes site" because that's not how it works. Instead, you'll stumble across his designs whilst wandering Oxford itself - the meadows he protected, the gardens he reshaped. It's more about understanding the bones of the place than ticking off a box. Architecture and design types will find this genuinely absorbing; kids will find it less obvious than a castle.

The real payoff comes if you're already staying in the area - perhaps at Common Leys Farm, four miles out - and you're curious about why Oxford's gardens feel so different from other university cities. Brookes believed in integrating landscape with urban life, which sounds dry until you're actually sitting in one of his spaces and realise it's exactly where you want to be.

No entry fee, no opening hours to worry about. Just walk the city with this in mind. Best appreciated with a guide who knows his work, or frankly, a proper architectural history book. Not a detour for its own sake, but absolutely worth understanding if you're serious about Oxford.