Bicester ( ) is a historical market town
garden town and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
Cherwell district
Cherwell ( ) is a local government district in northern Oxfordshire, England. The district takes its name from the River Cherwell, which drains south through the region to flow into the River Thames at Oxford.
Towns in Cherwell include Banbu ...
of northeastern
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
in Southern England that also comprises an
eco town at
North-East Bicester and
self-build
Self-build is the creation of an individual home for oneself through a variety of methods. The self-builder's input into this process varies from doing the actual construction to contracting the work to an architect or building package company.
...
village a
Graven Hill Its local market continues to thrive and is now located on Sheep Street, a very wide pedestrian zone in the
conservation area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
of the town. Bicester is also known for
Bicester Village
Bicester Village is a designer outlet shopping centre on the outskirts of Bicester, a town in Oxfordshire, England. It is owned by Value Retail plc. The centre opened in 1995.
The centre is the second most visited location in the United Kingdom ...
, a nearby shopping centre selling discounted branded clothing.
Between 1951 and 2001 this historic market centre was one of the fastest-growing towns in Oxfordshire. Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the
M40 motorway linking it to London,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and
Banbury
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
. It has good road links to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Kidlington
Kidlington is a major village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village ...
,
Brackley
Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inters ...
,
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
,
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
and
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
and railway stations on two different lines: and .
It has its own
town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
. In 2014 the Government, in concert with the
local planning authority
A local planning authority (LPA) is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. They exist in the United Kingdom and India.
United Kingdom
Mineral planning authorities
The role ...
, planned for Bicester to become a
garden city on the basis of the size of its buffers, distance from the
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...
and to accommodate the demand of commuters to London and Oxford. Up to 13,000 new homes will be built. Bicester is halfway between
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in a straight line, being from both cities.
Toponym
There are several theories about the origin of the name Bicester. It may be derived from a personal name Beorna and it may mean the ‘Fort of the Warriors’ or be
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for ''Bi-cester'', which means ‘two forts’. Bicester has been in use since the mid 17th century and derives from earlier forms including ''Berncestre'', ''Burencestre'', ''Burcester'', ''Biciter'' and ''Bissiter''; the
John Speed
John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.S. Bendall, 'Speed, John (1551/2–1629), historian and cartographer', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (OUP 2004/ ...
map of 1610 shows four different spellings and historian GH Dannatt found 45 variants in wills of the 17th and 18th centuries.
History
Early history
Although the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
settlement of
Alchester
Alchester is the site of an ancient Roman town. The site is not included in any ancient references so the Roman name is not known. However, Eilert Ekwall contended that it appears as ''Alavna'' in the Ravenna Cosmography, with the addition of ...
is southwest of the town, Bicester's history begins in
Saxon times. The
West Saxons
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
established a settlement in the 6th century at a nodal point of a series of ancient routes. A north-south
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
, known as the Stratton (Audley) Road, from
Dorchester to
Towcester
Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council.
Towcester is one of the oldest ...
, passed through King's End.
Akeman Street
Akeman Street is a Roman road in southern England between the modern counties of Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. It is approximately long and runs roughly east–west.
Akeman Street linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near mode ...
, an east-west Roman road from
Cirencester
Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...
to
St. Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...
lies south, next to the Roman fortress and town at Alchester.
St Edburg's Church in Bicester was founded as a
minster, perhaps in the mid 7th century after St
Birinus
Birinus (also ''Berin'', ''Birin''; – 3 December 649 or 650) was the first Bishop of Dorchester and was known as the " Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He is venerated as a saint ...
converted
Cynegils
Cynegils () was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his life ...
King of the West Saxons following their meeting near
Blewbury
Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs about south of Didcot, south of Oxford and west of London. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it ...
. The site was just east of the old Roman road between Dorchester and Towcester that passed through the former Roman town at Alchester. The earliest church was probably a timber structure serving the inhabitants of the growing Saxon settlements on either side of the river Bure, and as a mission centre for the surrounding countryside. Archaeological excavations at Procter's Yard identified the ecclesiastical enclosure boundary, and a large cemetery of Saxon graves suggesting a much larger churchyard has been excavated on the site of the Catholic Church car park almost opposite St. Edburg's.
The first documentary reference is the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 which records it as ''Berencestra'', its two
manors of Bicester and Wretchwick being held by
Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly (also spelt Robert D'Oyley de Liseaux, Robert Doyley, Robert de Oiley, Robèrt d'Oilly, Robert D'Oyley and Roberti De Oilgi) was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman conquest, his invasion of Engla ...
who built
Oxford Castle
Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...
