South Hinksey is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

just over south of the centre of

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 ...

. The parish includes the residential area of Hinksey Hill about south of the village. The parish was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.

Geography

The Southern By-Pass Road (part of the A34) passes through the parish. The only road access to the village is ''via'' the bypass. It is on the inside of the ring road and close to the Hinksey Stream, a branch of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

at Oxford. Pedestrian and cycle access to the village from Oxford is ''via'' the Devil's Backbone; a historic raised pathway across the neighbouring flood plains that features in

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lit ...

's poem '' The Scholar Gipsy''.

History

It has always been difficult to get between North Hinksey to the north-west and South Hinksey. In the 19th century

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

tried to organize the making of a road between the two villages, as the ground between them was very boggy. Since the 1930s they have been connected by the Southern By-Pass Road. Until the middle of the 18th century South Hinksey was in the parish of

Cumnor Cumnor is a village and civil parish 3½ miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Botley and its centre is west of the A420 road to Swindon. The parish includes Cumn ...

. When it was first created, the parish extended to the River Thames, but in 1889 the new suburb of

New Hinksey New Hinksey is a suburb in the south of the city of Oxford. Geography The suburb is west of the Abingdon Road ( A4144). To the north is Grandpont and to the east, over Donnington Bridge, which crosses the River Thames, is Cowley. To the west i ...

, between the Thames and Hinksey Stream, was transferred to the City of Oxford. However, the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

continues to include New Hinksey.

References

Sources

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External links

Berkshire History website information
Villages in Oxfordshire Civil parishes in Oxfordshire {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub

Geography

History

See also

References

Sources

External links