Headington
Encyclopedia
Headington is a suburb of Oxford
, England
. It is at the top of Headington Hill
overlooking the city in the Thames Valley
below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London
and Oxford.
, as the 2001 field excavations in Barton Lane found, suggesting a date in the 11th century BC. Pottery was found on the Manor Ground, suggesting an Iron Age
settlement there in the 7th century BC. Roman
kiln
s from about AD 300 have been found, including one now on display at the Museum of Oxford
. Anglo-Saxon
burial remains from about AD 500 have also been discovered.
Headington's toponym
is derived from the Old English Hedena's dun, meaning "Hedena's hill", when it was the site of a palace
or hunting lodge of the Kings of Mercia. In a charter
of 1004, Ethelred II of England, "written at the royal ville called Headan dune", gave land in Headington to Frideswide's priory, which included the quarry
and the area around it.
Henry I
granted a chapel at Headington to the Augustinian
canons regular
of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
when the priory was founded in 1122. The Church of England parish church
of Saint Andrew
was built in the middle of the 12th century and enlarged in the 13th century. The bell tower
was started in the 13th or 14th century and completed in about 1500. St. Andrew's was repaired in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Gothic Revival architect
J.C. Buckler
restored the building and lengthened the nave in 1862–1864.
Headington developed rapidly in the early 20th century, significant amounts of housing developed around the medieval village, now known as Old Headington. In 1927 it became an urban district
separate from the Headington Rural District
and in 1929 it was added to the city of Oxford
. The other side of the London Rd is called New Headington.
Oxford United
was originally Headington United F.C. Until 2001 its home ground was the Manor Ground, which had its main entrance on London Road. In 2001 Oxford United moved to the Kassam Stadium
near Blackbird Leys
. The Manor Ground has since been demolished and a private hospital built on the site.
In 2002 a re-warding of the City created a ward called Headington representing both sides of the London Road, from Bury Knowle Park to Headley Way, with two elected representatives. The first councillors for this ward were David Rundle (2002–) and Stephen Tall
(2002–2008). Ruth Wilkinson was elected to succeed Stephen Tall in May 2008.
, the Ruskin House campus of Ruskin College and the city's main hospitals, including the John Radcliffe
, Nuffield
and Churchill
.
Headington's most famous landmark is The Headington Shark
, made by John Buckley
for local broadcaster Bill Heine
in 1986.
Headington has a number of green spaces including Headington Hill
and Bury Knowle parks. Close by is Shotover Hill, a heath
and woodland area with views over Oxfordshire
, and listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
. The Warneford Meadow
a wild grassland, bought in 1918 by public subscription for the adjacent Warneford Hospital
has been registered as a Town Green and has thus escaped development.
, author of The Lord of the Rings
, lived at 76 Sandfield Road
in Headington from 1953 until 1968. C. S. Lewis
, author of The Chronicles of Narnia
, moved to the district in 1921 (he was born in Northern Ireland
in 1898) and lived there until moving to The Kilns at nearby Risinghurst
in 1930. He lived there until his death in 1963 at "The Kilns". Lewis is buried at Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry
.
A more recent resident was John Simpson
, senior editor of the Oxford English Dictionary
. A number of Oxford academics have decamped to Headington over the years, preferring it to North Oxford where most dons lived. They include Lord Krebs, David Marquand
and Anthony Kenny
. Sir Isaiah Berlin
, the historian A. B. Emden, the chemist Dalziel Hammick
, Lord Elton
, Michael Ernest Sadler
and John Johnson
(the University Printer) were also among them. Others included music producer Adam Lee, the author Elizabeth Bowen
, Robert Maxwell
and Lord Nuffield
(William Morris) and Anne Diamond
, the TV presenter and author. Brian Aldiss
, the science fiction writer, lives in Old Headington. Emma Watson
, Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films, lived in Headington together with her mother and brother until she moved to Hampstead
in London. She also attended Headington School
.
