Oxford () is a small town serving the farming community of
North Canterbury, New Zealand. It is part of the
Waimakariri District
Waimakariri District is a local government district, located in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Waimakariri River, which forms the district's southern boundary, separating it from Christchurch City a ...
and is a linear town, approximately long. Oxford has won awards for the most beautiful village and the most beautiful toilet.
Toponymy
It is unclear whether the town is named after
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 England or after
its university, but it is more probable that it was named after
Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public sp ...
, who was the
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...
from 1845 to 1870. It was named by the chief surveyor of the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...
,
Joseph Thomas, in 1849.
The town of
Tīrau
Tīrau is a small town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres southeast of Hamilton. The town has a population of 804 (2018 census). In the Māori language, "Tīrau" means "place of many cabbage trees."
Tīrau ...
in the North Island was originally also named Oxford, in a name pairing with
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
30 km to the west. Owing to confusion between the two towns, the North Island town was later renamed Oxford North before adopting its current name in 1895.
History
It was originally a logging town: trees were felled from forests in the area, and hauled by beast to Christchurch. A mural depicting life from that era is painted on the side wall of the butchers shop.
Transport
Originally, it was served by the
Oxford Branch railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
, and had two stations, East Oxford and West Oxford. The line closed in 1959 and was dismantled. Some railway signs and the remnants of
railway platform
A railway platform is an area in a train station alongside a railway Track (rail transport), track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms.
Grand Cen ...
s can still be seen along Oxford Road on the way to Rangiora.
Oxford was linked to Christchurch in 1878 by the narrow-gauge Oxford Branch from Oxford West to Rangiora to meet the broad gauge from Christchurch. With the gauge conversion of 1878, it became easier to transfer passengers and freight from the branch line to Christchurch, though passengers still had to change at Rangiora from the Waipara train to the branch train. The branch stretched from Rangiora through Bennetts Junction (where the Eyreton Branch joined), Oxford and Sheffield. This necessitated a high road-rail bridge across the Waimakariri Gorge.
From Oxford to Sheffield closed in 1931 along with the Eyreton Branch, leaving the Oxford branch as a rural branch line. It lost its passenger service in the 1940s. Due to declining revenue, the branch closed on 31 May 1959 and the track was sold to Scotts Engineering of Christchurch, which used the rails from several branch lines to build farm sheds.
The line was latterly worked by the A and A
B class 4-6-2 and C class 2-6-2 tender locomotives. No diesel locomotives or railcars are known to have used the branch, although thought was given in the 1940s to running a small railcar.
Renovation of Main Street
During 2009, Main Street underwent a major renovation with the road resurfaced, pedestrian refuges in strategic locations and new footpaths with garden beds. The old welcome signs were replaced with new "Experience Oxford" signs at east and west entries. This project was a joint undertaking by the Waimakariri District Council and the Oxford Promotions and Action Committee (OPAC), but they ran out of money and did not finish both sides of the street.
Geography
Oxford is located at the inland edge of the
Canterbury Plains, approximately 50 km northwest of
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
. The township is about 30 km from
Rangiora
Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury Region, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the ...
to the East, and the townships of Sheffield and Darfield to the west.
The climate of Oxford is warm and temperate. Snowfalls are rare, but surrounding hills get snowfall on an annual basis.

Oxford Forest Conservation Area
The Oxford Forest Conservation Area is a protected forest area of 11,350 ha (28,000 acres) located in foothills near the township. The forest is a remnant of extensive beech and podocarp forests that previously covered inland parts of North Canterbury. It includes walking and mountain biking tracks and is a recreational hunting area. In 2024, the conservation area was designated by
DarkSky International as New Zealand’s second International Dark Sky Park.
Demographics
Oxford covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Oxford had a population of 2,214 at the
2018 New Zealand census
The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census.
Resu ...
, an increase of 285 people (14.8%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 486 people (28.1%) since the
2006 census. There were 858 households, comprising 1,068 males and 1,146 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female. The median age was 45.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 456 people (20.6%) aged under 15 years, 309 (14.0%) aged 15 to 29, 909 (41.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 540 (24.4%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 95.3% European/
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
, 6.6%
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 0.9%
Pasifika, 1.5%
Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 19.8, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.6% had no religion, 36.2% were
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 0.1% were
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 0.1% were
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 2.0% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 234 (13.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 435 (24.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 228 people (13.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 729 (41.5%) people were employed full-time, 288 (16.4%) were part-time, and 54 (3.1%) were unemployed.
Community and culture

The community saved hard during 2005 and 2006 to raise funds for projects such as the Oxford Community Pool, a community-based swimming pool in Burnett Street, and a first-response ambulance. The town prides itself on its ability to self-fund community projects through organisations such as the Lions.
Organisations
Oxford has several Churches and community organisations:
*Waimak Bible Chapel (Bible Fellowship)
*Oxford Union Church (Presbyterian)
*Oxford Baptist Church
*Sacred Heart Catholic Church
*Seventh Day Adventist Church
*Anglican Church
*Tawera Masonic Lodge
*Oxford Working Men’s Club
*West Oxford Hotel (Public House - The West)
Oxford Benevolent and Improvement League

The OB&I was formed during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
to provide charitable support to war widows. To raise money, it showed films in the old Oxford Town Hall. It provides charitable support to the citizens of Oxford. Movies are screened in the Town Hall approximately every other Saturday during the winter. The heyday of the OB&I movies was the middle of the 20th century, when three or four films would be shown every week and queues often extended around the building. This was before private car ownership became popular, as the nearest cinema was in Christchurch, some 50 km distant.
In late 2011, the Oxford Town Hall where movies had been shown was closed, along with several other Council operated buildings, as the building was determined to be earthquake prone. The Oxford Town hall was reopened on 19 February 2015.
Books about Oxford
There are a number of books about Oxford. ''Littledene: a New Zealand rural community'' published in 1938 is perhaps the most comprehensive; the book is a "sociological study of a typical New Zealand small town", with the fictional name of Littledene, but the research and details of the book all relate to Oxford.
Education
The town has one school, Oxford Area School. It is a state composite (Year 1–13) school with a role of
Notable people
*
Joseph Pawelka (1887–?), New Zealand criminal and prison escaper
*
Bernard Sladden (1879–1961), farmer, wildlife ranger, historian and naturalist
*
Jo Seagar, chef
References
External links
Experience Oxford - Community website*
Somerset, H. C. D. (1938). ''Littledene: A New Zealand rural community''. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
{{Authority control
Waimakariri District
Populated places in the Canterbury Region