The High Street in

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, known locally as the High, runs between Carfax, generally seen as the centre of the city, and Magdalen Bridge to the east.

Overview

The street has been described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...

as "''one of the world's great streets''". It forms a gentle curve and is the subject of many prints, paintings, photographs, etc. The looking west towards Carfax with University College on the left and The Queen's College on the right is an especially popular view. There are many historical buildings on the street, including the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

buildings and colleges. Locally the street is often known as "The High".

Major buildings

To the north are (west to east): Lincoln College (main entrance on Turl Street, including

All Saints Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania * All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Aus ...

, now Lincoln College's library.), Brasenose College (main entrance in

Radcliffe Square Radcliffe Square is a square in central Oxford, England. It is surrounded by historic Oxford University and college buildings. The square is cobbled, laid to grass surrounded by railings in the centre, and is pedestrianised except for access. ...

), St Mary's (the University Church),

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of ...

, The Queen's College, St Edmund Hall (main entrance in

Queen's Lane Queen's Lane is a historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west. St Edmund Hall, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on the southern end of this street. Location At ...

) and

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

(including Magdalen Tower). To the south are (west to east): Oriel College, University College (including the

Boyle-Hooke plaque The Shelley Memorial is a memorial to the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) at University College, Oxford, England, the college that he briefly attended and from which he was expelled for writing the 1811 pamphlet "The Necessity o ...

outside the Shelley Memorial), the Examination Schools, the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, the Eastgate Hotel (at the original entrance to the city) and the

Botanic Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

Commerce

Queen's Lane Coffee House Queen's Lane Coffee House is a historic coffee house established by Cirques Jobson, a Levantine Jew from Syria. Dating back to 1654, it claims to be the oldest continually serving coffee house in Europe although, it has only been on the presen ...

(at the junction with

) was established in 1654 and was probably Oxford's first

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

. This title is however disputed with 'The Grand Café' Coffee House, which claims that it was established in 1650 and stands opposite Queen's Lane coffee house. Magdalen College Oxford 20040613

Despite an influx of chain stores in nearby Cornmarket Street, the High is home to a number of specialist independent retailers. These include

Shepherd & Woodward Shepherd & Woodward are a traditional clothing outfitters in High Street, Oxford, England. In particular, they provide academic gowns and other clothing for the University of Oxford. The shop's origins date back to 1845. The company also runs ...

(University outfitters), Payne & Son (goldsmiths), Sanders of Oxford (print sellers) and Waterfield's Books. To the north at the western end between Cornmarket and the Turl is the historic traditional Covered Market, established in 1774.

William Henry Butler William Henry Butler (24 February 1790 – 11 October 1865) was an English wine merchant and Mayor of Oxford. William Butler was the ninth of the ten children. His parents were James and Jane (née Slatter) Butler from All Saints parish in Oxfor ...

, later Mayor of Oxford, was a

wine merchant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

with premises in the High Street during the early 19th century.William Henry Butler: Mayor of Oxford, January–October 1836Mayors of Oxford
Edward Bracher, a pioneering Victorian photographer, had a shop at 26 High Street. Henry Taunt, another photographer, joined him as a member of staff in 1856. Taunt later returned to 41 High Street after the lease for his own shop premises in Broad Street expired in 1894. 83 High Street bears a blue plaque (10 October 2001) commemorating Sarah Cooper (1848–1932) marmalade maker, wife of Frank Cooper whose shop at 83–84 High Street was the origin of the Frank Cooper jam business (a brand now owned by Premier Foods). The company made " Oxford Marmalade" famous. In June 1879, George Claridge Druce (also a noted botanist and later mayor of the city) moved to Oxford and set up a chemist's shop, Druce & Co., at 118 High Street. This continued until his death 1932. The Old Bank Hotel was the first new hotel for 135 years in the centre of Oxford. Quod Restaurant & Bar is also part of the hotel, located between the junctions with

Oriel Street Oriel may refer to: Places Canada * Oriel, a community in the municipality of Norwich, Ontario, Canada Ireland * Oriel Park, Dundalk, the home ground of Dundalk FC * Oriel House, Ballincollig, County Cork * Kingdom of Oriel (''Airgíalla'' in Ir ...

and

Logic Lane __NOTOC__ Logic Lane is a small historic cobbled lane that runs through University College in Oxford, England, so called because it was the location of a school of logicians. It links the High Street at the front of the college with Merton St ...

Commentary

The architectural critic

wrote in 1974 that

"The High Street is one of the world's great streets. It has everything."Stephanie Jenkins
The High – Quotations
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He may have been echoing Thomas Hardy's comment in '' Jude the Obscure'':

"And there's a street in the place – the main street – that ha'n't another like it in the world."Jude the Obscure
in
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
. The comment is made by a carter describing Christminster, Hardy's pseudonym for Oxford.

Adjoining streets

The following streets, also of historical significance, are off the High Street: *

Alfred Street Alfred Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and the junction with Blue Boar Street and Bear Lane at the southern end, in central Oxford, England.

* Catte Street * Cornmarket Street *

King Edward Street King Edward Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England. To the east is the "Island" site of Oriel College, one of the colleges of Oxford University. To the west ...

Longwall Street View north along Longwall Street Longwall Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs for about 300 metres along the western flank of Magdalen College. A high, imposing 15th century stone wall separates the college from the street al ...

Magpie Lane Magpie Lane is an English folk group, based in Oxford, England. The musicians of Magpie Lane first came together in the winter of 1992–93 to record ''The Oxford Ramble'', a collection of songs and tunes from, or about, Oxfordshire. Originally ...

Merton Street Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled street in central Oxford, England.

* Queen Street *

St Aldate's St Aldate's () is a street in central Oxford, England, named after Saint Aldate, but formerly known as Fish Street. The street runs south from the generally acknowledged centre of Oxford at Carfax. The Town Hall, which includes the Museum ...

* Turl Street

Gallery

File:View over Oxford High Street.jpg, View down to buildings on the south side. File:High Street Oxford Queens College.jpg, View eastwards towards The Queen's College. File:All Saints Church Oxford (1).jpg,

, now Lincoln College's library File:Oxford Mitre Hotel 1.jpg, The Mitre Hotel File:Oriel College Rhodes Building.JPG, The Rhodes Building of Oriel College on the south side of the High Street. File:Carfax tower oxford england.jpg, Carfax, at the western end of the High Street. File:Magdalen-may-morning-2007-panorama.jpg,

and the High Street on

May Morning May Morning is an annual event in Oxford, United Kingdom, on May Day (1 May). Event The event starts early at 6 a.m. with the Magdalen College Choir singing a hymn, the Hymnus Eucharisticus, from the top of Magdalen Tower, a tradition s ...

, 2007. File:High Street in Oxford by Night 2009 LL.jpg, Night view of the High Street with Christmas lights, looking east from Carfax.

References

External links

The High, Oxford
includin
tour
an
history

Webcam
from Carfax tower looking east down the High Street

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716192031/http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/carfaxtower/default.html , date=16 July 2012
Oxford City Guide
including list of shops on The High Streets in Oxford Tourist attractions in Oxford Shopping streets in Oxford