. The town became established as twin settlements on opposite banks of the River Bure, a tributary of the
Ray,
Cherwell and ultimately the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
.
By the end of the 13th century, Bicester was the centre of a
deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...
of 33 churches. The remains of an
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to:
*Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine
*Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs
*Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo
* Canons Regular of Sain ...
priory founded between 1182 and 1185 survive in the town centre.
It is unclear when St Edburg's Church was rebuilt in stone, but the 12th century church seems to have had an aisleless
cruciform plan
Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly describe ...
. Earliest surviving material includes parts of the nave north wall including parts of an originally external zigzag string course, the north and south transepts and the external clasping
buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...
es of the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
. The triangular-headed opening at the end of the north wall of the nave was probably an external door of the early church. Three great round-headed Norman arches at the end of the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
mark the position of a 13th-century tower.
The Augustinian Priory was founded by Gilbert Bassett around 1183, and endowed with land and buildings around the town and in other parishes including and the quarry at Kirtlington, at Wretchwick (now called), at Stratton Audley, and on Gravenhill and Arncott. It also held the mill at Clifton and had farms let to tenants at Deddington, Grimsbury, Waddesdon and Fringford. Although these holdings were extensive and close to the market at Bicester, they appear to have been poorly managed and did not produce much income for the priory.
The priory appropriated the church in the early 13th century. The church was enlarged by a south aisle, and arches were formed in the nave and south transept walls linking the new aisle to the main body of the church.
A further extension was made in the 14th century when the north aisle was built. The arched openings in the north wall of the nave are supported on thick octagonal columns. The
Perpendicular Gothic
Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...
north chapel (now
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
) is of a similar date, on the east wall are two windows. The chapel originally had an upper chamber used later for the vicars'
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
, accessed from an external staircase which forms part of the north eastern buttress.
In the 15th century, the upper walls of the nave were raised to form a
clerestory
In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.
Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
with square-headed Perpendicular Gothic windows. The earlier central tower and its nave arch was taken down and the nave roof rebuilt (the present roof is a copy of 1803). The columns of the north arcade were undercut making them appear very slim and the capitals top heavy. In the east bay of the nave, there is carved decoration probably forming part of a canopied tomb originally set between the columns. The west tower was built in three stages, each stage marked by a horizontal string course running round the outside. The construction would have taken several years to complete. The battlements and crockets on the top of the tower were replaced in the mid 19th century.
The priory church was built around 1200, and enlarged around 1300 in association with the construction of the
Purbeck marble
Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone.
Geology
Strat ...
tomb of
St Eadburh. This may have been the gift of the priory's patron
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln
Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1251February 1311), Baron of Pontefract, Lord of Bowland, Baron of Halton and hereditary Constable of Chester, was an English nobleman and confidant of King Edward I. He served Edward in Wales, France, and Sc ...
. The walled rectangular enclosure of the priory lay just south of the church. The gatehouse was on the site of 'Chapter and Verse' Guesthouse in Church Lane. The
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
and houses in Old Place Yard lie within the central precinct. St Edburg's House is built partly over the site of the large priory church. This was linked by a cloister to a quadrangle containing the refectory, kitchens, dormitory and prior's lodging. The priory farm buildings lay in the area of the present church hall, and these had direct access along Piggy Lane to land in what is now the King's End estate.
Early charters promoted Bicester's development as a trading centre, with a market and fair established by the mid 13th century. By this time two further manors are mentioned, Bury End and Nuns Place, later known as Market End and King's End respectively.
Later history
The
Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
of Market End was the 1st
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end ...
Sir Thomas Stanley, who had married
Lady Margaret Beaufort
Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch.
A descendant of ...
, mother of Henry VII. Sir Thomas placed the crown on the head of the new
King Henry VII
Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufo ...
at the
Battle of Bosworth
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Augu ...
, as the step-father of Henry VII he was granted many manors. In his will of 1593, the 4th Earl of Derby,
Sir Henry Stanley, bequeathed the manor to his second son
Sir William Stanley of Lathom, Lancashire. Fate made William the 6th Earl of Derby in 1594 when his older brother Ferdinando, the 5th Earl, mysteriously died. In 1597, the 6th Earl sold a 9,999-year lease to 31 principal tenants. This in effect gave the manorial rights to the leaseholders, 'purchased for the benefit of those inhabitants or others who might hereafter obtain parts of the
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
'. The leaseholders elected a bailiff to receive the profits from the
bailiwick
A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...
