Oxfordshire History Centre is in the former

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of St Luke,

Cowley, Oxford Cowley () is a residential and industrial area in Oxford, England. Cowley's neighbours are Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across fields to the east. Internationally ...

, England. It collects, preserves and makes available the records of the historic county of

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 ...

. It holds original records and printed material from the 12th to 21st century, which are available for all to see free of charge. It is owned and run by

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...

. It is recognised as a place of deposit by

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

History

An office was established by

in 1935 and was in County Hall in Oxford. Its remit was to collect historic documents related to the history of Oxfordshire as well as the records of Oxfordshire County Council itself. These collections were significantly enlarged when the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

transferred responsibility for the

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

archdeaconry An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

and parish collections of Oxfordshire to the Oxfordshire Record Office in 1984. As the collections grew, storage space in County Hall was augmented by a series of remote stores. However, by the 1990s increasing visitor numbers as well as an acute need for more storage space meant that a new building was essential. The

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contains m ...

offered the County Council the redundant parish church of St Luke in Cowley and this building, built at the behest of

Lord Nuffield William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of Morris Motors Limited and is remembered as the founder of the Nuffield Foundation, ...

as a place of worship for the workers in his Cowley factories was converted with the support of the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

Paul Getty Jean Paul Getty Sr. (; December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American-born British petroleum industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and was the patriarch of the Getty family. A native of Minneapolis, he was the son of pio ...

and other donors. The bells, cast by

Gillett & Johnston Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a bel ...

in 1938, were sold to the Keltek Trust and eventually were incorporated into a new ring of bells at Christ Church,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The new Office opened to the public in November 2000. In 2011 the former Oxfordshire Record Office, Centre for Oxfordshire Studies and the Oxfordshire Health Archives were merged into one comprehensive history service and renamed Oxfordshire History Centre.

Visitor information

Oxfordshire History Centre is open to visitors.

Holdings

Oxfordshire History Centre holds a wide range of records which may be of use in family history, local history or other types of research: * Local administrative records of the county, including the Quarter Sessions, County Council, District Councils, Parish Councils, Poor Law Union and Borough records. * Oxford City Archives * Records of the

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 ...

including diocesan and archdeaconry records, registers of baptism, marriages and burials. Probate, church court and school records and poor law papers. *

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 ** ...

church records * Business and organisation records * Solicitors' records * Estate and family records * Local newspapers * Historic and

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mapping * Local Studies reference collection of books, periodicals, directories and other published materials * Photographic and oral history collections The Oxfordshire History Centre encourages organisations and private individuals to deposit relevant records concerning

. Catalogues can be accessed online on Heritage Search, Picture Oxon, National Archives Discovery,A2A
/ref> or in the searchroom.

Information about other records

On site, the records are cared for by are professionally qualified archivists, a conservator, and local studies librarians. However, relevant records are also elsewhere: * Modern Oxfordshire County Council records. These are held by the Information Management Team based in County Hall, Oxford. * Vale of White Horse Records. This area was originally part of the historic county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

before the 1974 local government reorganisation. As a result, many of the historic records are kept at

Berkshire Record Office The Berkshire Record Office is the county record office for Berkshire, England. It is located in Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, s ...

References

External links

Oxfordshire History Centre

Heritage SearchPicture OxonOxfordshire Health Archives
{{Authority control 2011 establishments in England Archives in Oxfordshire County record offices in England Former churches in Oxfordshire History of Oxfordshire Organisations based in Oxford Organizations established in 2011