Marston is a village in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Old Marston about northeast of the centre 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 ...

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 was absorbed within the city boundaries in 1991. It is commonly called Old Marston to distinguish it from the suburb of

New Marston New Marston is a suburb about northeast of the centre of Oxford, England. History New Marston is built on land that was originally part of the Manorialism, manor of Headington. It was rural until the 19th century, when housing began to develop ...

that developed between St. Clement's and the village in the 19th and 20th centuries. The A40 Northern Bypass, part of 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 ...

forms a long north-west boundary of the village and parish and a limb, namely a

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurc ...

, of the Cherwell forms the western boundary.

History

The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

is said to come from "Marsh-town", because of the low-lying nature of the land, still green space, near the

River Cherwell A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

, which in earlier times was liable to frequent flooding. The parish used to be part of the manor of

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 ...

. 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 ...

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

began as a chapel, first mentioned in a charter of 1122 by which it was granted to the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

canons of

St Frideswide's Priory St Frideswide's Priory was established as a priory of Augustinian canons regular in Oxford in 1122. The priory was established by Gwymund, chaplain to Henry I of England. Among its most illustrious priors were the writers Robert of Cricklade ...

. The building dates from the 12th century, and has substantial additions in the 15th century. The village played an important part in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, during the

siege of Oxford The siege of Oxford comprised the First English Civil War, English Civil War military campaigns waged to siege, besiege the Cavalier, Royalist controlled city of Oxford, involving three short engagements over twenty-five months, which ende ...

. While the Royalist forces were besieged in the city, which had been used by King Charles I as his capital, the Parliamentary forces under Sir

Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

had quarters in Marston, and used the church tower as a lookout post for viewing the enemy's artillery positions in what is now the

University Parks 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, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, tho ...

. Oliver Cromwell visited Fairfax at Manor House, which is now known as "Cromwell House" at 17 Mill Lane, and "Manor House" at 15 Mill Lane, and the Treaty for the Surrender of Oxford was signed there in 1646. In the 20th-century expansion of Oxford, new housing followed the

Marston Road Marston Road is a road in the east of Oxford, England. It links London Place, the junction of St Clement's, Oxford, St Clements, the foot of Headington Hill (Headington Road), and Morrell Avenue by South Park, Oxford, South Park to the south wi ...

from St Clement's towards Marston, which was soon absorbed by the city. New Marston became a separate parish in the 1950s. Old Marston parish become part of the City of Oxford in 1991. It retains its (civil) parish council. Marston has had a number of notable residents, including members of the Oxford

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

team:

Howard Florey Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey, (; 24 September 1898 – 21 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his ro ...

and his second wife Margaret Jennings, and

Norman Heatley Norman George Heatley OBE (10January 19115January 2004) was an English biologist and biochemist. He was a member of the team of Oxford University scientists who developed penicillin. Heatley developed the back-extraction technique for efficient ...

. The village has been associated with the origin of the Jack Russell breed of terrier.

Amenities

cycle route Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in ...

links Marston with central

''via'' the meadows west of

, over a bridge on the

, past the southern boundary of

The Parks 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, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, tho ...

to the junction of

South Parks Road South Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England. It runs east–west past the main Science Area of the University of Oxford. Many of the university science departments are located nearby or face the road, including parts of the geography, z ...

and St Cross Road near the Science Area of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. It is also possible to walk on footpaths across the meadows to the Parks, either via Mesopotamia Walk or Rainbow Bridge. Marston OldSchool

References

Sources

* *

External links

Marston section on Headington community website

Blue plaque marks Civil War surrender
''

Oxford Mail ''Oxford Mail'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England, owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid ''The Oxford Times''. History The ''Oxford Mail'' was founded in 1928 by MP Fra ...

'' article on 19 June 2013 {{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire Areas of Oxford

History

Amenities

See also

References

Sources

External links