, mainly from the administration of the market and distribute them to the shareholders. From the bailiff's title the arrangement became known as the Bailiwick of Bicester Market End. By 1752, all of the original leases were in the hands of ten men, who leased the bailiwick control of the market to two local tradesmen.
A fire in 1724 had destroyed the buildings on the eastern side of Water Lane. A
Nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
congregation was able to acquire a site that had formerly been the tail of a long plot occupied at the other end by the King's Arms. Their chapel built in 1728 was 'surrounded by a burying ground and ornamented with trees. At the southern and downstream end of Water Lane, there were problems of pollution from animal dung from livery stables on the edge of town associated with the London traffic.
![Building dated 1698 Market Square Bicester - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Building_dated_1698_Market_Square_Bicester_-_geograph.org.uk_-_703018.jpg)
Edward Hemins was running a
bell-foundry in Bicester by 1728 and remained in business until at least 1743.
At least 19 of his church bells are known to survive,
[ including some of those in the parishes of ]Ambrosden
Ambrosden is a village and civil parish in Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England, southwest of Bicester to which it is linked by the A41 road, and from Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,248. The parish is bounded by the ...
, Bletchingdon
Bletchingdon (also known as Bletchington) is a village and civil parish north of Kidlington and southwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. Bletchingdon parish includes the hamlet of Enslow just over west of the village. The 2011 Census r ...
, Piddington and Wootton in Oxfordshire and Culworth
Culworth is a village and civil parish about north of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England. Culworth is also about northeast of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury.
The village stands on the brow of a hill about above sea level. The ...
in Northamptonshire.
King's End had a substantially lower population and none of the commercial bustle found on the other side of the Bure. The manorial lords, the Cokers, lived in the manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
from 1584. The house had been rebuilt in the early 18th century remodelled in the 1780s. The park was enlarged surrounded by a wall after 1753 when a range of buildings on the north side of King's End Green were demolished by Coker. A westward enlargement of the park also extinguished the road that followed the line of the Roman road. This partly overlapped a pre-1753 close belonging to Coker. The effect of the enlargement of the park was to divert traffic at the Fox Inn through King's End, across the causeway to Market Square and Sheep Street before returning to the Roman road north of Crockwell.
The two townships of King's End and Market End evolved distinct spatial characteristics. Inns, shops and high status houses clustered around the triangular market place as commercial activity was increasingly concentrated in Market End. The bailiwick lessees promoted a much less regulated market than that found in boroughs elsewhere. Away from the market, Sheep Street was considered 'very respectable' but its northern end at Crockwell was inhabited by the poorest inhabitants in low quality, subdivided and overcrowded buildings.
By 1800, the causeway had dense development forming continuous frontages on both sides. The partially buried watercourses provided a convenient drainage opportunity, and many houses had privies discharging directly into the channels. Downstream, the Bure ran parallel with Water Lane, then the main road out of town towards London. Terraces of cottages were built backing onto the brook, and here too these took advantage of the brook for sewage disposal, with privies cantilevered out from houses over the watercourse. Town houses took their water from wells dug into the substrate which became increasingly polluted by leaching of waste through the alluvial bed of the Bure.
Until the early 19th century, the road from the market place to King's End ran through a ford of the Bure brook and on to the narrow embanked road across the boggy valley. The causeway became the focus for development from the late 18th century as rubbish and debris was dumped on each side of the road to form building platforms. Minor channels of the braided stream
A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, '' aits'' or ''eyots''.
Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sediment ...
were encased and culverted as construction proceeded.
Architecture
The vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
buildings of the town have features of both the Cotswold
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Juras ...
dip slope to the northwest and the Thames Valley
The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
to the southeast. The earliest surviving buildings of the town are the medieval church of St Edburg; the vicarage of 1500 and two post Dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
houses in the former Priory Precinct constructed from reused medieval material. These buildings are mainly grey oolitic limestone
Oolite or oölite (''egg stone'') is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word for egg (ᾠόν). Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 ...
, from the Priory Quarry at Kirtlington
Kirtlington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire about west of Bicester. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlet of Northbrook. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded the parish's populat ...
