Hythe Bridge Street is in the west of central

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 ...

, forming part of the

A4144 road The A4144 road is an A road in Oxford, England. It links Upper Wolvercote in the north and Redbridge in the south via central Oxford. The A4144 consists largely of Woodstock Road in the north and Abingdon Road in the south. It also includes ...

History

There has been a road here since at least 1233. Previous names include Hide Brigge, Hithe Brigge, and Rewley Lane. It used to form part of the road between Oxford 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 ...

to the west. The name "Hythe" is derived from the "hithe" (

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

) that used to be located by the bridge on Hythe Bridge Street. "Hithe" is a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

word that means a landing place.

Location

The street links Frideswide Square and then

Botley Road Botley Road is the main road into the centre of Oxford, England from the west. It stretches between Botley, on the Oxford Ring Road ( A34) to the west of the city, and Frideswide Square at the junction with Oxford railway station, close t ...

( A420) to the east (at the junction with Hollybush Row, which continues becoming

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 ...

) and

Worcester Street Worcester Street is a street in west central Oxford, England. History The street used to be called Stockwelle Street, also running along the line of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street, to the north of the current Worcester Street. The ...

(also the A4144) at the western end leading north, at the junction with George Street. Parallel to Hythe Bridge Street to the south is

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 ...

. To the north at the eastern end of the street is

Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, one of the colleges of

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 ...

. To the north at the western end is Beaver House, which until May 2011 contained the head office of

Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Street, ...

Booksellers, the leading academic bookseller in Oxford, also with further shops countrywide. Carfax Tutorial Establishment is at 39–42 Hythe Bridge Street. The Bridge is a

night club A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

at No. 6–9. There are also a number of restaurants and other shops in the street. It forms a part of the main

arterial route An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roa ...

into central Oxford from the west and as such is normally very busy with traffic. HytheBridge

Hythe Bridge Hythe Bridge (formerly known as High Bridge) is a Victorian flat cast iron beamed bridge on Hythe Bridge Street in the west of central Oxford, England. It spans the Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the River Thames. Hythe Bridge forms part o ...

, a flat late 19th century

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

bridge on Hythe Bridge Street constructed in 1861, spans the

Castle Mill Stream Castle Mill Stream is a backwater of the River Thames in the west of Oxford, England. It is 5.5 km long. Course The stream leaves the main course of the River Thames at the south end of Port Meadow, immediately upstream of Medley Footb ...

, a backwater 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 ...

. Just to the northeast is the southern end of the

Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thame ...

. This used to continue south of Hythe Bridge Street to a basin that is now filled in to form a

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surfac ...

Buildings

The

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

house

Rewley Abbey The Cistercian Abbey of Rewley was an abbey in Oxford, England. It was founded in the 13th century by Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall. Edmund's father, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, founder of Hailes Abbey, had intended to establish a college or ...

, founded in 1280, was located north of Hythe Bridge Street on the banks of one of the branches of the

. Virtually all the original buildings have disappeared, but there is still a 15th-century doorway in a wall on the west side of the Oxford Canal, within a housing development. Beaver House was erected in 1971–72, designed by the Oxford Architects Partnership. It is clad in reeded

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

with a glass curtain wall facing Hythe Bridge Street. It was built to serve as the headquarters for Blackwell's Library Bookselling and Periodicals Divisions. The

Gloucester Green Gloucester Green is a square in central Oxford, England, and the site of the city's bus station. It lies between George Street to the south and Beaumont Street to the north. To the west is Worcester Street and to the east is Gloucester Street. ...

area beyond the eastern end of Hythe Bridge Street was redeveloped in 1987–90, with buildings clad in red brick, with patterns in different colours.Tyack, p. 335. Three domed turrets can be seen along Hythe Bridge Street, which have been described as "

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-like". The architectural partnership of Maguire and Murray designed the Linbury Building in Worcester College, completed in 1991.Tyack, p. 340. Its pyramid-roofed turrets can be seen over a stone wall on the north side of Hythe Bridge Street at the eastern end.

Gallery

File:Hythe Bridge Street - geograph.org.uk - 1416114.jpg, View east from the bridge along Hythe Bridge Street. File:The Nags Head, Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 994353.jpg, The Nags Head, a former

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

on Hythe Bridge Street in 1992, close to Hythe Bridge. File:Car park off Park End - geograph.org.uk - 1397400.jpg, Car park to the south of the eastern end of Hythe Bridge Street. This area used to be the basin at the end of the

References

Bibliography

* {{coord, 51.7534, -1.2655, type:landmark_region:GB-OXF, display=title Streets in Oxford Shopping streets in Oxford Worcester College, Oxford