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...
. It is at the top of Headington Hill
Headington Hill
Headington Hill is a hill in the east of Oxford, England, in the suburb of Headington. The Headington Road road goes up the hill leading out of the city...
overlooking the city in the Thames Valley
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,...
below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Oxford.
History
The site of Headington shows evidence of continued occupation from the Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, as the 2001 field excavations in Barton Lane found, suggesting a date in the 11th century BC. Pottery was found on the Manor Ground, suggesting an Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
settlement there in the 7th century BC. Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s from about AD 300 have been found, including one now on display at the Museum of Oxford
Museum of Oxford
The Museum of Oxford covers the history of the City and University of Oxford, England. The displays include original artifacts, treasures from Oxford colleges and period room reconstructions, from prehistoric times onwards....
. Anglo-Saxon
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
burial remains from about AD 500 have also been discovered.
Headington's toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
is derived from the Old English Hedena's dun, meaning "Hedena's hill", when it was the site of a palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
or hunting lodge of the Kings of Mercia. In a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
of 1004, Ethelred II of England, "written at the royal ville called Headan dune", gave land in Headington to Frideswide's priory, which included the quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and the area around it.
Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
granted a chapel at Headington to the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
canons regular
Canons Regular
Canons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...
of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
The priory of St Frideswide, Oxford was established as a priory of Augustinian canons regular, in 1122. It was set up by Gwymund, chaplain to Henry I of England. It lasted to the 1520s, when it was dissolved by Cardinal Wolsey so that he could use its premises together with those of other adjacent...
when the priory was founded in 1122. The Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
was built in the middle of the 12th century and enlarged in the 13th century. The bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
was started in the 13th or 14th century and completed in about 1500. St. Andrew's was repaired in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
J.C. Buckler
John Chessell Buckler
John Chessell Buckler was a British architect, the eldest son of the architect John Buckler. J.C. Buckler initially worked with his father before working for himself. His work included restorations of country houses and at the University of Oxford.-Career:Buckler received art lessons from the...
restored the building and lengthened the nave in 1862–1864.
Headington developed rapidly in the early 20th century, significant amounts of housing developed around the medieval village, now known as Old Headington. In 1927 it became an urban district
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
separate from the Headington Rural District
Headington Rural District
Headington was a rural district in Oxfordshire, England from 1894 to 1932, based on the Headington rural sanitary district. It covered an area to the east of the city of Oxford. The parish of Headington was split out as a separate urban district in 1927....
and in 1929 it was added to the city of Oxford
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...
. The other side of the London Rd is called New Headington.
Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...
was originally Headington United F.C. Until 2001 its home ground was the Manor Ground, which had its main entrance on London Road. In 2001 Oxford United moved to the Kassam Stadium
Kassam Stadium
The Kassam Stadium is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner, and former chairman of the club, Firoz Kassam....
near Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford, England, and is one of the largest council estates in Europe. According to the 2001 census, the ward had a population of 5,803. Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish. The parish was created in 1990. Its 2001 parish...
. The Manor Ground has since been demolished and a private hospital built on the site.
In 2002 a re-warding of the City created a ward called Headington representing both sides of the London Road, from Bury Knowle Park to Headley Way, with two elected representatives. The first councillors for this ward were David Rundle (2002–) and Stephen Tall
Stephen Tall (politician)
Stephen Joseph Tall is a Liberal Democrat politician in the City of Oxford, England. He was educated at Mansfield College, Oxford where he read Modern History and achieved a MA in 1998. He was a city councillor for the Headington ward from 2000 until 2008, and was Deputy Lord Mayor of Oxford from...
(2002–2008). Ruth Wilkinson was elected to succeed Stephen Tall in May 2008.