, west on Akeman Street
Akeman Street is a Roman road in southern England between the modern counties of Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. It is approximately long and runs roughly east–west.
Akeman Street linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near mode ...
, some ginger lias (ironstone) comes from the area around Banbury
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
and white and bluish grey cornbrash
The Cornbrash Formation is a Middle Jurassic geological formation in England. It ranges in age from Bathonian to Callovian, the uppermost part of the Middle Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the form ...
limestone was quarried in Crockwell and at Caversfield to the north.
Early secular buildings were box framed structures, using timber from the Bernwood Forest. Infilling of frames was of stud and lath with lime render
Lime render is the first coat of lime "plaster or the like" applied to the external surfaces of traditionally-built stone or brick buildings.
It allows the building to 'breathe' – as lime is porous, it allows for the collection and evaporation ...
and limewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used.
...
. Others were of brick or local rubble stonework. The river valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
s to the south and east of the town were the source of clay for widespread local production of brick and tile. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Page-Turners had brick fields at Wretchwick and Blackthorn
''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...
which operated alongside smaller producers such as farmer George Coppock who produced bricks as a sideline.
Local roofing materials included longstraw thatch, which persisted on older and lower status areas on houses and terraced cottages. Thatch had to be laid at pitches in excess of 50 degrees. This generated narrow and steep gables which also suited heavy limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
roofs made with Stonesfield slate or other roofing slabs from the Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
. The other widespread roofing material was local red clay plain tiles. 19th century bulk transport innovations associated with canal and railway infrastructure allowed imports of blue slate from North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
. These could be laid at much more shallow pitches on fashionable high status houses.
Apart from imported slate, a striking characteristic of all of the new buildings of the early 19th century is the continued use of local vernacular materials, albeit in buildings of non-vernacular design. The new buildings were constructed alongside older wholly vernacular survivals and sometimes superficially updated with fashionable applied facades, fenestration
Fenestration may refer to:
* Fenestration (architecture), the design, construction, or presence of openings in a building
* Used in relation to fenestra in anatomy, medicine and biology
* Fenestration, holes in the rudder
A rudder is a primar ...
or upper floors and roofs.
Modern Bicester
Military links
The town has a long-standing connection with the military. Ward Lock & Co
Ward, Lock & Co. was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group.
History
Ebenezer Ward and George Lock started a pu ...
's 'Guide to Oxford and District' suggests that Alchester was 'a kind of Roman Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
'. During the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
(1642–49) Bicester was used as the headquarters of parliamentary forces. Following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
from 1793, John Coker, the manorial lord of Bicester King's End, formed an 'Association for the Protection of Property against Levellers and Jacobins
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = Pa ...
' as an anti-Painite loyalist band providing local militia and volunteer drafts for the army. When Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
formed a regiment in 1798, John Coker was elected Colonel.
Coker's Bicester militia had sixty privates, and six commissioned and non-commissioned officers led by Captain Henry Walford. The militia briefly stood down in 1801 after the Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition
The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...
. But when hostilities resumed after 1804 invasion anxiety was so great as to warrant the reformation of the local militia as the Bicester Independent Company of Infantry. It had double the earlier numbers to provide defence in the event of an invasion or Jacobin insurrection. The Bicester Company was commanded by a captain, with 2 lieutenants, an ensign, 6 sergeants, 6 corporals and 120 privates. Their training and drill were such that they were deemed 'fit to join troops in the line'. The only action recorded for them is in 1806 at the 21st birthday celebrations of Sir Gregory O Page-Turner when they performed a ''feu de joie'' 'and were afterwards regaled at one of the principal inns of the town'.
During the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, an airfield was established north of the town for the Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
. This became a Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
station, but is now Bicester Airfield, the home of Windrushers Gliding Club, which was absorbed into the military gliding club previously based there, to re-emerge in 2004 when the military club left the airfield. There is now a campaign by the BCH to turn the RAF centre into a museum. They say that it is 'the best example of an historic RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
site in the UK. The MoD's largest ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
depot at MoD Bicester
MoD Bicester is a large military storage and distribution centre just outside Bicester in Oxfordshire.
History
The site dates back to September 1942 when a depot was constructed near Bicester to provide logistical support for operations in Europ ...
is just outside the town. The depot has its own internal railway system, the Bicester Military Railway
The Bicester Military Railway (BMR) is a railway in Oxfordshire, England belonging to the Ministry of Defence. It links military depots at Piddington, Arncott and Graven Hill with the Oxford to Bicester Line.
