whiteframe

John Hoadley's

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Branly

This looks like a small quadrangle at a university, probably in the UK. After spending some time doing image searches for Oxford and Cambridge quadrangles, I decided to try another tack. The satellite view of Oxford from Google maps led me (after a couple of other tries) to the Old Quad at Pembroke College. I think I'm right, but it's hard to be certain.

www.pembrokemcr.com/Photos/CozyPembroke/Golden_sunset_on_... is a current picture. The chimneys, the position of the tower and the layout of windows look right. Of course the ivy is gone, but so are some crenellations. A history of Pembroke College [ www.archive.org/details/histpembrokecoll00macluoft ] suggests a reason for that. Page 432 describes changes made to the quad in the 1830s and has a 1929 drawing of the same corner -- without the "embattled parapet" (visible in the Smillie photograph). My guess is that the 19th century additions have since been removed to the extent possible. I haven't found any evidence to support that.

I also discovered, e.g., from www.bookrags.com/wiki/Pembroke_College,_Oxford , that James Smithson, whose bequest established the Smithsonian was an undergraduate at Pembroke College. This seems an extra reason for having the photo. Another detail: Samuel Johnson had rooms in this tower when he was an undergraduate in 1728.