St John Street is a

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

in central

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. The street mainly consists of

Georgian-style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

stone-faced

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

terraced houses. It was built as a speculative development by St John's College starting in the 1820s and finishing in the 1840s at the start of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

era. At the northern end is Rewley House (housing the

University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education The University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education is a department within the University of Oxford that provides continuing education mainly for part-time and mature students. It is located at Rewley House, Wellington Square, Oxford, ...

) and near the southern end is the

Sackler Library The Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library (‘Bodleian Art Library’ in its shortened form, formerly the Sackler Library) holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the Universi ...

, which opened in 2001. To the south is

Beaumont Street Beaumont Street is a street in the centre of Oxford, England. The street was laid out from 1828 to 1837 with elegant terraced houses in the Regency architecture, Regency style. Before that, it was the location of Beaumont Palace, now noted by ...

and to the north is

Wellington Square Wellington Square may refer to: * Wellington Square, North Adelaide, South Australia * Wellington Square, Perth, in Western Australia * A neighbourhood in Burlington, Ontario, Canada * A square in Kolkata, India, renamed Subodh Chandra Mallik Squar ...

. St John Street runs parallel with St Giles' (linked via

Pusey Street Pusey Street links the wide thoroughfare of St Giles' Street (opposite St John's College, Oxford, St John's College) to the east with St John Street, Oxford, St John Street to the west in the St John Street area of central Oxford, England. Pu ...

) to the east and Walton Street to the west. Note that part of

Merton Street Merton Street is a cobbled street in central Oxford, England.Merton Street< ...

was once known as St John Street.

Notable residents

The

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

-born painter William Turner (1789–1862) (not to be confused with

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

) lived at No. 16 from 1833 until his death. The house is marked with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

. Other famous residents of St John Street have included the theologians Henry Chadwick and

Arthur Peacocke Arthur Robert Peacocke (29 November 1924 – 21 October 2006) was an English Anglican theologian and biochemist. Biography Arthur Robert Peacocke was born in Watford, England, on 29 November 1924. He was educated at Watford Grammar School fo ...

; authors

P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuri ...

Iain Pears Iain George Pears (born 8 August 1955) is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. Personal life Pears was born on 8 August 1955 in Coventry, England. He was educated at Warwick School, an all-boys public school in Warwick. He st ...

and

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

; and musician

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

. The moral philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe lived at no. 27 from 1946. It was in her study here that she worked on her translation of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, who also lived there towards the end of his life. The

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the

Museum of the History of Science The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the Old Ashmolean Building to distinguish it from th ...

(in Broad Street, not far away),

Kurt Josten Conrad Hermann Hubertus Maria Apollinaris Josten (7 June 1912 in Neuss, Germany – 10 July 1994 in Neuss), known as Kurt Josten or C. H. Josten, was a historian of science and Curator of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford in England. ...

, lived in rooms in St John Street. The founders of the high IQ society

Mensa International Mensa International is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa ...

Lancelot Ware Lancelot Lionel Ware OBE (5 June 191515 August 2000) was an English barrister and biochemist. He co-founded Mensa, the international society for intellectually gifted people, with the Australian barrister Roland Berrill in 1946. It was origina ...

and

Roland Berrill Roland Fabian Berrill (6 October 1896 – 26 September 1962) was a British-Australian Barrister who was the co-founder (with the English barrister Lancelot Ware) of Mensa, the international society for intellectually gifted people. The found ...

, lived in rooms at 12 St John Street when they started the society in 1946. William Ward (1807–1889),

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of[Oxford, lived at 22 St John Street.

References

External links

Summer Rain in St John StreetOxford Daily Photo
26 July 2007 Streets in Oxford Grade II listed buildings in Oxford St John's College, Oxford Kellogg College, Oxford J. R. R. Tolkien Odonyms referring to religion Odonyms referring to a building {{England-road-stub