Founded in the 8th century, it was granted city status in 1542. The city is located at the confluence of the riversThames (locally known asthe Isis) andCherwell. It had a population of 166,034 in 2024.[3] It is 56 miles (90 km) north-west ofLondon, 64 miles (103 km) south-east ofBirmingham and 61 miles (98 km) north-east ofBristol.
The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in theSaxon period. The name “Oxford” comes from the Old EnglishOxenaforda, meaning “ford of the oxen,” referring to a shallow crossing in the river where oxen could pass.[8] The town was of strategic significance, because of the ford and the town's controlling location on the upper reaches of theRiver Thames at its confluence with theRiver Cherwell.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, Norman lord Robert D’Oyly builtOxford Castle in 1071 to secure control of the area.[8] The town grew in national importance during the earlyNorman period.
Merton College was established in 1264
Teaching began in the 11th century and by the late 12th century the town was home to the fledglingUniversity of Oxford.[9] Tensions sometimes erupted between the scholastic community and the town: in 1209, after a townsperson hanged two scholars for an alleged murder, a number of Oxford academics fled and foundedCambridge University. Town-and-gown conflicts continued, culminating in theSt. Scholastica Day Riot of 1355 – a feuding that lasted days and left around 93 students and townspeople dead.
Oxford was besieged duringThe Anarchy in 1142.[10] During the Middle Ages, Oxford had an important Jewish community, of which David of Oxford and his wifeLicoricia of Winchester were prominent members.[11] The university rose to dominate the town.
A heavily ecclesiastical town, Oxford was greatly affected by the changes of theEnglish Reformation. Oxford’s ecclesiastical institutions were dismantled — the city’s monasteries were closed in the 1530s.[12] Religious strife touched Oxford directly during theMarian persecution: theOxford Martyrs were tried for heresy here. BishopsHugh Latimer andNicholas Ridley were burned at the stake in Oxford in October 1555, and the former ArchbishopThomas Cranmer was executed in March 1556. A Victorian-era monument, theMartyrs’ Memorial in St Giles’, now commemorates these events.
Oxford was elevated from town to city status in 1542 when the Diocese of Oxford was created –Christ Church college chapel was made a cathedral, officially granting Oxford its city privileges.
During theEnglish Civil WarCharles I made Oxford his de facto capital (1642–1646): he moved his court to Oxford, using the city as his headquarters after being expelled from London.[13]
The city began to grow industrially during the 19th century, and had an industrial boom in the early 20th century. Traditional industries included brewing and publishing – Oxford University Press and other print houses were major employers by the 19th century. In 1910 entrepreneur William Morris (later Lord Nuffield) founded a motor car business in Oxford, opening an assembly plant at Cowley.
The city’s population and economy grew with this industrial boom, diversifying beyond the university.
Oxford's latitude and longitude are51°45′07″N1°15′28″W / 51.75194°N 1.25778°W /51.75194; -1.25778, with Ordnance Surveygrid referenceSP513061 (atCarfax Tower, which is usually considered the centre). Oxford is 24 miles (39 km) north-west ofReading, 26 miles (42 km) north-east ofSwindon, 36 miles (58 km) east ofCheltenham, 43 miles (69 km) east ofGloucester, 29 miles (47 km) south-west ofMilton Keynes, 38 miles (61 km) south-east ofEvesham, 54 miles (87 km) south-east ofWorcester, 43 miles (69 km) south ofRugby and 51 miles (82 km) west-north-west ofLondon. The riversCherwell andThames (also sometimes known asthe Isis locally, supposedly from the Latinised nameThamesis) run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre. These rivers and their flood plains constrain the size of the city centre.