History
The Bicester Military R ...
.
Transport
Road
The town's nearest motorway is the M40 motorway, which is served by junction 9 to the south, an interchange with the A34 towards Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and the A41 for Bicester and Aylesbury
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
. Bicester has a ring road which is made up of the A41, A4095, A4421 and the newly completed Vendee Drive which forms part of the B4030.
Rail
Bicester benefited from the Railway Mania
Railway Mania was an instance of a stock market bubble in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further incre ...
of the 1840s. The Buckinghamshire Railway
The Buckinghamshire Railway was a railway company in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England that constructed railway lines connecting Bletchley, Banbury and Oxford. Part of the route is still in use today as the Oxford to Bicester Line.
His ...
was fully opened between and on 20 May 1851, running through the eastern side of Bicester, with "a neat station at the bottom of the London road" being opened on 1 October 1850 to serve the town. Bicester's first fatal railway accident occurred at this station on 6 September 1851. Six people were killed and 18 injured. The station was renamed Bicester London Road station in March 1954 and Bicester Town station in May 1987.
The Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
sought to shorten its mainline route from London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
to Birmingham Snow Hill and, in 1910, opened the Bicester cut-off
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham (Birmingham Moor Street railway station, Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill railway station, Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via Hi ...
line through the north of the town, to complete a new fast route between the two cities and a large railway station on Buckingham Road named , which was opened on 1 July 1910. The final slip coach
A slip coach, slip carriage or slip portion in Britain and Ireland, also known as a flying switch in North America, is one or more carriages designed to be uncoupled from the rear of a moving train. The detached portion continued under its own m ...
on the British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways network was "slipped" at Bicester North on 10 September 1960.
The Bletchley - Oxford line was closed on 1 January 1968, but partly reopened on 11 May 1987, when a shuttle service was instituted between Bicester Town and Oxford. The line towards Bletchley remains closed. In 2011, funding for East West Rail
East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyne ...
was approved, with a plan to restore passenger services between Oxford and Bletchley via Bicester in 2017, then continuing to or . A further proposal was to extend the route through as far as and , but that did not materialise. At the end of 2017, the Department for Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
announced further government funding and a private company to build and operate the line by 2025.
Bicester has also benefited from the Chiltern Evergreen 3 project, which created a new mainline allowing trains to run from London Marylebone
Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern te ...
to Oxford via Bicester. The station was completely rebuilt and, despite objection by some local residents, renamed Bicester Village
Bicester Village is a designer outlet shopping centre on the outskirts of Bicester, a town in Oxfordshire, England. It is owned by Value Retail plc. The centre opened in 1995.
The centre is the second most visited location in the United Kingdom ...
, after a large retail centre nearby. The station opened in October 2015.
The London to Birmingham line was run down in the 1970s. With the threat of partial closure, stretches of the line singled and trains rerouted into London, Marylebone. Following privatisation, Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
Chiltern Railw ...
was awarded the franchise. It reinstated the double track and considerably boosted the number of services, resulting in a substantial increase in patronage.
Bus
Stagecoach East
Stagecoach East is the divisional name for the bus operations of the Stagecoach Group in eastern England.
History
Under the control of the National Bus Company, ''Cambus Ltd.'' was set up when the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company was split in ...
route X5 links Bicester with Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
and Oxford. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire
Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoac ...
buses link Bicester with Oxford, Banbury, Brackley, Headington
Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...
, HM Prison Bullingdon
HM Prison and Young Offenders Institute Bullingdon is a prison in Oxfordshire, England. It is a public sector prison operated by HM Prison and Probation Service (an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice).
Located near MoD Bicester, it is ...
and some local villages. Grayline and Hallmark Connections
Hallmark Connections Ltd, trading as Diamond South East, is a bus operator in South East England and, through the Hotel Hoppa operation, in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.
In addition to local bus services, Diamond South East ope ...
provide some local bus services, and Langston & Tasker runs a limited service between Bicester and Buckingham.
Air
Bicester is within an hour's drive of three international airports and from Oxford Airport
London Oxford Airport , formerly known as Kidlington Airport, is a privately owned airport located near Kidlington in Cherwell District, Oxfordshire, northwest by north of Oxford, from Central London.
It specialises in general and business ...
. Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...
is the nearest international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
, by road, taking around 1 hour 5 minutes. Due to the town's location beside the M40 motorway, it is a slightly shorter journey time of 51 minutes to Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
which is away and 54 minutes to Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
which is away.
Town Council
Bicester Town Council has its offices in the Garth in Garth Park.
Residents associations
Bicester has several active residents' associations including: Bure Park Residents' Association; Langford Village Community Association; Priory Lane Residents' Association and Bicester Parkland View Residents' Association.
Schools
Bicester has four secondary schools: The Bicester School
The Bicester School (previously Bicester Community College) is a mixed, multi-heritage, secondary school, with 963 students (including a sixth form). It is situated in Bicester, Oxfordshire, England, and occupies a site leading off Queens Ave ...
, the Cooper School, whitelands academy and Bicester Tech Studio. There are a number of primary schools including: Langford Village Primary; Glory Farm Primary School; Southwold; Brookside Primary School; St Edburg's; Five Acres; Longfields; St Mary's Primary School; King's Meadow and Bure Park Primary. The new Kingsmere development (south of Bicester) is due to create a two-form primary school and a secondary school(whitelands academy).
Sport and leisure
Bicester and North Oxford Cricket Club play at Akeman Street, Chesterton. It was formed in 1996 from a merger of Bicester Town, (founded in 1871) and the North Oxford Cricket Clubs which until 1929 shared the Oxford Road ground with the town's football club. As of 2014 season, the senior teams play in the Cherwell League. Bicester Rugby Club was founded in 1947, originally playing on land provided by the King's Head pub. The club is presently based at the Akeman Street Ground. The senior teams play in the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier
Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier is a division at level 8 of the English rugby union system featuring teams from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Promoted teams usually move up to Southern Counties North while relegated teams used to drop ...
Bicester Town Football Club was founded in 1896 and until the 2010–11 season played in the Hellenic League. Bicester Colts F.C. organises teams from ages 5 through to 17 at facilities based at Akeman Street, Chesterton. Bicester Blue Fins Amateur Swimming Club was established in 1950 and has been based at Bicester Leisure Centre since 1971. Bicester Blue Fins is 'SWIM 21' accredited and affiliated to the Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
& North Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
ASA
ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent
* Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin
* Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery
* Anterior spinal ar ...
and the ASA South East Region.
The Bicester Leisure Centre, which opened in 1970, comprises swimming pool, fitness, gym facilities and all-weather pitches. Other popular sports and pastimes include tennis, which is played at the Bicester Tennis Club based at the Garth. It is affiliated to the Oxfordshire and Thames Valleys LTAs. Lawn bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
is organised by the Bicester Bowls Club which was founded in 1862 and since 1951 has been at the Garth. There are two 18-hole golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
s, at the Bicester Hotel and Bicester Country Club. The traditional game of Aunt Sally
Aunt Sally is a traditional English game usually played in pub gardens and fairgrounds, in which players throw sticks or battens at a ball, known as a 'dolly', balanced on top of a stick, traditionally a model of an old woman's head was sometime ...
, widespread in Oxfordshire, is popular in the town and is organised under the auspices of the Bicester and District Aunt Sally League.
Bicester Town Council provides a wide range of sport and leisure facilities for local residents and sports team on sites at Pingle Field and Sunderland Drive
Shopping
The historic shopping streets, particularly Sheep Street and Market Square, have a range of local and national shops together with cafés, pubs and restaurants. Sheep Street is now pedestrianised, with car parks nearby. There are weekly markets on Fridays in the town centre along with farmers' market
A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...
s and an occasional French market.
A £70 million redevelopment of the town centre, originally planned to start in 2008, was delayed by the onset of the credit crunch; Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
pledged to develop the project itself in January 2009. The development, since named Pioneer Square, is now complete and opened on 9 July 2013, offering a Sainsbury's supermarket, 7 screen Vue Cinemas
Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...
and many smaller retail units and restaurants such as Nando's
Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of ...
and Prezzo
Prezzo (german: Pretz) is a ''frazione'' of the commune of Pieve di Bono-Prezzo, in Trentino, northern Italy, located about southwest of Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent ...
. There are further plans to construct a new civic centre adjacent to the new buildings, as well as talk of improving the Market Square at a later date.
South of Bicester, beyond Pingle Field, is designer outlet centre Bicester Village Shopping Centre, and beyond that is Bicester Avenue Home & Garden Centre, one of the largest garden centres in the UK.
