Botley Road
Encyclopedia
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from the west. It stretches between Botley
Botley, Oxfordshire
Botley is a village in the civil parish of North Hinksey, just west of the Oxford city boundary in the English county of Oxfordshire. It was in Berkshire until 1974, when it was transferred to Oxfordshire...
, on the Oxford Ring Road
Oxford Ring Road
The Oxford ring road is a ring road around the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway for most of its length apart from a short section to the North between the Woodstock and Banbury Roads....
(A34) to the west of the city, and Frideswide Square
Frideswide Square
Frideswide Square is a square to the west of central Oxford, England. The square is named after the patron saint of Oxford, St Frideswide.The "square" is actually triangular in shape. Immediately to the north, the modern Saïd Business School of Oxford University dominates the square, established in...
at the junction with Oxford railway station
Oxford railway station
Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about west of the city centre, northwest of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road, and on the line linking with . It is also on the line for trains between and Hereford via...
, close to central Oxford.
Overview
The road passes OsneyOsney
Osney, Osney Island, or Osney Town is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. It is located off the Botley Road, just west of the city's main railway station, on an island surrounded by the River Thames, known in Oxford as the Isis. Osney is part of the city council ward...
. A number of large out-of-town shopping stores line the route. The road is designated the A420
A420 road
The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route.-Present route:Since the opening of the M4 motorway, the road is in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market Street near the centre of Bristol, it passes through Kingswood before...
. It becomes West Way to the west. To the east past the station it becomes Park End Street
Park End Street
Park End Street is a street in central Oxford, England, to the west of the centre of the city, close to the railway station at its western end.-Location:...
. Oxpens Road
Oxpens Road
Oxpens Road is a road in central Oxford, England, linking west and south Oxford. It is named after the marshy area of Oxpens, next to one of the branches of the River Thames in Oxford.- Locale :...
leads off to the south at this junction. Along its route are a number of bridges including Osney Bridge
Osney Bridge
Osney Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in Oxford, England, built in 1889 to replace a stone bridge which collapsed in 1885. It carries the Botley Road from Botley into Oxford...
, as it passes over various parts of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
.
Tributary streets as well as most of the road between the railway station and the Beaumont veterinary practice are mostly residential, and are flanked by two large parks (Botley Park, adjacent to West Oxford Community Centre, and Oatlands Park, near the Osney Mead industrial estate). The Botley Road is an important bus and commuter route to Oxford from Cumnor
Cumnor
Cumnor is a village and civil parish west of the centre of Oxford, England. The parish of Cumnor includes Cumnor Hill, , Chawley , the Dean Court area on the edge of Botley and the outlying settlements of Chilswell, Farmoor and Swinford...
, and Seacourt Park and Ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
is located near the junction with the A34.
Eastbound, it has a bus lane
Bus lane
A bus lane or bus only lane is a lane restricted to buses, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion...
from the ring road until just before Osney Island, at which point there is a set of bus advancement traffic lights. It has cycle lanes in both directions. South from the eastern end, via Mill Street
Mill Street, Oxford
Mill Street is a street in Oxford, England. It is a cul-de-sac that runs south from the Botley Road close to Oxford railway station. It includes residential houses, mainly terraced, and some office space....
, are the site of Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford station. It was founded as a priory in 1129, becoming an...
(now destroyed), Osney Cemetery
Osney Cemetery
Osney Cemetery is a disused Church of England cemetery in Osney, west Oxford, England. It is in Mill Street south of Botley Road and near the site of Osney Abbey. It borders the Cherwell Valley Line railway a short distance south of Oxford railway station....
(established 1848), Osney Lock
Osney Lock
Osney Lock is a lock on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. It is close to Oxford where the village or island of Osney is next to the river.The first lock was built of stone by Daniel Harris for the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790....
, Osney Mill
Osney Mill
Osney Mill is a disused flour mill on a branch off the River Thames in Oxford, England. It is located south from the Botley Road down Mill Street.Close by is Osney Lock.To the east is Osney Cemetery and to the west is Osney Island....
, and Osney Mill Marina
Osney Mill Marina
Osney Mill Marina is a private marina on a branch off the River Thames in Oxford, England. It is located south from the Botley Road down Mill Street and close to the site of Osney Abbey and Oxford railway station to the north....
.
Quotations
Author and Oxford scholar C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
mentions the road to Botley comically in his autobiography. Describing his first-ever arrival in Oxford as a young student, he writes:
Crime novelist Colin Dexter
Colin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:...
writes: