The Waterways is

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

in North Oxford,

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 ...

. The

Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...

runs through the centre of the estate and it is bounded on the east by the Cherwell Valley railway line. To the west beyond the railway line are Port Meadow and 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 ...

. The estate begins in the south as a continuation of Frenchay Road, part of Victorian North Oxford, and as Elizabeth Jennings Way connects with the Woodstock Road (A4144) at the northern end of the estate. South of the estate, a Town Green area called the Trap Grounds is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

nature reserve. The wetland is fed by the watercourse that runs through the estate from the 'lake' that was originally one of the North Oxford clay pits. The estate was built between 2000 and 2006, on the site of the

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a United Kingdom, UK-based vehicle manufacturer formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris Motors, Morris and Austin Motor Company, Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merge ...

's former Osberton Radiator Factory. There is a Waterways Residents Association (WRA) which represents everyone living on the estate, The Waterways Management Company (WMC) manages most of the public areas and leasehold properties on the Estate and represents the interests of the property owners. The two main roads on the development cross the canal via modern, red brick bridges on Frenchay Road and Elizabeth Jennings Way. These bridges were painted with a series of murals in 2016 showing local history and wildlife and featuring drawings by local children. The project was organised by local residents supported by The Canal and Riverside Trust (C&RT), Oxford City and County Councils, Thames Valley Police and the local boater community, with funding from Tesco 'Bags of Help'.

References

Areas of Oxford Housing estates in Oxfordshire {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub