Ship Street is a short street in central

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that runs east–west.

Location

The street lies north of Jesus College and west of Exeter College, two of

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's colleges. To the south, at the western end is the Junior Common Room of Jesus and to the eastern end is the same college's Principal's (private) garden. At the western end is St Michael at the Northgate church, near the site of the original north gate in the city wall. Originally Oxford's wall ran just to the north of Ship Street. At the eastern end once stood the QI Building, a member's club, bookshop and café associated with the comedic quiz show QI television series on

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, and established by the comedy producer John Lloyd. The entrance to the building was in

Turl Street Turl Street is a historic street in central Oxford, England. Location The street is located in the city centre, linking Broad Street at the north and High Street at the south. It intersects with Brasenose Lane to the east, and Market St ...

. The building now plays host to Turl Street Kitchen, a

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cafe-bar-restaurant which raises money for the student volunteering charity, Student Hubs. To the west is the major shopping street,

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 ...

, with St Michael's Street opposite, and to the east is the Turl. Market Street runs parallel with Ship Street to the south and Broad Street runs similarly to the north.

History

The street has had a number of names. It was known as Dewy's Lane in the 13th century, after a family who lived there. Its name was Somenor's Lane in 1385. For a time the street was known by the name of Lawrence Hall, which was on the south side of the street, 30–40 yards from Turl Street. The name of "Ship Street" was used from about 1762, after an alehouse in the street. At one time, there was a sheep market in the street and its name is a possible corruption of this. The street used to be much longer than it is today, running east through Catte Street to the city wall at Eastgate. St Anne's College, when it was still known as the Society of Oxford Home-Students, had its first

common room A common room is a type of shared lounge, most often found in halls of residence or dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. They are generall ...

at 16 Ship Street. The annual magazine for former members of the college is entitled '' The Ship''. There are still many 16th to early 18th century houses in the street that are

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Gallery

File:Ship Street Oxford looking west.jpg, View west from the Turl along Ship Street. File:Ship Street houses.jpg, Ship Street, with Jesus College on the left. File:Jesus College Ship Street gate.jpg, The Jesus College Ship Street entrance on the corner with the Turl, with Exeter College on the left. File:St Michael Northgate Oxford 20040124.jpg, The Saxon tower of St Michael at the Northgate at the eastern end of Ship Street.

References

{{coord, 51.75377, N, 1.25721, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Streets in Oxford Jesus College, Oxford St Anne's College, Oxford

Location

History

Gallery

See also

References