Oxpens Road is a road 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 b ...
, linking west and south Oxford.
It is named after the marshy area of Oxpens,
next to one of the branches 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 ...
in Oxford. It forms part of the
A420 road
The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route.
Present route
Since the opening of the M4 motorway, the road has been in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market Str ...
.
Locale
To the northwest, Oxpens Road becomes Hollybush Row, meeting at
Frideswide Square, forming the major junction of the
Botley Road
Botley Road is the main road into the centre of Oxford, England from the west. It stretches between Botley, on the Oxford Ring Road ( A34) to the west of the city, and Frideswide Square at the junction with Oxford railway station, close t ...
,
Park End Street
Park End Street is a street in central Oxford, England, to the west of the centre of the city, close to the railway station at its western end.
Location
To the east, New Road links Park End Street to central Oxford. To the west, Frideswide ...
and
Hythe Bridge Street
Hythe Bridge Street is in the west of central Oxford, England, forming part of the A4144 road.
History
There has been a road here since at least 1233. Previous names include Hide Brigge, Hithe Brigge, and Rewley Lane. It used to form part of ...
near the
Saïd Business School
Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The School is a provider of management education and is consistently ranked as one of the world's top business schools.
Oxford School of Management ...
and
Oxford railway station
Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station, one of two serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about west of the city centre, north-west of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road. It is on the line for trains betwe ...
(to the west of the city centre). To the southeast it becomes Thames Street, just north 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 ...
, and meets the junction with the south end of
St Aldates near
Christ Church Meadow (to the south of the city centre). It forms part of an inner
ring road for the southwest part of the centre of Oxford.
Halfway along is the
Oxford Ice Rink
Oxford Ice Rink is a 56 × 26m ice rink located on Oxpens Road in Oxford, England. It is a ten-minute walk from Oxford city centre and Oxford railway station, railway station.
In 1980, money was raised by the Oxford Ice Skating Trust (OXIST) fo ...
, a distinctive 1984 building by
Nicholas Grimshaw,
which is the home of the
Oxford City Stars ice hockey team. One of the campuses of the
City of Oxford College is located here on the north side. The road crosses the southern end of the
Castle Mill Stream
Castle Mill Stream is a backwater of the River Thames in the west of Oxford, England. It is 5.5 km long.
Course
The stream leaves the main course of the River Thames at the south end of Port Meadow, immediately upstream of Medley Foo ...
just before it reaches the River Thames.
Oxpens Road also provides access to major
car park
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...
s for the centre of Oxford, including the
Westgate Shopping Centre. A redeveloped and greatly expanded shopping centre opened in 2017, but there have been concerns over the imposing and largely windowless wall at the southwest of the redevelopment on Oxpens Road by conservationists, including the
Oxford Civic Society
The Oxford Civic Society is a civic society that was founded in 1969 to oppose plans to build inner relief roads in Oxford, England.
The Society comments on all aspects of urban planning and is a founder member of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaque ...
.
History
Before 1850, Oxpens Road was known as Nun's Walk. This area used to be the location of a
gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Early gasworks
Coal ...
by the river.
The locality was one of the poorer quarters of central Oxford. In the 1950s and 1960s there was large-scale clearance of the area, known as The Oxpens. Many residents were moved to
Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Ward (politics), ward in Oxford, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, the population of the ward (whose boundaries may change occasionally so as to ens ...
, an estate consisting largely of
council housing on the outskirts of southeast Oxford and close to
Morris Motors Limited in
Cowley, which provided employment. The area around Oxpens was almost entirely redeveloped during the second half of the 20th century.
Close to Oxpens Road on St Thomas Street was the
Morrells Brewery
Morrell's Brewing Company, also known as the Lion Brewery, was the only major brewery in Oxford, England. It operated between 1782 and 1998.
Early history
Morrell's was founded by Richard Tawney in 1743 as the Lion Brewery. In 1782 he formed ...
(aka The Lion Brewery), near the Castle Mill Stream, which closed in 1998.
Gallery
File:Looking back at the bend - geograph.org.uk - 1412417.jpg, View southeast along Oxpens Road.
File:Oxpens Road, Oxford (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1571977.jpg, View northwest along Oxpens Road.
File:Oxford Ice Rink.jpg, Oxford Ice Rink
Oxford Ice Rink is a 56 × 26m ice rink located on Oxpens Road in Oxford, England. It is a ten-minute walk from Oxford city centre and Oxford railway station, railway station.
In 1980, money was raised by the Oxford Ice Skating Trust (OXIST) fo ...
on Oxpens Road.
See also
*
St Ebbes
St Ebbes is a district of central Oxford, England, southwest of Carfax. St Ebbes Street runs south from the western end of Queen Street.
__TOC__
Overview
The area takes its name from the parish church of St Ebbe's, dedicated to Saint Æ ...
References
External links
Oxford Directory informationOxford Cherwell Valley College
{{Oxford
Streets in Oxford