Lawrence of Oxford

For the growing Lawrence family, Oxford combined all the conveniences and gentility of city life with the atmosphere of the countryside, where the newly developed Polstead Road had only recently encroached, and this would have been very much to the taste of TEL's father, who was a countryman at heart, with a countryman's interests and hobbies.

Port Meadow is a unique, large, open grazing area just a short stroll from Polstead Road, and the Lawrence family often went there for walks. In winter the River Thames, which runs alongside the meadow, overflows and floods this flat lowland, and then the boys would take a canoe with them. On such occasions, the so-called Round Hill or Green Mound was a favourite objective. Bob reminisced in T E Lawrence by his friends of the time when TEL and Will attempted an excavation of the Green Mound, an early indication of TEL's growing interest in archaeology. Although they made little progress, the mound is thought to mark the site of a Bronze Age burial area.