Merton Field

{{Short description|Grass Field in central Oxford, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}

{{Infobox park

| name = Merton Field

| photo = Merton College from across the Christ Church Meadow.jpg

| photo_width = 240

| photo_caption = View north of Merton Field, with Merton College in the distance.

| type = Playing field

| location = Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, England

| coords = {{coord|51.7489107|N|1.2524569|W|display=inline,title}}

| area =

| created =

| operator = Christ Church Cathedral School{{cite web|url=http://www.cccs.org.uk/about/music-sport-art/|title=Christ Church Cathedral School :: Music, Sport & Art|publisher=cccs.org.uk|accessdate=30 June 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714135510/http://www.cccs.org.uk/about/music-sport-art/|archivedate=14 July 2014}}

| visitation_num =

| status = Open all year

}}

Merton Field is a grass playing field north of the main part of Christ Church Meadow and south of Merton College in central Oxford, England.{{cite book| title=Oxford: The University in Old Photographs | first=John | last=Rhodes | page=42 | chapter=Merton College from Merton Field, 30 April 1908 | publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing | year=1988 | isbn=0-86299-461-6 }}

To the west are Merton Walk and Christ Church, one of the Oxford colleges. To the east is the University of Oxford Botanic Garden. To the south is Broad Walk a wide path on the northern edge of Christ Church Meadow.{{cite web | title=Broad Walk – Merton Field | url=http://www.panoramicearth.com/1382/Oxford/Broad_Walk_-_Merton_Field | work=Panoramic Earth | accessdate=27 May 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716184652/http://panoramicearth.com/1382/Oxford/Broad_Walk_-_Merton_Field | archive-date=16 July 2014 | url-status=dead }} To the north, Dead Man's Walk skirts the edge of Merton Field following the line of the old city wall and Grove Walk leads to Merton Street, between Corpus Christi College and Merton College. The tower of Merton College Chapel dominates the view north from Merton Field.

Near to the eastern end of Dead Man's Walk is a plaque marking the first hot air balloon ascent in Britain, made by James Sadler (1753–1828).{{cite web| url=http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/streets/inscriptions/central/sadler.html | title=Inscriptions: James Sadler’s balloon flight | work=Oxford History | location=UK | accessdate=27 May 2014 }} He ascended from Merton Field on 4 October 1783, landing in Woodeaton to the northeast of Oxford.

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