Oriel Square, formerly known as Canterbury Square,

Hibbert, Christopher Christopher Hibbert MC (born Arthur Raymond Hibbert; 5 March 1924 – 21 December 2008) was an English author, historian and biographer. He has been called "a pearl of biographers" ('' New Statesman'') and "probably the most widely-read popula ...

, ''The Encyclopedia of Oxford''. London: Pan

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1988, pp. 295–296. . is a square in central

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 ...

, located south of the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

. The name was changed 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 opposi ...

at the request of

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...

which maintained that the square had originally been known as Oriel Square.

Location

To the east at the southern end is the cobbled

Merton Street Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled street in central Oxford, England.

and to the north are

King Edward Street King Edward Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England. To the east is the "Island" site of Oriel College, one of the colleges of Oxford University. To the west ...

and

Oriel Street Oriel may refer to: Places Canada * Oriel, a community in the municipality of Norwich, Ontario, Canada Ireland * Oriel Park, Dundalk, the home ground of Dundalk FC * Oriel House, Ballincollig, County Cork * Kingdom of Oriel (''Airgíalla'' in Ir ...

. To the west at the northern end is Bear Lane. Oriel College, one of the older colleges of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, fronts onto the square to the east. Canterbury Gate of Christ Church also backs onto the square. The street is officially designated as part of the A420 due to the blockage of the High Street to normal traffic. To the north it continues as King Edward Street and to the east it continues as Merton Street. Oriel Square tennis court was a former

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

court. The only active court left in Oxford is the Merton Street tennis court nearby. The television crime series ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' used the square as a location in the episodes "The Dead of Jericho", "Last Seen Wearing", "The Ghost in the Machine", "Infernal Serpent", "Absolute Conviction", "Deadly Slumber" and "The Daughters of Cain".Richards, Antony and Attwell, Philip, ''The Oxford of Inspector Morse''. Irregular Special Press, Cambridge, 2006, p.41. . Oriel Square is the setting for a poem by Sir John Betjeman titled "On an Old-Fashioned Water-Colour of Oxford".

Gallery

File:Oriel Square for King Edward Street Oxford.jpg, Looking towards

in Oriel Square, from

. File:Oriel College Main Gate.jpg, The main entrance of

in Oriel Square.

References

External links

* Squares in Oxford Christ Church, Oxford Oriel College, Oxford {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub