Templars Square is a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre ( Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

located in Between Towns Road, Cowley,

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 was opened in 1965 and was known as Cowley Centre until 1989.

Development and construction

A shopping centre in central Cowley was first proposed in the late 1950s. By 1959, the proposal had received strong endorsement from

Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the lower-tier local government authority for the city of Oxford in England, providing such services as leisure centres and parking. Social Services, Education and Highways services (amongst others) are provided by Oxfor ...

, and an embargo on new shopping developments along the nearby

Cowley Road __NOTOC__ Cowley Road is an arterial road in the city of Oxford, England, running southeast from near the city centre at The Plain near Magdalen Bridge, through the inner city area of East Oxford, and to the industrial suburb of Cowley. The ...

was enforced. The development was opposed by

William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 19 ...

, who felt that Cowley was the wrong location for the centre. Construction of the development, by now known as Cowley Centre, began in 1960. Its design was inspired by new town centres and North American shopping malls. The shopping centre designed by the Oxford City Architects E. G. Chandler and Douglas Murray. Between Towns Road was realigned when Cowley Centre was built.

Opening and subsequent history

Cowley Centre was opened in May 1965 by

Richard Crossman Richard Howard Stafford Crossman (15 December 1907 – 5 April 1974) was a British Labour Party politician. A university classics lecturer by profession, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1945 and became a significant figure among the ...

, then

Minister of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...

. The opening ceremony was attended by over 300 people. In 1970, the

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

store at the northern end of the centre was extended, requiring the demolition of a local pub, which was rebuilt around twenty yards away. The Sainsbury's store later closed and was replaced by branches of Wilkinson and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. The centre was renamed to Templars Square in 1989, and celebrated its 20th year under the name with a series of events in August 2009. In January 2014 part of the centre's glass roof was damaged in a storm.

Facilities

As of August 2009, Templars Square has 63 retailers, making it the largest shopping centre in Oxford. This number had decreased from 85 in 2002, partly because of the

financial crisis of 2007–2010 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

; one of the largest stores,

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

, closed in December 2009. However, overall trade at the centre was largely unaffected by the recession. The Woolworth's site has since been taken over by

99p Stores 99p Stores Ltd. was a family-run business founded in January 2001 by entrepreneur Nadir Lalani, who opened the first store in the chain in Holloway, London, with a further three stores opening later that year. In 2002, Lalani decided to expand th ...

. As of June 2010, the centre's occupancy rate is 96%. Templars Square has a six-storey car park. This opened in 1964, a year before the shopping centre. In July 2009 the top deck of the car park was temporarily closed after three people died by falling from it. The centre is located adjacent to the Templars Retail Park, which was legally restricted to non-food sales to avoid competition with the centre. In December 2010 a proposal was announced to relax the restriction and open a new supermarket at the site, which was opposed by the centre's management. This has since changed with a Sainsbury's superstore opening in this retail park.

Future development

In 2012 New River bought the centre and soon revealed redevelopment plans. Plans for redevelopment of the centre including 200 homes, shops, two restaurants and a hotel received planning permission in July 2017 however, as of October 2020 no redevelopment has taken place and there is currently no scheduled start date for this. On 1 APril 2022 NewRiver is pleased to announce the completion of the disposal of its Regeneration Shopping Centre in Cowley, Oxford, for gross proceeds of £38.8 million.

References

External links