Bikes outside The Kings Arms Pub - geograph

Weston Library Exterior by John Cairns 20

Parks Road is a road 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, with several

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 ...

colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the

Banbury Road Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the ...

and

Norham Gardens __NOTOC__ Norham Gardens is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. It adjoins the north end of Parks Road near the junction with Banbury Road, directly opposite St Anne's College. From here it skirts the north side of the Oxford ...

at the northern end, where it continues into

Bradmore Road Bradmore Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England. At the northern end of the road is a junction with Norham Road and at the southern end is a junction with Norham Gardens, with the University Parks opposite. Halfway along the ...

, to the junction with Broad Street, Holywell Street and

Catte Street Catte Street is a historic street in central Oxford, England.Ca ...

to the south. At the northern end, the road runs alongside 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 ...

, hence its name. Opposite the Parks is the former home of the Irish novelist

Joyce Cary Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary (7 December 1888 – 29 March 1957) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and colonial official. Early life and education Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary was born in his grandparents' home, above the Belfast Bank in Derry, Ireland in 1 ...

, who lived here at 12 Parks Road with his family from 1920 until his death in 1957. This is now recorded with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. The road adjoins

South Parks Road South Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England. It runs east–west past the main Science Area of the University of Oxford. Many of the university science departments are located nearby or face the road, including parts of the geography, zoo ...

to the east about halfway along. Parks Road, South Parks Road and the Parks surround the main Science Area of 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 ...

. The

Clarendon Laboratory The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in Oxford, England (not to be confused with the Clarendon Building, also in Oxford), is part of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. It houses the atomic and ...

(

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

), Department of Engineering Science (including the dominating 1960s

Thom Building The surname Thom is of Scottish origin, from the city of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus, and is a sept of the Clan MacThomas. Thom is also a first name variant of the abbreviation " Tom" of " Thomas" that holds the "h". People with the su ...

) and the Department of Materials are all on Parks Road in the main science area. The

Oxford University Computing Laboratory The Department of Computer Science is the computer science department of the University of Oxford, England, which is part of the university's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Mathematical, Physical and Life ...

is opposite the Parks on the corner with

Keble Road Keble Road is a short road running east–west in central Oxford, England. To the west is the southern end of the Banbury Road with St Giles' Church opposite. To the east is Parks Road with the University Parks opposite. Blackhall Road leads ...

. Both

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

(south of Keble Road and north of

Museum Road Museum Road is a short road in central Oxford, England. It leads to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Radcliffe Science Library at its eastern end where it meets Parks Road. At its west end is a junction with Blackhall ...

) and

Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

have their main entrances on Parks Road, while St John's College and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

each back onto it. The garden of

Rhodes House Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on ...

has an entrance on Parks Road. In December 2018 it was announced that the proposed new graduate college of the university, Parks College, opening in September 2020, will be located on Parks Road, after which it is named. The

Oxford University Museum of Natural History The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It a ...

is on the east side of Parks Road opposite Keble College. Just to the south on the corner with South Parks Road is the Radcliffe Science Library. The right hand half of the grass area in front of the museum has a large basement reading room for the library underneath it. At the southern end are the

Weston Library The Weston Library is part of the Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, reopened within the former New Bodleian Library building on the corner of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road in central Ox ...

, opened in 2015 after being transformed internally from the 20th-century

New Bodleian Library The Weston Library is part of the Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, reopened within the former New Bodleian Library building on the corner of Broad Street and Parks Road in central Oxford, England. Hist ...

building, on the corner with Broad Street to the west and the King's Arms public house on the corner with Holywell Street to the east. The road was formerly known as Park Street.

Gallery

File:Parks road next broad street.jpg, The southern end of Parks Road, looking south with the

on the right, and the

Clarendon Building Clarendon Building is an early 18th-century neoclassical building of the University of Oxford. It is in Broad Street, Oxford, England, next to the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre and near the centre of the city. It was built betwee ...

and

Indian Institute The Indian Institute was an institute within the University of Oxford. It was started by Sir Monier Monier-Williams in 1883 to provide training for the Indian Civil Service of the British Raj. The institute's building is located in central Oxfor ...

in the background. File:Keble College Chapel from Parks Road.JPG,

Chapel from Parks Road, at the junction with

. File:Oxf-uni-mus-nh.jpg, The front of the

on Parks Road. File:Wadh5.jpg,

main entrance on Parks Road. File:King's Arms, Oxford.JPG, The King's Arms at the southern end of Parks Road. File:Beecroft Bldg Oxford.jpg, The Beecroft Building of the Oxford University Department of Physics, opened in 2018.

References

External links

Virtual Tour of Oxford
including Parks Road {{Coord, 51.75896, N, 1.25699, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Streets in Oxford Museum districts in the United Kingdom Keble College, Oxford St John's College, Oxford Trinity College, Oxford Wadham College, Oxford Rhodes House Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford Department of Physics, University of Oxford Reuben College, Oxford