The Radcliffe Camera, designed by James Gibbs, appears on our Sumatran coffee packet, as well as our Earl Grey tea packets.

Taking 12 years to build and completed in 1749, it initially housed the Radcliffe Science Library. The building, like many in Oxford, was named after John Radcliffe, a physician born in Wakefield who studied at Oxford University and later became a royal physician to William III before becoming an MP for Buckingham.

More recently, the Radcliffe Camera has been used as reading rooms for the world famous Bodleian Library, and houses around 600,000 books in rooms that lie beneath it and the square in which it stands.

Although very photogenic, the word "camera" in the name comes from the Latin word for room. It has been featured in numerous films and TV shows, and is perhaps most seen on screen in the "Inspector Morse" TV series and it's recent spin-off "Lewis".

Further Reading :

- Radcliffe Camera entry in Wikipedia
- Bodleian Library history page