After completing your tour of Magdalen College, step out of the Porter’s Lodge and cross the road. In front of you is the Botanic Garden, open to the public. This is the oldest garden of its kind in England and contains many rare and interesting specimens. It is built on an ancient Jewish burial-ground as is Magdalen College.

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Founded in 1621, the Oxford Botanic Garden was established to teach medical students about the healing power of plants. Today it holds over 5,000 species from around the world.

Lewis often strolled here alone or with friends, reflecting on the quiet beauty of creation. The ordered beds and glasshouses mirrored his belief that nature reveals a divine pattern — wildness within structure.

He once wrote, “Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word ‘glory’ a meaning for me.”

Standing here, surrounded by life from every corner of the earth, you sense the same humility and wonder that infused Lewis’s writings — the conviction that creation is not just beautiful but purposeful.

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