Oxford has amaritime temperate climate (Köppen:Cfb).Precipitation is uniformly distributed throughout the year and is provided mostly by weather systems that arrive from theAtlantic. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Oxford was −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) on 24 December 1860. The highest temperature ever recorded in Oxford is 38.1 °C (101 °F) on 19 July 2022.[14] The average conditions below are from the RadcliffeMeteorological Station. It has the longest series of temperature and rainfall records for one site inBritain. These records are continuous from January 1815. Irregular observations of rainfall, cloud cover, and temperature exist since 1767.[15]
The driest year on record was 1788, with 336.7 mm (13.26 in) of rainfall. The wettest year was 2012, with 979.5 mm (38.56 in). The wettest month on record was September 1774, with a total fall of 223.9 mm (8.81 in). The warmest month on record is July 1983, with an average of 21.1 °C (70 °F) and the coldest is January 1963, with an average of −3.0 °C (27 °F). The warmest year on record is 2014, with an average of 11.8 °C (53 °F) and the coldest is 1879, with a mean temperature of 7.7 °C (46 °F). The sunniest month on record is May 2020, with 331.7 hours and December 1890 is the least sunny, with 5.0 hours. The greatest one-day rainfall occurred on 10 July 1968, with a total of 87.9 mm (3.46 in). The greatest known snow depth was 61.0 cm (24.0 in) in February 1888.[16]
Climate data for Oxford (RMS),[a] elevation: 200 ft (61 m), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1815–2020
The city centre is relatively small and is centred onCarfax, a crossroads which forms the junction ofCornmarket Street (pedestrianised),Queen Street (mainlypedestrianised),St Aldate's and theHigh Street ("the High"; blocked for through traffic). Cornmarket Street and Queen Street are home to Oxford's chain stores, as well as a small number of independent retailers, one of the longest established of which wasBoswell's, founded in 1738.[19] The store closed in 2020.[20] St Aldate's has few shops but several local government buildings, including thetown hall, the city police station and local council offices. The High (the wordstreet is traditionally omitted) is the longest of the four streets and has a number of independent and high-end chain stores, but mostly university and college buildings. The historic buildings mean the area is often used by film and TV crews.
Oxford is at the centre of theOxford Green Belt, which is anenvironmental andplanning policy that regulates the rural space inOxfordshire surrounding the city, aiming to preventurban sprawl and minimize convergence with nearby settlements.[21] The policy has been blamed for the large rise in house prices in Oxford, making it the least affordable city in the United Kingdom outside of London, with someestate agents calling forbrownfield land inside the green belt to be released for new housing.[22][23][24]
The vast majority of the area covered is outside of the city, but there are some green spaces within that which are covered by the designation, such as much of theThames andriver Cherwellflood-meadows, and the village ofBinsey, along with several smaller portions on the fringes. Other landscape features and places of interest covered includeCutteslowe Park and the mini railway attraction, theUniversity Parks, Hogacre Common Eco Park, numerous sports grounds,Aston's Eyot,St Margaret's Church and well, andWolvercote Common and community orchard.[25]
There are two tiers of local government covering Oxford, at district and county level:Oxford City Council andOxfordshire County Council. From 1889 to 1974 the city of Oxford was acounty borough, independent from the county council.[26] Oxford City Council meets at theTown Hall on the street calledSt Aldate's in the city centre. The current building was completed in 1897, on a site which had been occupied by Oxford'sguildhall since the 13th century.[27]
Oxford's economy includes manufacturing, publishing and science-based industries as well as education, sports, entertainment, breweries, research and tourism.[29]
Oxford has been an important centre of motor manufacturing sinceMorris Motors was established in the city in 1910. The principal production site forMini cars, owned byBMW since 2000, is in the Oxford suburb ofCowley. The plant, which survived the turbulent years ofBritish Leyland in the 1970s and was threatened with closure in the early 1990s, also produced cars under theAustin andRover brands following the demise of the Morris brand in 1984, although the last Morris-badged car was produced there in 1982.[citation needed]
The presence of the university has given rise to many science and technology based businesses, includingOxford Instruments,Research Machines andSophos. The university establishedIsis Innovation in 1987 to promote technology transfer. TheOxford Science Park was established in 1990, and theBegbroke Science Park, owned by the university, lies north of the city. Oxford increasingly has a reputation for being a centre of digital innovation, as epitomized by Digital Oxford.[31] Several startups including Passle,[32] Brainomix,[33] Labstep,[34] and more, are based in Oxford.
Wellington Square, the name of which has become synonymous with the university's central administration
The presence of the university has also led to Oxford becoming a centre for the education industry. Companies often draw their teaching staff from the pool ofOxford University students and graduates, and, especially forEFL education, use their Oxford location as a selling point.[35]
Oxford has numerous major tourist attractions, many belonging to the university and colleges. As well as several famous institutions, the town centre is home toCarfax Tower and theUniversity Church of St Mary the Virgin, both of which offer views over the spires of the city. Many tourists shop at the historicCovered Market. In the summer,punting on theThames/Isis and theCherwell is a common practice. As well as being a major draw for tourists (9.1 million in 2008, similar in 2009)[needs update],[36] Oxford city centre has many shops, several theatres and an ice rink.
Carfax Tower at Carfax, the junction of the High Street, Queen Street,Cornmarket andSt Aldate's streets, considered by many to be the centre of the city
Night view of High Street with Christmas lights – one of Oxford's main streets
There are two smallshopping malls in the city centre: theClarendon Centre[37] and theWestgate Oxford.[38] The Westgate Centre is named for the original West Gate in the city wall, and is at the west end ofQueen Street. A major redevelopment and expansion to 750,000 sq ft (70,000 m2), with a new 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m2)John Lewis department store and a number of new homes, was completed in October 2017.Blackwell's Bookshop is a bookshop which claims the largest single room devoted to book sales in the whole of Europe, the Norrington Room (10,000 sq ft).[39]
There is a long history ofbrewing in Oxford. Several of the colleges had private breweries, one of which, atBrasenose, survived until 1889. In the 16th century brewing andmalting appear to have been the most popular trades in the city. There were breweries inBrewer Street andParadise Street, near theCastle Mill Stream. The rapid expansion of Oxford and the development of its railway links after the 1840s facilitated expansion of the brewing trade.[40] As well as expanding the market for Oxford's brewers, railways enabled brewers further from the city to compete for a share of its market.[40] By 1874 there were nine breweries in Oxford and 13 brewers' agents in Oxford shipping beer in from elsewhere.[40] The nine breweries were: Flowers & Co inCowley Road, Hall'sSt Giles Brewery, Hall's Swan Brewery (see below), Hanley's City Brewery inQueen Street, Le Mills's Brewery inSt. Ebbes,Morrell's Lion Brewery inSt Thomas Street (see below), Simonds's Brewery in Queen Street, Weaving's Eagle Brewery (by 1869 the Eagle Steam Brewery) inPark End Street and Wootten and Cole'sSt. Clement's Brewery.[40]
The Swan's Nest Brewery, later the Swan Brewery, was established by the early 18th century inParadise Street, and in 1795 was acquired by William Hall.[41] Thebrewery became known as Hall's Oxford Brewery, which acquired other local breweries. Hall's Brewery was acquired bySamuel Allsopp & Sons in 1926, after which it ceased brewing in Oxford.[42]Morrell's was founded in 1743 by Richard Tawney. He formed a partnership in 1782 with Mark and James Morrell, who eventually became the owners.[43] After an acrimonious family dispute the brewery was closed in 1998.[44] The beer brand names were taken over by the Thomas Hardy Burtonwood brewery,[45] while the 132tiedpubs were bought by Michael Cannon, owner of the American hamburger chainFuddruckers, through a new company, Morrells of Oxford.[46] The new owners sold most of the pubs on toGreene King in 2002.[47] The Lion Brewery was converted into luxury apartments in 2002.[48] Oxford's first legaldistillery, theOxford Artisan Distillery, was established in 2017 in historic farm buildings at the top ofSouth Park.[49]
Oxford is a very green city, with several parks and nature walks within thering road, as well as several sites just outside the ring road. In total, 28nature reserves exist within or just outside the ring road, including:
UK and foreign born population pyramid of Oxford in 2021
As of 2023, Oxford’s population was approximately 165,200.[51] More than a third (35%) of Oxford's residents were born outside of the United Kingdom.[51]
Oxford’s population is notably young and diverse. About 30% of residents are ages 18–29, roughly double the national average for that age bracket. This is largely because of the substantial student population: about 35,000 students are enrolled for full-time studies in the city's two universities.[51]
Oxford has had three main railway stations. The first was opened at Grandpont in 1844,[71] but this was a terminus, inconvenient for routes to the north;[72] it was replaced by the present station onPark End Street in 1852 with the opening of theBirmingham route.[73] Another terminus, atRewley Road, was opened in 1851 to serve theBletchley route;[74] this station closed in 1951.[75] There have also been a number of local railway stations, all of which are now closed. A fourth station,Oxford Parkway, is just outside the city, at thepark and ride site nearKidlington. The present railway station opened in 1852.