Churches
Most churches in Bicester belong to the ecumenical organisation '' Churches Together'': Crowded House (Pioneers in missional Community, meeting in the Moto); St Edburg's Parish Church (Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
); Emmanuel Church (Church of England, meeting in their new (December 2012) church at Barberry Place); Bicester Community Church (meeting in the Salvation Army Hall); Bicester Methodist Church; The Church of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
); Elim Lighthouse Church (Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement – meeting in Bicester Methodist Church)
Orchard Baptist Church
(meeting in Cooper School); and the Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
. Churches independent of Churches Together are: Bicester Baptist Church (meeting in Southwold Community Centre); and Hebron Gospel Hall.
Future development
Bicester is in the midst of several construction projects the most recent of these completed being the new Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
superstore which replaces the former site in Pingle Drive. The 5,181 sq metre Pingle Drive site shall be used to expand the Bicester village outlet centre by an additional quarter in size.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Bicester had been chosen as the site for the British government's second new garden city. Up to 13,000 new homes could be built in the town, as part of plans to help deal with the UK's housing shortage. The town got a new railway station, Bicester Village Station, to serve the expanded population as part of rail plans previously detailed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...
. The station will also serve the planned East West Rail
East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyne ...
Project, connecting Oxford to Cambridge, via Milton Keynes and Bedford.
Since the garden city announcement, work has begun on the 6,000 home Eco-Town development to the northwest of Bicester,1,585 homes in phase 1 and 709 homes in phase 2 in the south-westerly development named Kingsmere and 1,900 homes in the south-easterly Graven Hill with a selection of self-build plots as focused on in the TV Show Grand Designs: The Street. The first residents moved into the Eco-Town development in May 2016, in the newly named Elmsbrook area.
Geography
Bicester is in north Oxfordshire, east-northeast of Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, near the Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
and Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
boundaries.
Areas and suburbs
There are 5 electoral wards, North, East, South, West and Town as defined by the town council. The areas of Bicester include:
Climate
Bicester experiences an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Cfb'') similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
Notable residents and natives
* Albert Freeman Africanus King
Albert Freeman Africanus King (18 January 1841 – 13 December 1914) was an English-born American physician who was pressed into service at the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865. He was one of a few physicians who served in both t ...
, (born in a hospital) doctor who took care of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
when he was shot
* John Dunkin
John Dunkin (1782–1846) was an English topographer.
Life
He was the son of John Dunkin of Bicester, Oxfordshire, by his wife, Elizabeth, widow of John Telford, and daughter of Thomas and Johanna Timms, was born at Bicester on 16 May 1782. ...
(1782–1846) topographer and local historian, who wrote comprehensive history of Bicester and the surrounding villages – ''The History and Antiquities of Bicester'' and ''The History and Antiquities of the Hundreds of Bullingdon and Ploughley''
* Tim Harvey
Tim Harvey (born 20 November 1961) is a British racing driver, best known for being the 1992 British Touring Car Champion, and the 2008 and 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain champion. A household name in the 1990s, Harvey won sixteen rac ...
, racing driver and TV-commentator.
* Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
, racing driver
* Isla St Clair
Isla St Clair (born 2 May 1952 as Isabella Margaret Dyce) is a Scotland, Scottish singer.
Life
Isla St Clair was born in Grangemouth, central Scotland, in 1952; her mother was Zetta Sinclair. Her family came from northeast Scotland and it was h ...
, singer and broadcaster
* Andy Gomarsall
Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE (born 24 July 1974, in Durham) is a former rugby union player who played at scrum-half for Leeds Carnegie and England.
He previously played for Gloucester Rugby, Bedford and Wasps. Until May 2006 he was cont ...
MBE, played Rugby Union for Bicester until 1993 and for England.
* Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple.
He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only membe ...
, drummer with rock group Deep Purple. Brought up in King's End.
* Professor Alun Howkins
Alun Howkins (8 August 1947 – 12 July 2018) was an English social historian, specialising in the history of English rural society. Regarded as a leading historian of the English countryside and its working class, Howkins was a professor of histor ...
, born and brought up in the town. Professor of history at Sussex University. Wrote and presented the BBC TV series ''Fruitful Earth''.
* Sam Long, professional footballer for Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
.
Arms
References
;Notes
;Sources and further reading
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External links
Bicester Town Council
{{Authority control
Civil parishes in Oxfordshire
Market towns in Oxfordshire