Haystacks Corner above Iffley Lock, opposite Isis Hotel

Haystacks Corner
Haystacks Corner with Iffley Church in the distance.

The meadow opposite the Isis Boathouse -

Haystacks Meadow 2007
Haystacks Corner Meadow 2007

1875: Haystacks Corner and the Isis Hotel, Henry Taunt -

Isis Hotel, Henry Taunt, 1875
Isis Hotel, Henry Taunt, 1875
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT01009

Either this meadow (on the RIGHT east bank) or Iffley Meadow on the LEFT bank (where the haystack is seen in the Taunt view of the Isis Hotel in 1875) is, I think, one of the places at which the Alice in Wonderland stories were first told. I think that is where Alice Liddell and her sisters sat in the shade of a new hayrick to hear Charles Dodgson tell more of his story of Alice. Other people are not so sure.
What Alice Liddell said, many years later, was -

I believe the beginning of Alice was told one summer afternoon when the sun was so burning that we had landed in the meadows down the river, deserting the boat to take refuge in the only bit of shade to be found, which was under a new-made hayrick. Here, from all three came the old petition, 'Tell us a story', and so began the ever-delightful tale. Sometimes to tease us - and perhaps being really tired - Mr Dodgson would stop suddenly and say, 'And that's all till next time'. 'Ah, but it is next time', would be the exclamation from all three; and after some persuasion the story would start afresh. Another day, perhaps the story would begin in the boat, and Mr Dodgson, in the middle of telling a thrilling adventure would pretend to go fast asleep, to our great dismay.

The above account matches a poem by Charles Dodgson
Listen to 'All in the golden afternoon ...'

All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
Our wanderings to guide.
 
Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour
Beneath such dreamy weather,
To beg a tale of breath too weak
To stir the tiniest feather!
Yet what can one poor voice avail
Against three tongues together?
 
Imperious Prima flashes forth
Her edict "To begin it" -
In gentler tone Secunda hopes
"There will be nonsense in it!" -
While Tertia interrupts the tale
Not more than once a minute.
 
Anon, to sudden silence won,
In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast -
And half believe it true.
 
And ever, as the story drained
The wells of fancy dry,
And faintly strove that weary one
To put the subject by,
"The rest next time -", "It is next time!"
The happy voices cry.
 
Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out
And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
Beneath the setting sun.
 
Alice! A childish story take,
And with a gentle hand
Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined
In Memory's mystic band,
Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers
Pluck'd in a far-off land.

[ Notice the parallels with Alice Liddell's account. Of course it is always possible that as an elderly lady she used that poem to refresh her memory when she wrote her account, in which case it is less reliable evidence ...
Other people have assumed Alice Liddell got it wrong and that she should have said "up river" to Godstow.
It is not an uncommon mistake to make. At summer levels the flow of the river is hardly noticeable - and it has been known for coxes and even boat clubs to be ignorant of the direction of the river. One Oxford Boat Club used to describe itself as "below Iffley Lock".
But there were several different trips in Dodgson's diaries (see Nuneham) and Alice was used to boats and steering and going up and down locks - and she also became an undergraduate at Oxford - so I have chosen to believe her when she says "Down the river".
If she went upriver they would have had to go up Osney Lock and then up Medley weir which was still in place - so they would then have had either to haul over the Medley boat rollers and on their return shoot the weir. I cannot imagine not remembering that.
'The meadows down the river' could of course be anywhere - however it was a burning hot day and I would reckon this destination to be the nearest meadows near Haystacks Corner, either on the RIGHT bank, opposite the Isis Boathouse, or on Iffley Meadows at what is now the Isis Boathouse. This would make it a short trip - but the heat perhaps explains it.
The third confirmation is merely the coincidence of the name 'Haystacks' with Alice's description of sitting under a hayrick.
In case I'm wrong I have also quoted the above poem in the Trout at Godstow section. ]

Pictures of Alice Liddell are on the Nuneham Park page. But here she is as an adult -

Alice Liddell
Alice Liddell

The name Alice Liddell is still remembered in Oxford -

Alice Liddell
The Alice Liddell