South Parade is a shopping street in Summertown, north

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 b ...

. It runs between Woodstock Road to the west and

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 ...

to the east, where there are also shops stretching south from South Parade. This area of the Banbury Road and South Parade form the main shopping centre of Summertown and indeed of

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College. Overview The le ...

. As well as shops, there are a number of restaurants located here. To the west, South Parade leads into St Edward's School and the

North Wall Arts Centre The North Wall Arts Centre (often just referred to as the North Wall) is a performing arts centre in Oxford, owned by St Edward's School and shared with the city. It houses a 200-seat theatre, plus a rehearsal space, dance studio and a visual a ...

Origin of the name

South Parade is north of North Parade in central

. It is often claimed that during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

when

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

was besieged by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

at Oxford, South Parade was the

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

southern front, while North Parade was the location of the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

northern front during the

siege of Oxford The siege of Oxford comprised the English Civil War military campaigns waged to besiege the Royalist controlled city of Oxford, involving three short engagements over twenty-five months, which ended with a Parliamentarian victory in June ...

. However, "'' is unlikely that the two sides would have come so close to each other without engaging in combat and, in any case, parade grounds are known to have existed elsewhere in and around the town''". ''

The Encyclopaedia of Oxford ''The Encyclopaedia of Oxford'' is an encyclopaedia covering the history of Oxford in England. The book was published by Macmillan in 1988 (). It was edited by the Oxford-educated historian Christopher Hibbert with the help of the associate ed ...

'' claims that "'' 1930, when Summertown became part of the city, Double Ditch was renamed South Parade, supposedly on the suggestion of a German professor said to be an authority on Oxford history''" but other sources date the renaming to 1890–91. It is certainly the case that "''until the 1870s, it was the most southerly limit of the Whorestone

arm In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...

Estate.''" To summarise:

''North Parade was one of the earliest developments on St. John's leasehold land, soon after 1855, and was so called from the start ... South Parade was known by that name at least as early as 1859. We do not know which got its name first, but when either was named there would have seemed no need to consider the existence of the other. One was in Oxford, the other in a village out in the County. In terms of Oxford, North Parade was north; in terms of Summertown, South Parade was south. When Summertown was made part of Oxford, the names illogically remained.''

References

External links

Summertown restaurants
Streets in Oxford Shopping streets in Oxford History of Oxford {{England-road-stub