University of Oxford Botanic Garden

You're standing at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain. Start with the gateway in front of you. This is the Danby Gate, designed by Nicholas Stone in 1632 and 1633. It's one of the earliest buildings in Oxford in a classical, even early Baroque style. Notice the bands of stone, alternating rough and smooth? The niches hold statues of Charles I and Charles II. Up top, in the middle, there's a bust of the man who paid for it all: Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby. During the English Civil War, this gate was actually shot at.