South Oxhey is a suburb of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in the

Watford Rural Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residenti ...

parish of the Three Rivers district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. It is located in the south western corner of

and close to the boundary with

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 ...

. At the 2011 Census South Oxhey's population was included in the Northwick Ward of Three Rivers Council.

History

South Oxhey, St Andrew's Road shops - geograph

South Oxhey is a large estate built on land that was formerly part of the Oxhey Hall Estate. There was a manor house here, Oxhey Place, and a chapel. The manor house was owned by the Blackwell family of

Crosse and Blackwell Crosse & Blackwell is a British food brand. The original company was established in London in 1706, then was acquired by Edmund Crosse and Thomas Blackwell in 1830. It became independent until it was acquired by Swiss conglomerate Nestlé in 1960. ...

fame. It burnt down in 1960.

Oxhey Chapel Oxhey is a suburb of Watford, under the jurisdiction of the Watford Borough Council of the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is located at and is part of the Watford. It is in the Oxhey Ward of Watford Borough Council. Oxhey grew during ...

dates from 1612 and is still standing to the south of the parish church of All Saints. The church was opened in 1954 to serve the new estate built after the Second World War by the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

. The church was demolished and rebuilt in 2000. Since the introduction of the nationwide

Right to buy The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large ...

policy in 1980, many South Oxhey residents have bought their homes from the local council, meaning that by 2007, some 70% of houses on the estate are privately owned. The estate was built after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to help alleviate the housing pressures thrust upon London during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

as well as general inadequate housing, with prisoners of war assisting in the construction of some buildings. South Oxhey was originally built and managed by the

and later the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. In 1980 the ownership and management of the estate was transferred from the GLC to

Three Rivers District Council 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

. Following changes to financial regulations in 2008, the remaining social housing was transferred to Thrive Homes housing association.

South Oxhey Choirs

South Oxhey featured in the BBC television series ''The Choir: Unsung Town'' which was first broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

on 1 September 2009. The programme featured a project by

Gareth Malone Gareth Edmund Malone (born 9 November 1975) is an English choirmaster and broadcaster, self-described as an "animateur, presenter and populariser of choral singing". He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as '' The ...

to assemble a community choir in the town by recruiting local residents and encouraging them to take part. A legacy of the programme was the foundation of two groups, the South Oxhey Community Choir and the South Oxhey Youth Choir. As part of the TV series, the choirs performed at venues including the

Watford Colosseum Watford Colosseum is an entertainment venue in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Established in 1938, as the Assembly Rooms for Watford Town Hall, the complex was extended in 2011 with improvements which included new meeting spaces, a new restauran ...

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

, and headlining at

Sox Fest '09 The Sox Fest was a community festival which took place in 2009 in South Oxhey, in the borough of Watford, United Kingdom. It was created by choirmaster Gareth Malone Gareth Edmund Malone (born 9 November 1975) is an English choirmaster and ...

in May 2009. In April 2009, the Community Choir made their debut recording at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

. Gareth Malone continued as choirmaster for two years following the conclusion of the TV recording and now maintains his support as patron. The current musical director is Simon Wookey and both the Community and Youth choirs continue to make regular performances about three to four times per year at events around Hertfordshire and the South East of England.

Notable people of South Oxhey

Nick Moran Nick Moran (born 23 December 1968 or 1969, sources differ) is an English actor and filmmaker, best known for his role as Eddie the card sharp in ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels''. He appeared as Scabior in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly H ...

- Actor and Director * Paul Field - Two time Winter Olympian from South Oxhey but was raised up in Hemel Hempstead.

Transport

South Oxhey is served by

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...

rail services from

Carpenders Park railway station Carpenders Park is a railway station located between the Hertfordshire suburb of Carpenders Park and the South Oxhey housing estate, south of Watford Junction on the Watford DC Line. The station is an island platform reached by a subway. Thi ...

which is on the

Watford DC Line The Watford DC line is a suburban line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Watford, Hertfordshire. Its services are operated by London Overground. The line runs beside the West Coast Main Line (WCML) for most of its length. The London ...

. Trains run from to every 20 minutes (every 30 minutes in the evenings) in either direction. Until 1982, Carpenders Park was part of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

network, on the

Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...

. A number of bus routes pass through South Oxhey. Buses are managed by

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...

's ''

Intalink Intalink is the organisation responsible for organising the management of public transport services, such as buses and trains, in Hertfordshire on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council. They design, create and promote cross-operator multi-jour ...

'' transport service. One service is provided by

Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Shires & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a subsidiary o ...

: The No. 8 runs from Northwood (Mount Vernon Hospital) to Abbots Langley running along Fairfield Avenue, Gosforth Lane and Hayling Road - the route vacated by the cessation of the 503 service. In addition, there are two limited 'shopper' services; The R16 to North Watford and R17 Hatch End both operated by Red Eagle, the W19, operated by Red Rose Travel, runs to North Watford and North Bushey via Carpenders Park, Oxhey Village and Watford Town Centre.

Schools

*Colnbrook (Special Needs School) *Greenfields *Oxhey Wood *St. Josephs Roman Catholic School *Warren Dell Primary *Woodhall Primary South Oxhey has no secondary schools. However, from the early 1950s, there were two

Secondary modern schools A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

– Clarendon, on Chilwell Gardens, and the smaller Hampden School, on Little Oxhey Lane. Built to cater for post-war conditions both schools eventually combined to form Sir James Altham Comprehensive (upper and lower schools). Three Rivers Council sold off the School Land to developers. Now a shortage of School places in Hertfordshire has left South Oxhey as the furthest Town from a secondary School in Herts.

Future developments

In 2012, the Three Rivers District Council proposed a redevelopment of the local shopping and business area known as 'The Precinct'. The initiative was devised after 130 flats between Fairfield Avenue and Oxhey Drive were identified by the council as being beyond repair and in need of replacing. However many residents were against the idea of knocking down the old Precinct favouring refurbishment of the existing buildings. Many of the local shop keepers formed a pressure group against a full redevelopment. In November 2013, political support for the South Oxhey Initiative fractured as the local Conservative Party withdrew their backing for the regeneration scheme. This followed the decision by two housing associations to pull their support as development partners. One of the main areas of political disagreement is the level of social housing to be included in the proposed development. In January 2014, Three Rivers Council announced that they intend to continue with submitting an outline planning application in June 2014, in the hope that a developer will show interest in the scheme after planning permission has been granted. In 2016 Three Rivers District Council and development partner Countryside Properties announced they had entered into an agreement to redevelop central South Oxhey. The proposals for the regeneration include 514 new homes, as well as retail and public spaces. Work is planned for three phases, with the overall development planned for completion in 2022. Work began in late 2016, and is underway at the former Jet public house site on Hayling Road, Maylands/ Ferndown Road and Hallowes Crescent..

Healthcare

South Oxhey has a number of doctors surgeries based on Oxhey Drive, the largest being The Consulting Rooms. Since the onset of Clinical Commissioning Groups in 2013, services have been expanded to include the wider community, enabling patients to have more choice in their care.

Nature reserve

Oxhey Woods Local Nature Reserve is on the western border of South Oxhey.

Oxhey Jets Football Club

Oxhey Jets football club were established in 1972 as a boys' team, eventually moving to the local Watford leagues when they became a men's team. The club are now in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division and made their debut in the FA Cup during the 2005–06 season.