Headington today
Headington has a large and growing population. Headington's main employment sectors are medicine, education, and research. In the centre of Headington are a number of shops, pubs, cafés, restaurants, and other services. The area also includes the main campus of Oxford Brookes UniversityOxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
, the Ruskin House campus of Ruskin College and the city's main hospitals, including the John Radcliffe
John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England.It is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. As such, it is a well-developed centre of medical research. It also incorporates the Medical School of the University of Oxford....
, Nuffield
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre is an internationally recognised centre of excellence, providing care for patients with disabling or long-term musculoskeletal conditions and those suffering neurological disability. It...
and Churchill
Churchill Hospital
The Churchill Hospital is a teaching hospital in Oxford, England.The hospital is primarily a centre for the treatment of cancer patients, but also houses teaching facilities for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. It is part of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust...
.
Headington's most famous landmark is The Headington Shark
The Headington Shark
The Headington Shark is a sculpture situated at 2 New High Street, Headington, Oxford, England, depicting a shark embedded head-first in the roof of the house.-Appearance:The shark first appeared on 9 August 1986...
, made by John Buckley
John Buckley (sculptor)
John Buckley, born in Leeds in 1945, is a sculptor whose best known work is the sculpture "Untitled 1986", better known as "the Shark House" or the "Headington Shark" in Headington, Oxford....
for local broadcaster Bill Heine
Bill Heine
Bill Heine is the Sunday Morning presenter on BBC Radio Oxford 95.2 FM . He has worked for BBC Radio Oxford since 1983, and is considered by many to be very opinionated and perhaps somewhat controversial in the field of radio presenting...
in 1986.
Headington has a number of green spaces including Headington Hill
Headington Hill
Headington Hill is a hill in the east of Oxford, England, in the suburb of Headington. The Headington Road road goes up the hill leading out of the city...
and Bury Knowle parks. Close by is Shotover Hill, a heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
and woodland area with views over Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
. The Warneford Meadow
Warneford Meadow
Warneford Meadow is an area of of natural grassland immediately south-east of the Warneford Hospital, in Headington, East Oxford, England. The Warneford Meadow is one of the few remaining wild spaces within urban Oxford, and is appreciated by the local community for its biodiversity and tranquillity...
a wild grassland, bought in 1918 by public subscription for the adjacent Warneford Hospital
Warneford Hospital
The Warneford Hospital opened as the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum and subsequently named the Warneford Lunatic Asylum is a hospital in Oxford, England. The Warneford and the Littlemore Hospital are the major mental health hospitals serving Oxford.The hospital is in Headington two and a half miles east...
has been registered as a Town Green and has thus escaped development.
Notable residents
J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, author of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, lived at 76 Sandfield Road
Sandfield Road
Sandfield Road is a road in the suburb of Headington, Oxford, England. It is close to the John Radcliffe Hospital.- Notable residents :Hugo Dyson, a member of the Oxford literary group called the Inklings, lived at 32 Sandfield Road until his death in 1975....
in Headington from 1953 until 1968. C. S. Lewis
C. 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...
, author of The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
, moved to the district in 1921 (he was born in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in 1898) and lived there until moving to The Kilns at nearby Risinghurst
Risinghurst
Risinghurst is an outlying residential area of Oxford, England, just outside the Eastern Bypass Road which forms part of the Oxford ring road. It is about east of the centre of Headington and east of Oxford city centre....
in 1930. He lived there until his death in 1963 at "The Kilns". Lewis is buried at Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry
Headington Quarry
Headington Quarry is a residential district of Oxford, England, located east of Headington and west of Risinghurst, just inside the Oxford ring road in the east of the city. To the south is Wood Farm. Today the district is also known colloquially as "Quarry"...
.
A more recent resident was John Simpson
John Simpson (lexicographer)
John Andrew Simpson is a British lexicographer and senior editor of the Oxford English Dictionary . Simpson was co-editor of the second edition, which ran to 20 volumes published in 1989, a combination of the original text with several supplemental volumes that had followed...
