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Jericho is a historic suburb of the English city 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 ...
. It consists of the streets bounded by the
Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...
,
Worcester College Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...
, Walton Street and Walton Well Road. Located outside the old
city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...
, it was originally a place for travellers to rest if they had reached the city after the gates had closed. The name Jericho may have been adopted to signify this 'remote place' outside the wall. As of February 2021, the population of the Jericho and
Osney Osney or Osney Island (; an earlier spelling of the name is ''Oseney'') is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. In modern times the name is applied to a community also known as Osney Town astride Botley Road, just w ...
wards was 6,995.


History

Originally an industrial area, Jericho grew because of its proximity to the
Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...
, which arrived in 1790. The Eagle Ironworks (now redeveloped into apartments), wharves and the
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
were based there and its residential streets are mostly 'two-up, two-down' Victorian workers' houses. With back streets of 19th century
terraced housing A terrace in agriculture is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective farming. Terrace agriculture or cultivation is when these platforms are created s ...
and many restaurants, it has become a popular area for student and London commuter accommodation. Reports from the 1870s suggest that early homes in Jericho were built with very poor drainage. Low-lying land and lack of basic drainage in these homes would result in flooding. Flooding, open sewers, and overcrowding resulted in deaths from diseases such as
typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
and
dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
, with five out of eleven typhoid deaths in 1873 originating from Jericho. Jericho residents also accounted for twenty two cases of cholera during the 1832 epidemic. In the 1950s, Jericho was briefly a red light area, and in the early 1960s there were plans to demolish it and replace it with light industrial units and new housing. However, many people objected and campaigned to save this historic area, rallied by local city councillor Olive Gibbs and the Jericho Residents Association. As a result, the plans were changed. Houses beyond repair were demolished, but many others were upgraded in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the help of council grants. This encouraged many young professionals and families to move in; subsequently Jericho became one of Oxford's most sought-after areas. Large council and social housing developments were built in the 1970s and 1980s.


Community

Jericho retains a strong community spirit. The Jericho Community Association runs the Jericho Community Centre in Canal Street, maintains the community website, Jericho Online, and organises the annual Jericho Street Fair which is held in mid-June each year, around the feast day of the patron saint
Barnabas Barnabas (; ; ), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christians, Christian, one of the prominent Disciple (Christianity), Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jews, Cyprio ...
(11 June). It is also the focus for other community activities and has also been very active in campaigning for responsible development of the canal-side land, which is the site of the former Jericho Wharf. Successive owners or developers have failed to provide any viable plans and therefore the site remains derelict to this day Jericho is served by a primary school, St Barnabas Primary School, a large primary school where over 50% speak English as a second language. Since 2011, parents and teaching staff from the parent teacher association (PTA) at the school have organised a wildly popular multi-terrain run called Run Jericho, which takes place in June every year. Run Jericho features a 1-mile children fun run, 5 km and 10 km run through Worcester College, the streets of Jericho, Port Meadow, Wolvercote and along the Thames River path. This is the largest fundraising event for St Barnabas Primary School with a message of inclusivity, encouraging healthy living and strengthening the community ties. Since 2023, St Barnabas Primary School, St Barnabas Church and the Jericho Community Association have joined efforts to create Jericho Fest with the Jericho Street Fair, Run Jericho and St Barnabas Day Mass all occurring in the same weekend in June. Appropriately for its biblical name, Jericho is also known for its places of worship. The
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
is the
Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...
St Barnabas Church, next to the
Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...
. St Sepulchre's Cemetery lies off Walton Street, which has no associated church and has lost its chapel. The Albert Street Chapel (
Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists, also called Particular Baptists, or Calvinist Baptists, are Baptists that hold to a Calvinism, Calvinist soteriology (salvation belief teached by John Calvin). The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20 ...
) is also in the neighbourhood. The Oxford Synagogue (one of the few in England with more than one denomination of Judaism worshipping in the same house) and the Oxford Jewish Centre are in Jericho. Castlemill Boatyard is a 160-year-old
wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
on the canal in Jericho, previously owned by
British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...
and now closed. British Waterways sold the site to a company that subsequently went into administration. The land has been bought by a developer but has yet to be developed. The Jericho Wharf Trust has been negotiating with the developer to develop the site as a focus for community activities including a new boatyard and community centre. One member of the Jericho Wharf Trust is Jericho Community Boatyard Ltd which has been set up to restore services for Oxford boaters. Next to the Castlemill Boatyard was the old ferry house and chain ferry which allowed access to the South Oxford Canal towpath and then on to Port Meadow and the banks of the River Thames by foot. The ferry has now been replaced by a footbridge and the site is now the College Cruisers Wharf accessed via Combe Road off Canal Street. It is a busy thriving hire boat base and working boatyard providing for the needs of local and visiting narrow boats. The last and first service stop for essential services for boats before they cruise the River Thames or leave it. The local cinema has seen a number of incarnations. It started in 1913 as the North Oxford Kinema. In 1925, it was renamed ''The Scala''. In 1970 it was split in two and became Studios 1 and 2, one of which was well known for showing softcore pornography. In 1977, the cinema revived again after being taken over by the London company Contemporary Entertainments and acquired its current name, the Phoenix, showing first-run and art house films. In 2017 Jericho was ranked number 11 in a list of the UK’s ‘most
hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...
’ destinations. The ranking was compiled by TravelSupermarket, and took into account
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...
cafes, independent bike shops, vinyl record stores and independent coffee shops. In 2018 the suburb dropped to number 20 on the list, although it scored full marks, for the second year running, in the ‘creative capital’ category, which concerned co-working and creative spaces.


