The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in

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. The park is bounded to the east by the

River Cherwell The River Cherwell ( or ) is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Hellidon, Northamptonshire and flows southwards for to meet the Thames at Oxford in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to the Cherwell local g ...

, though a small plot of land called

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

sits between the upper and lower levels of the river. To the north of the parks is Norham Gardens and Lady Margaret Hall, to the west the

Parks Road Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with B ...

, and the Science Area on South Parks Road to the south. The park is open to the public during the day, and has gardens, large sports fields, and exotic plants. It includes a cricket ground used by

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, has always held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). ...

History

Part of the land on which the Parks is located had been used for recreation for a long time, and it formed part of the University Walks said to have been used by Charles II to walk his dog in 1685. The land originally belonged to Merton College, and in 1853/1854, 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 ...

purchased from Merton College to build the parks. Over an eleven-year period a total of of land was eventually acquired. A portion of this land (4 acres) was set aside for the

University Museum A university museum is a repository of collections run by a university, typically founded to aid teaching and research within the institution of higher learning. The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford in England is an early example, o ...

which was built between 1855 and 1860. Between 1912 and early 1950s, a further portion was used to build the Science Area, so the current site measures around . The Parks was laid out in 1864, and the work supervised by William Baxter who was later appointed the first superintendent of the parks in 1866. Parts of the Parks were designated to be used for sports and recreational purposes. 25 acres of the land had been set aside as the University Cricket Grounds, and the

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

pavilion was built in 1881. The Parks is also used for other sports such as

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...

. The rest of The Parks was designed as an arboretum, and the first trees were planted in 1865. A number of other features have been added over the years. Dan Winter has been superintendent of the Parks since 2017, replacing Walter Sawyer. Since August 2020, Michelle Cooper has taken over as acting superintendent. A 5 km

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) ...

event launched on 5 February 2022 in University Parks. University Parks parkrun takes place at 9am every Saturday morning, starting at the Tentorium in the centre of the Parks.

Cricket ground

The Parks has been the home ground of

since 1881. The cricket ground at The Parks was secured through the Master of Pembroke, Evan Evans obtaining a lease on 10 acres of land there in 1881. The pavilion was designed by Thomas G. Jackson, architect of many nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Oxford buildings, including the University's

Examination Schools The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, England. The building was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson (1835–1924), who also designed several other University buildings, such as much of Brasen ...

. The building has three gables, the central one containing the clock, and is topped by a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

'of almost absurd height' and

weather-vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

. The pavilion contains a Long Room. Before moving to The Parks, the University Cricket Club played on the

Magdalen Ground The Magdalen Ground (also known as the Old Magdalen Ground) was a cricket ground in Oxford, England. The ground was owned by the University of Oxford and used by Magdalen College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Originally form ...

and

Bullingdon Green Bullingdon Green was a cricket ground south of Oxford, England. It was associated with the Bullingdon Club and was an important site in the early history of cricket in Oxford. The ground operated as a first-class cricket venue in 1843, hosting ...

. The Magdalen Ground was used from the University Cricket Club's first match in 1829 to 1880 while Bullingdon Green was used for two matches in 1843. Cricket at University Parks, Oxford

The cricket ground is the only

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

ground in the UK where spectators can watch free of charge as admission cannot be charged for entry into the Parks. The club has therefore occasionally taken major matches to three other grounds in Oxford. The most used is the

Christ Church Ground Christ Church Ground is a cricket ground in Oxford, England. The ground is owned by Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Owing to the University Parks being on public land where an admission charge could not be lev ...

, which hosted 37 matches between 1878 and 1961. Twenty-one of these matches were against the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

, played between 1882 and 1961. The club also used New College Ground for two matches in 1906 and 1907 against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and the

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics South ...

respectively. One match in 1912 against the South Africans was played at the Magdalen Ground. The club has also played certain minor matches at the Merton College Ground, the St Edward's School Ground and the St Catherine's College Ground. The Parks has been, since 2000, home to the recently established ECB Oxford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, a partnership between the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University and the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

. Prior to the 2010 season the UCCE has been rebranded as Oxford

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

University (MCCU). The University Match against

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

is the only one in which a true Oxford University Cricket Club team takes part: i.e., composed entirely of current Oxford students. The Parks has, since 2002, hosted the first-class

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

in even-numbered years. The Parks also hosted two List A matches for the club and twenty-two matches for the Combined Universities in the Benson & Hedges Cup between 1973 and 1998.

Points of interest

The following features of the Parks are of special interest: *

Cricket pavilion A cricket pavilion is a pavilion at a cricket ground. It is the main building within which the players usually change in dressing rooms and which is the main location for watching the cricket match for members and others. Pavilions can vary from m ...

— the pavilion was designed by

Sir Thomas Jackson Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British architects of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at Oxford, including the Oxford Military College at Cowl ...

. The cricket ground and pavilion are used by the Oxford University Cricket Club. The two ends of the pitch are the Pavilion End and the Norham Gardens End. * Seven large

giant sequoias ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...

planted in about 1888. * A

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 ...

with

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artisti ...

and a small island, constructed in 1925. * High Bridge, built in 1923–24 as a relief project for the unemployed. It is usually called Rainbow Bridge, because of its shape. * Genetic Garden — an experimental garden established by Professor Cyril Darlington to demonstrate evolutionary processes. * ''

Styphnolobium japonicum ''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It was formerly included withi ...

'', known as the Japanese Pagoda Tree. Planted in 1888. * Coronation Clump, a clump of trees planted to commemorate the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. *

Parson's Pleasure Parson's Pleasure in the University Parks at Oxford, England, was a secluded area for male-only nude bathing on the River Cherwell. It was located next to the path on the way to Mesopotamia at the south-east corner of the Parks. The facility ...

, once used as a secluded nude bathing area, but now closed and forms part of the park.

Gallery

File:University Parks, Oxford, Autumn 2006.jpg, Gravel paths in the Parks File:Rainbow Bridge, Oxford.jpg, Rainbow Bridge File:Sequoia trees in University Parks, Oxford.jpg, Sequoia trees File:Japanese Pagoda Tree in University Parks, Oxford.jpg, Japanese Pagoda Tree

References

External links

Oxford University Parks website

Cricket in the Parks website
(home of Oxford CC and Oxford UCCE) *

' by William Turner (1789–1862) in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...