Oxford is the junction for a short branch line toBicester, a remnant of the formerVarsity line toCambridge. ThisOxford–Bicester line was upgraded to 100 mph (161 km/h) running during an 18-month closure in 2014/2015 – and is scheduled to be extended to form the plannedEast West Rail line to Milton Keynes.[76] East West Rail is proposed to continue throughBletchley (forMilton Keynes Central) toBedford,[77] Cambridge,[78] and ultimatelyIpswich andNorwich,[79] thus providing alternative route toEast Anglia without needing to travel via, and connect between, theLondon mainline terminals.
Chiltern Railways operates from Oxford to London Marylebone viaBicester Village, having sponsored the building of about 400 metres of new track between Bicester Village and theChiltern Main Line southwards in 2014. The route servesHigh Wycombe and London Marylebone, avoiding London Paddington andDidcot Parkway.
Only the original (Didcot) route is still in use for its full length, portions of the others remain. There were also routes to the north and west. The line toBanbury was opened in 1850,[72] and was extended toBirmingham Snow Hill in 1852;[73] a route toWorcester opened in 1853.[86] A branch toWitney was opened in 1862,[87] which was extended toFairford in 1873.[88] The line to Witney and Fairford closed in 1962, but the others remain open.
Oxford was historically an importantport on theRiver Thames, with this section of the river being called theIsis; theOxford-Burcot Commission in the 17th century attempted to improve navigation to Oxford.[89]Iffley Lock andOsney Lock lie within the bounds of the city. In the 18th century theOxford Canal was built to connect Oxford with theMidlands.[90] Commercial traffic has given way to recreational use of the river and canal. Oxford was the original base ofSalters Steamers (founded in 1858), which was a leading racing-boatbuilder that played an important role in popularising pleasureboating on the Upper Thames. The firm runs a regular service fromFolly Bridge downstream toAbingdon and beyond.
Oxford's central location on several transport routes means that it has long been acrossroads city with manycoaching inns, although road traffic is now strongly discouraged, and largely prevented, from using the city centre. TheOxford Ring Road or A4142 (southern part) surrounds the city centre and close suburbsMarston,Iffley,Cowley andHeadington; it consists of theA34 to the west, a 330-yard section of theA44, theA40 north and north-east, A4142/A423 to the east. It is adual carriageway, except for a 330-yard section of the A40 where two residentialservice roads adjoin, and was completed in 1966.
On 28 February 2022 azero-emission pilot area became operational in Oxford city centre. Zero-emission vehicles can be used without incurring a charge but all petrol and diesel vehicles (including hybrids) incur a daily charge if they are driven in the zone between 7am and 7pm.[91]
A consultation on the introduction of a wider zero-emission zone is expected in the future, at a date to be confirmed.
Oxford has eight bus gates, short sections of road where only buses and other authorised vehicles can pass.[92]
Six further bus gates are currently proposed. A council-led consultation on the traffic filters ended on 13 October 2022. On 29 November 2022, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet approved the introduction on a trial basis, for a minimum period of six months.[93] The trial will begin after improvement works to Oxford railway station are complete, which is expected to be by October 2024.[94] The additional bus gates have been controversial; Oxford University and Oxford Bus Company support the proposals but more than 3,700 people have signed an online petition opposing the new traffic filters for Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way, and hotelier Jeremy Mogford has argued they would be a mistake.[95][96] In November 2022, Mogford announced that his hospitality group The Oxford Collection had joined up with Oxford Business Action Group (OBAG), Oxford High Street Association (OHSA), ROX (Backing Oxford Business), Reconnecting Oxford, Jericho Traders, and Summertown traders to launch a legal challenge to the new bus gates.[97]
The city is served by theM40 motorway, which connectsLondon toBirmingham. The M40 approached Oxford in 1974, leading from London toWaterstock, where the A40 continued to Oxford. When the M40 extension to Birmingham was completed in January 1991, it curved sharply north, and a mile of the old motorway became a spur. The M40 comes no closer than 6 miles (10 km) away from the city centre, curving to pass to the east ofOtmoor. The M40 meets theA34 to the north of Oxford.
Scrollable image. Aerial panorama of the university.
There are two universities in Oxford, theUniversity of Oxford andOxford Brookes University, as well as the specialist further and higher education institutionRuskin College that is part of the University of West London in Oxford. TheIslamic Azad University also has a campus near Oxford. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in theEnglish-speaking world,[98] and one of the most prestigious higher education institutions of the world, averaging nine applications to every available place, and attracting 40% of its academic staff and 17% of undergraduates from overseas.[99] In September 2016, it was ranked as the world's number one university, according to theTimes Higher Education World University Rankings.[100] Oxford is renowned for itstutorial-based method of teaching.
TheUniversity of Oxford maintains the largest university library system in the United Kingdom,[101] and, with over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the United Kingdom, after theBritish Library. TheBodleian Library is alegal deposit library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. As such, its collection is growing at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year.[102]
Local papers includeThe Oxford Times (compact; weekly), its sister papers theOxford Mail (tabloid; daily) and theOxford Star (tabloid; free and delivered), andOxford Journal (tabloid; weekly free pick-up). Oxford is also home to severaladvertising agencies.Daily Information (known locally as "Daily Info") is an event information and advertising news sheet which has been published since 1964 and now provides a connected website.Nightshift is a monthly local free magazine that has covered the Oxford music scene since 1991.[106]
"Dreaming spires" of Oxford University viewed fromSouth Park in the snow
the poemsThe Scholar Gypsy andThyrsis byMatthew Arnold.[127] Thyrsis includes the lines: "And that sweet city with her dreaming spires, She needs not June for beauty's heightening,..."
Headington Road Runners are based at the OXSRAD sports facility inMarsh Lane (next toOxford City F.C.) is Oxford's only roadrunning club with an average annual membership exceeding 300. It was the club at which doubleOlympianMara Yamauchi started her running career.
There are severalfield hockey clubs based in Oxford. The Oxford Hockey Club (formed after a merger of City of Oxford HC and Rover Oxford HC in 2011) plays most of its home games on the pitch atOxford Brookes University, Headington Campus and also uses the pitches at Headington Girls' School andIffley Road. Oxford Hawks has twoastroturf pitches atBanbury Road North, byCutteslowe Park to the north of the city.
Oxford Saints is Oxford's seniorAmerican football team. One of the longest-running American football clubs in the UK, the Saints were founded in 1983 and have competed for over 40 years against other British teams across the country.
Éire Óg Oxford is Oxford's localGaelic Football team. Originally founded as ahurling club by Irish immigrants in 1959,[146] the club plays within the Hertfordshire league and championship,[147] being the only Gaelic Football club within Oxfordshire. Hurling is no longer played by the club; however, Éire Óg do contribute players to the Hertfordshire-wide amalgamated club, St Declans. Several well-known Irishmen have played for Éire Óg, includingDarragh Ennis of ITV'sThe Chase, andStephen Molumphy, former member of theWaterford county hurling team.[citation needed]
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