Barton (/ˈbɑː(ɹ)tən/) is a village and suburb of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is 3 miles east of the centre of Oxford, just outside the

Oxford Ring Road The Oxford Ring Road circles the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway ring road for most of its length apart from a short section between Woodstock Road and Banbury Road in the north of the city. The severe restrictions on traf ...

. It is near to

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

Risinghurst Risinghurst is a suburb of Oxford, England east of the city centre, just outside the Oxford Ring Road. It is near to Headington, Barton and Wood Farm. It was built during the interwar period to relieve the housing shortage from working-class ...

and Marston. Though it is now distinct, Barton was historically considered part of the Headington parish.

Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the local authority for the city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Oxford has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974, Oxford has been a non-metropolitan district, wi ...

built the Barton housing estate because of a housing shortage in the 1930s. 35.4% of the existing houses in Barton and 354 of 865 houses being built west of Barton are socially rented. While Barton may refer to the housing estate alone, it is often used collectively to refer to the housing estate and surrounding settlements north of the ring road. These include Barton Park to the west and Sandhills to the east, which are also part of the Barton and Sandhills

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

. Outside of the Oxford City boundary and the Barton and Sandhills ward, but contiguous with the Barton area, Wick Farm is to the northwest and Bayswater Farm

Mobile Home Park A trailer park, caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and e ...

is to the east, and both may also sometimes be included when referring to Barton. Barton is served by the East Oxford

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

delivery office. While Barton is not a part of Headington, some of its postal addresses include Headington as a locality. In some cases, this is because of the historical inclusion of the Barton hamlet in the Headington area.

History

Early History

The course of a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

between

Dorchester-on-Thames Dorchester on Thames is a historic village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England, located about 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Oxford at the confluence of the River Thames and River Thame. The village has evidence of prehi ...

and Alchester passes through Barton. There was a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

northwest of Barton in the 3rd and 4th centuries. In the 1940s, sixteen

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum#Numismatics, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction during the Roman Republic, Republic, in the third century BC, through Roman Empire, Imperial ...

were found near Barton and in 1953 three

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

pots were recovered from Bayswater Brook. Barton is

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for barley farm. In 1246, it was known as Aldebarton, Oldebarton in 1276 and by 1326 Oldbarton. Wick Farm translates from Old English to ‘dairy farm’. In 1298 the Bayswater Brook was named Edenebroke and Hedena's Brook. Wick Farm has existed since at least the

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched ...

and is now home to various

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s. On Bayswater Road is Bayswater Mill, an 18th century

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

and

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

, which has been converted into a house. Barton Manor is a

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

built of

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

-faced Cotswold stone. a former

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

between the 1860s and the 1980s. Wick Farm Well House

Oxford Crematorium, north of Barton, was opened in 1939 by the Oxford Crematorium Company. It is where

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

is buried. St. Mary's Church was built in 1958 and replaced St. Andrew's Church in Headington as the local parish church.

Development

The land Barton was later built on was north-facing and on an incline, hence it was considered unsuitable for housing development. But, in the 1930s, a housing shortage prompted Oxford City Council to buy the land from

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

. In 1937 there were 54 council houses, in 1977 there were 1,600 and the last council houses were built in the late 1980s. The original

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

- built in 1949 - was replaced with the Barton Neighbourhood Centre, which provides a focal point for community activities, with a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, v ...

and a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. It is run by the Barton

Community Association A community association is a nongovernmental association of participating members of a community, such as a neighborhood, village, condominium, cooperative, or group of homeowners or property owners in a delineated geographic area. Participatio ...

, founded in 1946. The Bayswater Brook runs west from Forest Hill and joins the River Cherwell in Cutteslowe. Since 1975, it has been the boundary between the City of Oxford and

Oxford Green Belt The Oxford Green Belt is a green belt environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space in Oxfordshire, within the South East region of England. It is centred on the city of Oxford, along with surrounding areas. Its core functio ...

Barton Park and Bayswater

Nearly 900 homes are being built at Barton Park, which are expected to be completed in 2027. Christ Church has submitted planning applications for a further estate north of the Bayswater Brook with 1,450 homes and a new

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

and nursery - stretching from Elsfield to Bayswater Road. Barton Park Pavilion is home to Headington Amateurs F.C. and Barton United F.C. It also has a bar and playground.

Politics and Crime Rate

In 2021, the

crime rate In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

in Barton was 128 crimes per 1,000 people, ranking 12th out of the 86 MSOAs in

. 8% (20.6 crimes per 1,000 people) were

anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...

crimes, ranking 4th in Oxfordshire's MSOAs. Barton is in the

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Oxford East and

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Barton and Sandhills except Wick Farm and Bayswater Mill which are in Henley and Thame and Forest Hill and Holton.

Anneliese Dodds Anneliese Jane Dodds (born 16 March 1978) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and public policy analyst who served as Minister of State for Development and Minister of State for Women and Equalities from July 2024 to February 2025. S ...

has been MP for Oxford East since 2017 and Freddie Van Mierlo for Henley and Thame since 2024. Mike Rowley has been a councillor for Barton and Sandhills since 2010, alongside Asima Qayyum since 2024.

Amenities

Barton

Leisure Centre A leisure centre, sports centre, or recreation centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit. Typical facilit ...

, which includes a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

and

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

, is on Waynflete Road. Barton has four schools: Bayards Hill Primary School, Barton Park Primary School and Sandhills Community Primary School - both part of the River Learning Trust - and Endeavour Academy, a

special needs school Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

. Rectory Farm was founded in 1954 and owns land around Barton. Since 1980 it has run a pick-your-own farm north of Barton, next to Stanton St. John. It has various

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

in the summer, then sweetcorn and

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

s in the autumn. In the centre of the estate, Underhill Circus, there is a community centre, chippy,

corner shop A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

, graffiti wall and

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

. Elsewhere there are two small nature reserves, an allotments and a pond.

Buses

The

Oxford Bus Company The City of Oxford Motor Services Limited, trading as Oxford Bus Company, is a bus operator serving the city and surrounding area of Oxford, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. History Horse trams and horse buses The City of Oxf ...

and

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

route 8 links Barton to Oxford via Headington. The Oxford Bus Company route X3 links Barton to Abingdon via the

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

, Red Rose Travel route 108 to

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

via Beckley and Stagecoach route H5 to Bicester via Islip.

Notes

References

External links

Barton Community AssociationBarton Swimming PoolLand North of Bayswater BrookSt. Mary's ChurchRectory Farm

Schools

Bayards Hill Primary SchoolBarton Park Primary SchoolSandhills Community Primary SchoolEndeavour Academy Oxford
{{authority control Areas of Oxford Housing estates in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire