The 4-Day Residential Field Excursion to Wales

This Excursion Is Included For All Participants and Led by Dr Richard Grove

This signature field course is designed for all Oxford Academic Summer School pathways—Environment & Sustainability, Medieval Studies, and Literature & Culture—so that each discipline is equally central. Over four days in Wales (with selective sites in the Welsh Borders and west-central England), we treat the landscape as a shared text: a place to read geology and climate, to uncover medieval power, faith and community, and to trace the literary imagination from monastic quiet to industrial noise.

Why it matters (for every pathway)

Environment & Sustainability: Investigate glacial landforms, estuaries and uplands; examine human impacts from Neolithic farming to industrialisation and contemporary climate adaptation.

Medieval Studies: Explore conquest and colonisation, marcher lordships, royal castle networks, monastic economies and the afterlives of medieval institutions in today’s heritage landscapes.

Literature & Culture: Connect place to page—from Tintern Abbey and the picturesque to Welsh myth (the Mabinogion), Arthurian traditions at Caerleon, and modern literary responses to industry and nature.

Field Labs (you’ll rotate through all)

1. Landscape & Change
   Reading physical processes (glaciation, coasts, river systems), land use and restoration; mapping present/future risks (biodiversity, flood, energy).

2. Medieval Worlds in Place
   Authority, belief and belonging across abbeys, castles and planned towns; material culture and governance in the landscape.

3. Literature, Image & the Sublime
   Place-based readings (abbeys, valleys, coasts) with on-site close analysis, from the picturesque to post-industrial poetics and adaptation “from page to screen.”

4. Heritage, Policy & Community
   How sites are interpreted and funded; ethics of conservation; local voices, tourism and sustainability.

Core themes & representative sites

• Ice Age Landscapes & the Romantic Imagination: Cwm Idwal (Darwin’s early work), glacial cirques and the aesthetics of the sublime.

• Monastic Economies & the Picturesque: Tintern Abbey—medieval devotion, dissolution, and Wordsworth’s “Lines… Above Tintern Abbey.”

• Empire, Urbanism & Arthurian Afterlives: Caerleon (Roman legionary fortress; later Arthurian associations), Caerwent (civitas).

• Conquest, Colonisation & Planned Power: Edward I’s ring—Conwy, Harlech, Caernarfon—and their walled towns; frontier infrastructures like Offa’s Dyke.

• Industrial Revolutions & Environmental Legacies: Ironbridge Gorge (World Heritage), South Wales coalfield landscapes, and post-industrial regeneration.

• Water, Energy & Environmental Justice: Elan Valley reservoirs and aqueducts; renewable energy vistas along coastal and upland sites.
  (Actual route varies with weather and site conditions; a full pack is provided at departure.)

Assessment & credits (equal for all pathways)

All Environmental Students will earn 8 credits through one of three equivalent routes (choose the mode that fits your chosen course): There is an additional 2 credits for the Medieval & English Literature Students, (taking them from 6-8), for writing an optional 2,500 word paper.

All Environmental Students will earn 8 credits through one of three equivalent routes (choose the mode that fits your chosen course): There is an additional 2 credits for the Medieval & English Literature Students, (taking them from 6-8), for writing an optional 2,500 word paper.

Field Portfolio (maps, data sheets, site analyses, reflective logs) — ideal for Environment & Sustainability.

Place-Based Dossier (primary sources in situ—charters, plans, inscriptions—plus commentary) — ideal for Medieval Studies.

Critical / Creative-Critical Portfolio (close readings on location, visual annotations, short comparative essay, optional photo-essay) — ideal for Literature & Culture.
An optional 2-credit capstone (e.g., a 2,500-word research paper linking fieldwork to your tutorial topic) is available to any pathway at no extra cost.

(Credit recognition is at your home institution’s discretion.)

Daily rhythm & format

We cover a curated circuit of landscapes by private coach (typical group size 25–35), combining in-depth site studies (1.5–3 hours) with shorter interpretive stops and photo points. Days make full use of summer light: breakfast from 08:00 for a 09:00 departure, field sessions through the afternoon, and dinner around 20:00. You’ll receive on-site briefings, “things to look for,” and time for independent exploration or quiet reflection.

Accommodation & meals

Three nights in comfortable small hotels/guest houses (typically twin rooms), with all meals included—including daily packed lunches for the field. Dietary and accessibility needs are welcomed; please notify the Excursion Tutor on arrival.

What to bring

Lightweight baggage, good walking shoes, all-weather clothing, a camera/phone and a hard-covered field notebook. Expect varied terrain; walks include well-made paths and occasional upland sections but are not mountaineering.

Dates, fees & inclusion

The Wales excursion is included in your total Summer School fee (travel, admissions, accommodation, meals, tuition and field materials). Scheduled early-July within the five-week programme; exact dates appear in your cohort timetable.

What you’ll gain

• A shared vocabulary across disciplines for reading place and evidence.

• Experience turning landscape into argument—scientific, historical and literary.

• A substantive, portable assessment portfolio supporting future study applications.

This is not just a trip; it is a living seminar in the field, where medievalists, environmental scientists and literature students learn with and from one another—on the ground, in real time, and in one of the most layered cultural landscapes in Europe.

Cohort Bonding

The Wales excursion sits quite early during your summer school and acts as an unofficial bonding experience with your classmates. Its a really formative trip which has continued to be one of our signature programme highlights.

Mobility & Health

It is important to highlight, we tend to do a lot more walking in the U.K than in the U.S.. We’re not talking about running or walking marathons or hiking mountains necessarily, but the field trip is a fairly intense travel wise. If, through known existing health/mobility challenges or perhaps if you feel unable to participate during your stay (as there is a fair degree of travel involved, changing environments, exposure to weather etc) and you feel you wouldn’t like to participate in this excursion, you can opt to remain in Oxford for study leave for these 4 days. This will not impact your grade (but unfortunately is not discountable from your booking fee. ) We just wanted to acknowledge the needs of our students in relation to this trip and our flexibility in this matter.

Download the 2025 Editable Application Form

Download the Wales Excursion 2025 guide

© Oxford Academic Summer School Tours Ltd: for 2026, Oxford Summer School at Magdalen College, University of Oxford