, senior editor of the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
. A number of Oxford academics have decamped to Headington over the years, preferring it to North Oxford where most dons lived. They include Lord Krebs, David Marquand
David Marquand
David Ian Marquand FBA, FRHistS, FRSA is a British academic and former Labour Party Member of Parliament .Born in Cardiff, Marquand was educated at Emanuel School, Magdalen College, Oxford, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and at the University of California, Berkeley...
and Anthony Kenny
Anthony Kenny
Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein and the philosophy of religion...
. Sir Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
, the historian A. B. Emden, the chemist Dalziel Hammick
Dalziel Hammick
Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick FRS , was an English research chemist. His major work was in synthetic organic chemistry. He promulgated Hammick's rule, which predicts the order of substitution in benzene derivatives, while the Hammick reaction is used in the synthesis of larger molecules.-Early life:The...
, Lord Elton
Godfrey Elton, 1st Baron Elton
Godfrey Elton, 1st Baron Elton , was a British historian.-Early life:Elton was the eldest son of Edward Fiennes Elton and his wife Violet Hylda Fletcher. He was educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford. At Oxford he at first studies classics but later turned to history...
, Michael Ernest Sadler
Michael Ernest Sadler
Sir Michael Ernest Sadler KCSI was a British historian, educationalist and university administrator. He worked at the universities of Manchester and Leeds. He was a champion of the public school system.-Early life and education:...
and John Johnson
John de Monins Johnson
John de Monins Johnson was an English papyrologist, printer of the Oxford English Dictionary, and collector.-Biography:...
(the University Printer) were also among them. Others included music producer Adam Lee, the author Elizabeth Bowen
Elizabeth Bowen
Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Irish novelist and short story writer.-Life:Elizabeth Bowen was born on 7 June 1899 at 15 Herbert Place in Dublin, Ireland and was baptized in the nearby St Stephen's Church on Upper Mount Street...
, Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
and Lord Nuffield
William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield
William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield GBE, CH , known as Sir William Morris, Bt, between 1929 and 1934 and as The Lord Nuffield between 1934 and 1938, was a British motor manufacturer and philanthropist...
(William Morris) and Anne Diamond
Anne Diamond
Anne Margaret Diamond is an English radio and television presenter and journalist. She hosted Good Morning Britain for TV-am and the similarly titled Good Morning... with Anne and Nick for BBC1, both with Nick Owen as her co-presenter...
, the TV presenter and author. Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
, the science fiction writer, lives in Old Headington. Emma Watson
Emma Watson
Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is an English actress and model.Watson rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter...
, Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films, lived in Headington together with her mother and brother until she moved to Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
in London. She also attended Headington School
Headington School, Oxford
Headington School is an independent girls' school in Headington, Oxford, England, founded by a group of evangelical Christians in 1915.-General:...
.
See also
- Headington HillHeadington HillHeadington Hill is a hill in the east of Oxford, England, in the suburb of Headington. The Headington Road road goes up the hill leading out of the city...
- Headington Hill HallHeadington Hill HallHeadington Hill Hall stands on Headington Hill in the east of Oxford, England. It was built in 1824 for the Morrell family, local brewers, and was extended between 1856 and 1858, by James Morrell junior who built an Italianate mansion, designed by architect John Thomas...
- Headington RoadHeadington RoadHeadington Road is an arterial road in the east of Oxford, England. The road connects the junction of St Clements and Marston Road with the suburb of Headington, up Headington Hill...
- Headington School
- Cheney SchoolCheney SchoolCheney School is a secondary school located in Headington, Oxford, England.-Current:Cheney is currently one of the largest comprehensive schools in Oxford, serving the Headington and East Oxford area. It is the destination for students from numerous primary schools across the city...
External links
- Headington community website — news, local information, and an extensive history section
- Website of Headington's City Councillors – updates and contact details for Headington
- David Rundle, Oxford City Councillor for Headington
- Headington Farmers' Market