Queen Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in central

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 ...

.Queen StreetOld Oxford
UK. It is one-way (west to east) for buses and taxis, two-way for cyclists outside main shopping hours, and forbidden for cars. It runs west from the centre of Oxford at Carfax. Here it adjoins

Cornmarket Street Cornmarket Street (colloquially referred to as Cornmarket or historically The Corn) is a major shopping street and pedestrian zone, pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north to south between Magdalen Street and Carfax, Oxford, Carfax ...

to the north (also pedestrianised), the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

continuing east, and St Aldate's to the south. Halfway along on the north side is an entrance to the Clarendon Centre, a

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

. At the western end is Bonn Square, named after the German city of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

with which Oxford is twinned, and the Westgate Oxford shopping centre, where the old city gate to the west used to be located. New Inn Hall Street leads north from near here. Close by is the mound of

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

and the former Oxford Prison off New Road, which leads on to the west towards the

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 the busiest station in Oxfords ...

. In the 13th century, the street was known as the Bailey due to its proximity with the castle. Cattle were slaughtered and the meat sold here, so the street later became known as Butcher Row. The slaughtering of animals in the street was outlawed by the Oxford Mileways Act 1771 ( 11 Geo. 3. c. 19) and the butchers moved to the Covered Market. The street was then named Queen Street after

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Un ...

, who visited Oxford with her husband, King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, in 1785. There were many gabled and timber-framed buildings here until the late 19th century. Until 1932, there was a showroom for Morris Garages in the street. In 1970, the street was

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

. The buildings have mostly been replaced with modern stores, such as the

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

shop on the south side of the street, built in 1975–8.

References

{{coord, 51.7515, N, 1.259, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Streets in Oxford Shopping streets in Oxford Pedestrian streets in the United Kingdom