Cutteslowe Park is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

park in

Cutteslowe Cutteslowe is a suburb of north Oxford, England, between Sunnymead and Water Eaton. Archaeology and toponym The toponym "Cutteslowe" is derived from Old English. The earliest known record of it is from AD 1004 as ''Cuðues hlaye'', which seems ...

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 ...

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 established in 1936 when

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 ...

acquired land of the former Cutteslowe Manor farm, whose house still stands at its centre. More land was acquired in 1937 and 1938, including purchases from the Dean and Chaplain of Westminster. The original manor house dates from at least the mid-17th century, being shown on a 1670s map by Michael Burghers. To the north and east the park is bounded by working farmland, while it is bordered to the West by 1960s–70s

housing development A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

s of

. Sunnymead park, just inside the north-east arc of the Oxford ring-road, was once a council tip which was covered and reconditioned from the 1980s onwards. In 2006 Oxford City Council united the two parks, which now form a single administrative unit called Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park.

Overview

Cutteslowe Park has herbaceous borders and despite disease damage during 2009-2012 there remained many horse chestnut trees, until most of them were removed in 2017 by the City Council's order owing to concerns that after a disease their branches could possibly become fragile and pose danger. Until further disease management in 2010 and early 2011, the park also contained some superb examples of White Willow trees. The park has a children's play area,

crazy golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

duck pond A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other waterfowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink. Typically, such ponds are round, oval or kidney-shaped. An example is the lily pond in th ...

, beach

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

court, and

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s. There is a miniature steam railway run by the City of Oxford Society of Model Engineers. Purchases of farmland by the City Council in 1937-8 gave the park a large recreation ground on its east side, used for football and rugby in autumn and winter. The increased size of the park enabled the creation of a "Peace Mile": a running circuit that encompasses most of the perimeter of the park, inaugurated in 1985 by world harmony advocate

Sri Chinmoy Chinmoy Kumar Ghose (27 August 1931 – 11 October 2007), better known as Sri Chinmoy, was an Indian spiritual leader who taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964.parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

since November 2011. A public footpath cuts diagonally across the lower recreation ground, originating on the line of an ancient drovers' path, part of which is still visible at its southern extent for about , bisected by the A40, the Northern Bypass. This linked Water Eaton and Oxford, and a short section of this path (at the bottom of Harpes Road, Islip Road and Victoria Road in North Oxford) is called Water Eaton Road. Further south this becomes a footpath and cycle route from Lonsdale Road, and it emerges near the Cherwell School.

Community interest

In the 1980s the condition of the former council dump within the ring-road inspired the creation of a ‘Cutteslowe/Sunnymead Group’ of local residents, which worked with the City Council to clear fly-tipping, create a sports zone, improve wildlife areas and paths and generally transform the site. On 21 February 2007 the Friends of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park was formed "to promote the access, positive management and enhancement of the park and its facilities for the benefit of the local community and wider general public".

Wind turbine proposal

In November 2009 a city council proposal to lease an area of the park to an energy management company for the construction of a wind turbine was challenged by the Friends, who felt that fuller community engagement should first be sought. Eventually, the proposal was not implemented because of concerns about impacts on RAF flying on the approach to

Brize Norton Brize Norton is a village and civil parish east of Carterton in West Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 938. The original part of RAF Brize Norton is in the parish. Toponym Around the time of the Domesday Book ...

airbase, to the west of the area.

References

External links

Friends of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead
own site.

from the

.
Cutteslowe Park Miniature RailwayCutteslowe Park Management Plan
information from

( PDF). {{coord, 51.78924, N, 1.25879, W, source:placeopedia, display=title 1935 establishments in England Sri Chinmoy Parks and open spaces in Oxford Parks and open spaces in Oxfordshire