In fiction

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...
's novel ''
Jude the Obscure ''Jude the Obscure'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895 (though the title page says 1896). The protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man; he i ...
'' has a scene set in St Barnabas Church and it is likely that the suburb named 'Beersheba' in the novel is based on Jericho. As an homage to Hardy, in 1996, one of Jericho's pubs was renamed Jude the Obscure. The first episode of the long-running ITV drama series ''
Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...
'', starring British actor
John Thaw John Edward Thaw (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor in television, stage and cinema, best known for his television roles starring as Detective Inspector Jack Regan in '' The Sweeney'' (1975—78) and as Detective Chief ...
, called ''"
The Dead of Jericho ''The Dead of Jericho'', published in 1981, is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter. It is the fifth novel in the Inspector Morse series. In 1987 it was adapted as the first episode of the highly successful television series insp ...
"'', was partially filmed in the streets of Jericho, notably Combe Road ('Canal Reach' in the drama). It also featured the exterior of the Bookbinders Arms
public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
on the corner of Victor Street. The spin-off show '' Lewis'' also has stories based around the same area.
Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. He is best known for the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. The first volume, ''Northern Lights'' (1995), won the Carnegie Medal
set parts of his novels '' Northern Lights'' and ''
Lyra's Oxford ''Lyra's Oxford'' is a 2003 novella by Philip Pullman depicting an episode involving the heroine of ''His Dark Materials'', Pullman's best-selling trilogy. ''Lyra's Oxford'' is set when Lyra Belacqua is 15, two years after the end of the trilo ...
'' in Jericho. In the books, Jericho is home to the water-dwelling "Gyptians". He has been a vocal advocate of the residential boaters' fight to save the Castlemill Boatyard. In ''The Whore's Asylum'' by Katy Darby (Penguin Group, 2012), the "home for indigent whores" is in Victor Street and the young doctor attending their special medical needs lives in Canal Street. Jericho in 1887 is described (probably inaccurately) as "haunted by drunkards, thieves, and the lowest sort of brazen female as ever lifted her petticoats". London-born Australian author Pip Williams' second book, '' The Bookbinder of Jericho'' (2023) is set in the then working-class suburb of Jericho. The two main characters – twin sisters Peggy and Maude Jones – work in the bindery at Oxford University Press and live in a
narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of Barge, canal boat, built to fit the narrow History of the British canal system, locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, b ...
on
Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...
during the period when WW1 was breaking out, and the Oxford English Dictionary was being collated and printed.


Gallery

File:Walton Street Jericho Oxford looking north 20060314.jpg, Looking north down Walton Street from the southeast corner of Jericho.
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
is on the left and
Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...
on the right File:Jericho Health Centre 20050326.jpg, The former Jericho Health Centre on Walton Street, seen in 2005 File:Jericho Street Fair 2012.JPG, Jericho Street Fair Stalls. File:Morris Dancers at Jericho Street Fair Oxford.JPG, Morris dancers in Cardigan Street File:Mick Clack at the Jericho Street Fair.JPG, Music outside the Bookbinders pub in Canal Street File:Jericho, Oxford-geograph-3607143.jpg, The Jericho Tavern and the Phoenix Picture House File:Jubilee Street Party in Jericho, Oxford.JPG, Jubilee Street Party, 2012, in Cardigan Street


See also

* Art Jericho, a contemporary art gallery * Great Clarendon Street * Juxon Street


References


Sources and further reading

* * * * *


External links


Jericho Online

The Oxford Guide: Jericho
{{Oxford Areas of Oxford Culture in Oxford