37 Banbury Road, St Anne's College, University of Oxford

North Oxford is a suburban part of the city 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 ...

. It was owned for many centuries largely by

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...

and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College.

Overview

The leafy roads of Woodstock Road to the west and Banbury Road to the east (leading to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

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 Oxfordshir ...

respectively) run north-south through the area, meeting at their southern ends to become

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

. North Oxford is noted for its schools, especially its private schools. These include the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

and Summer Fields (formerly Summerfield), which are preparatory schools, and St Edward's School and the Oxford High School for Girls, which are

secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

, as well as St. Clare's, Oxford, an international sixth form college which is the longest provider of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in England (source ISA)

Geography

The boundary of "North Oxford" is not exactly defined, but the original area developed by St John's College (sometimes now called "Central North Oxford") runs north from the top end of St Giles' to approximately Kingston Road, Frenchay Road, Staverton Road, and Marston Ferry Road, south of Summertown. It includes Park Town,

Norham Manor The Norham Manor estate is a residential suburb in Oxford, England. It is part of central North Oxford. To the north is Park Town with its crescents, to the east is the River Cherwell, to the south are the University Parks and to the west is ...

, and the eastern parts of

Walton Manor Walton Manor is a residential suburb in Oxford, England. It is north of Jericho and the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and forms part of North Oxford. The street layout and many of the area's buildings date from the mid-19th century. It was deve ...

. Four 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 ...

's former women's colleges,

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more form ...

, St Anne's, St Hugh's and Somerville (at the southern extreme) are located in North Oxford. There are also four graduate colleges, Green Templeton College (formerly Green College), St Antony's, both off the Woodstock Road, Kellogg on Banbury Road, and to the east Wolfson, on the River Cherwell. To the south of the college is the Cherwell Boathouse, a popular punting spot. Further south, also bordering the Cherwell, are the

University Parks The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, thou ...

. A large open area of ancient

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has ...

, Port Meadow, adjoining the

River Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ''Tamesis'', which in the Middle ...

(the section 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 ...

that flows through Oxford) is located to the west. Much of the central area contains excellent examples of late 19th century

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

architecture, and is now a

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 ...

. The conservation area includes three

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s, the Church of St Philip and St James (which now houses the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies), the Observer's House (now Osler House), and the Radcliffe Observatory; the latter two are now both part of Green Templeton College. There are

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

-style houses built in the mid-19th century in the crescents of Park Town, initially in the middle of the countryside but now surrounded by the rest of the suburb. Central North Oxford between the city centre and Summertown, has been described as the most desirable suburb of

.Curl, 1977, pages 149–162. It is popularly supposed that it was originally developed for the dons of the University once they were allowed to marry. However central North Oxford in particular includes many large houses which were then unaffordable by most dons, and the houses were instead occupied by successful tradesmen of the city. Today, many homes are occupied by rich

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

commuters, attracted by the good schools. A number of the larger houses are used by Oxford colleges and other educational establishments. At the northern extremity of North Oxford, which is approximately the line of the A40 (the northern bypass, part of 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 traffi ...

) are three suburbs,

Sunnymead Sunnymead is a suburb in the northern part of Oxford, England, just south of the Oxford Ring Road ( A40). Close by are the suburbs of Cutteslowe to the north, Summertown to the south and Upper Wolvercote to the west. To the east is the River C ...

and Cutteslowe (to the east of Banbury Road) and

Wolvercote Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames. History The Domesd ...

to the west of Woodstock Road. Beyond the bypass is the village of Kidlington. Wolvercote Cemetery contains the grave of J. R. R. Tolkien (note that Wolvercote Cemetery is not in Wolvercote itself, but beside Banbury Road north of the A40). Cutteslowe Park is a large open area just to the north of this bypass.

Notable people

North Oxford has attracted famous residents, such as the authors and academics J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) and

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her ...

(1919–1999). Murdoch lived with her husband and fellow academic John Bayley, and the area was featured in the biographical film, '' Iris''. T. E. Lawrence (known as Lawrence of Arabia) grew up in

Polstead Road Polstead Road is a residential road that runs between Kingston Road and Hayfield Road to the west and the Woodstock Road to the east, in the suburb of North Oxford, England. Halfway along it forms the southern junction of Chalfont Road. Th ...

, North Oxford. Sir

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture ...

(1906–1984),

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

, was an enthusiast about North Oxford and wrote poems mentioning the area, such as ''May-Day Song for North Oxford'':

References

Bibliography

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External links