Botley Road is the main road into the centre 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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from the west. It stretches between Botley, on the

Oxford Ring Road The Oxford Ring Road circles the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway ring road for most of its length apart from a short section between Woodstock Road and Banbury Road in the north of the city. The severe restrictions on traff ...

( A34) to the west of the city, and Frideswide Square at the junction with

Oxford railway station Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station, one of two serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about west of the city centre, north-west of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road. It is on the line for trains between ...

, close to central Oxford.

Overview

The Botley Road was known as the Botley Turnpike Road in the 18th century and Seven Bridges Road in the 19th century. Until the early 19th century it was little more than a track and highwaymen were a problem. The road passes

Osney Osney or Osney Island (; an earlier spelling of the name is ''Oseney'') is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. In modern times the name is applied to a community also known as Osney Town astride Botley Road, just we ...

. Out-of-town retail stores line the route. The road is designated as the A420. It becomes West Way at

Botley Bridge Botley Bridge (or Botley Road Bridge) is a road bridge across Seacourt Stream, a branch of the River Thames in Oxford, England. The bridge is on the A420 arterial road at the point where the Botley Road out of Oxford becomes West Way, west of ...

over

Seacourt Stream Hinksey Stream is a branch of the River Thames to the west of the city of Oxford, England. It starts as Seacourt Stream (also known as Wytham Stream), which leaves the Thames at a bifurcation north of the village of Wytham, and rejoins the riv ...

to the west. To the east, past the station, it becomes

Park End Street Park End Street is a street in central Oxford, England, to the west of the centre of the city, close to the railway station at its western end. Location To the east, New Road links Park End Street to central Oxford. To the west, Frideswide ...

Oxpens Road Oxpens Road is a road in central Oxford, England, linking west and south Oxford. It is named after the marshy area of Oxpens, next to one of the branches of the River Thames in Oxford. It forms part of the A420 road. Locale To the northwest, Ox ...

leads off to the south at this junction. Along its route are several bridges — west to east: Botley Bridge,

Bulstake Bridge Bulstake Bridge is a road bridge across the Bulstake Stream, a branch of the River Thames in Oxford, England. The original stone arch bridge was built by John Claymond (1468–1537), the first President (college), President of Corpus Christi ...

Osney Ditch Bridge The Osney Ditch is a side channel of the River Thames at Oxford, England. It is one of the principal watercourses in west Oxford. The ditch leaves Bulstake Stream just east of Binsey Lane and then rejoins the main stream of the Thames south o ...

, and

Osney Bridge Osney Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in Oxford, England, built in 1888 to replace a stone bridge which collapsed in 1885. It carries the Botley Road ( A420) from Botley into Oxford. The Thames Path crosses the river on this brid ...

— as it passes over various sidechannels and the main branch of 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 ...

. Side streets, as well as most of the road between the railway station and the Beaumont veterinary practice, are mostly residential, and are flanked by two large parks (

Botley Park Botley is the name of several places in the United Kingdom: * Botley, Buckinghamshire *Botley, Hampshire Botley is a historic village in Hampshire, England. The village was once described as “the most delightful village in the world” by 18t ...

, adjacent to West Oxford Community Centre, and Oatlands Park, near the

Osney Mead Osney or Osney Island (; an earlier spelling of the name is ''Oseney'') is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. In modern times the name is applied to a community also known as Osney Town astride Botley Road, just we ...

industrial estate). The Botley Road is an important bus and commuter route to Oxford, and Seacourt

Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

is located near the junction with the A34. Eastbound, it has a

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...

from the ring road until just before

Osney Island Osney or Osney Island (; an earlier spelling of the name is ''Oseney'') is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. In modern times the name is applied to a community also known as Osney Town astride Botley Road, just we ...

, at which point there is a set of bus advancement traffic lights. It has

cycle lane Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

s in both directions. South from the eastern end, via Mill Street, are the site of

Osney Abbey Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford sta ...

(now destroyed),

Osney Cemetery Osney Cemetery is a disused Church of England cemetery in Osney, west Oxford, England. It is in Mill Street south of Botley Road and near the site of Osney Abbey. It borders the Cherwell Valley Line railway a short distance south of Oxford ra ...

(established 1848),

Osney Lock Osney Lock is a lock on the River Thames in Oxford, England, where the village or island of Osney is next to the river. The first lock was built of stone by Daniel Harris for the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790. Across the weir poo ...

Osney Mill Osney Mill is a former flour mill on a branch of the River Thames in Oxford, England, located south of the Botley Road, down Mill Street. While the mill was gutted by a fire in 1945 and remained derelict for over 60 years, the exterior walls w ...

, and Osney Mill Marina.

Closure for station development

In October 2022,

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

said that Botley Road was likely to be closed at the railway station for the whole of 2023.

Development

From the railway station: * Roads on the north side: Rodger Dudman Way, Cripley Road, Abbey Road, Henry Road, Helen Road, Binsey Lane (leading to

Binsey Binsey is a hill on the northern edge of the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is detached from the rest of the Lakeland hills, and thus provides a good spot to look out at the Northern and North Western Fells of the Lake District, as we ...

), Prestwich Place, Osney Court and Bullstake Court. * Roads on the south Side: Mill Street, Bridge Street (leading to

Ferry Hinksey Road Ferry Hinksey Road is a road in west Oxford, England, leading south from the Botley Road. The road leads to the Osney Mead Industrial Estate to the east, started in 1961. To the east is Osney Ditch. History The road is named after the village ...

(leading to the

industrial estate), Hill View Road, Alexander Road, Oatlands Road, Harley Road, Riverside Road, Duke Street, Earl Street, Lamarsh Road, North Hinksey Lane. The development of roads between Osney Island and Bullstake Stream started in the 1890s. Oatlands Meadow, owned by Morrell's Trustees, was first advertised in 1894. Thomas Gable, an Oxford publican, laid out Hill View Road in 1895, providing plots for others to develop. Thomas Gable died later that year and Kingerlee builders bought the unsold plots along the rest of Hill View Road. In 1901 they gained permission for a building estate extending from Alexandra Road to Riverside Road. The firm also acquired consent to develop the land north of Botley Road, and laid out Henry Road and Helen Road (named after Thomas Henry Kingerlee's eldest children) and part of Binsey Lane in 1902. Harley Road and Riverside Road were laid out in 1919, and built in the following few years.

Quotations

Author and Oxford scholar

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

mentions the road to Botley comically in his autobiography. Describing his first-ever arrival in Oxford as a young student, he writes: Crime novelist

Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV television series, ''Inspector Morse'', fro ...

writes:

References

External links