Hinksey Stream is a branch of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

to the west of the 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 ...

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 starts as Seacourt Stream (also known as Wytham Stream), which leaves the Thames at a bifurcation north of the village of Wytham, and rejoins the river south of the city near Kennington.

Course

Seacourt Stream

From the bifurcation Seacourt Stream flows south past Wytham and under the A34

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 ...

. Near the site of the lost village of Seacourt Botley Stream branches off Seacourt Stream on its left bank, and flows 0.8 km to enter Bulstake Stream.Oxford Area Flood Information Guidance Booklet
, pages 37–38. Seacourt Stream then flows under Botley Road and enters Bulstake Stream near North Hinksey. Seacourt Stream is 12.7 km long.

Hinksey Stream

Hinksey Stream branches off Seacourt Stream on its right bank just before the confluence with Bulstake Stream. It flows between the village of South Hinksey to the west and the suburb of New Hinksey to the east. It flows under the

near its junction with the Abingdon Road ( A4144). Shortly afterwards it is joined on its left bank by Weirs Mill Stream, another branch of the Thames, 2.1 km long, which leaves the river just north of Donnington Bridge. Hinksey Stream joins the Thames just above Kennington Railway Bridge. The Thames Path crosses Hinksey Stream on a footbridge at this point. A ferry used to operate between Ferry Hinksey Road, off the Botley Road in west Oxford, and North Hinksey, former known as Ferry Hinksey. This ceased operation in 1928 and the two are now linked by bridges. Hinksey Stream is 4.2 km long.

Boundary

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

times Seacourt Stream formed part of the border between

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

and

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

, and until 1974 it was part of the boundary between

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and

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 ...

. In the 16th century the stream was known as Shire Lake. Downstream of North Hinksey the boundary between Berkshire and Oxfordshire was Hogacre Stream (or Hogacre Ditch), a branch of Bulstake Stream which runs parallel to Hinksey Stream and joins it after 1.9 km. Between 1889 (when Grandpont and New Hinksey were absorbed into Oxfordshire) and 1974, Hinksey Stream was the boundary south of its confluence with Hogacre Stream.

References

External links

Oxford Area Flood Map
{{authority control Geography of Oxford Rivers of Oxfordshire 0HinkseyStream