High Street, Oxford
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...
runs between Carfax
Carfax, Oxford
Carfax is located at the conjunction of St Aldate's , Cornmarket Street , Queen Street and the High Street in Oxford, England. It is considered to be the centre of the city, and is at...
, generally recognized as the centre of the city, and Magdalen Bridge to the east. Locally the street is often known as The High. It forms a gentle curve and is the subject of many prints, paintings, photographs, etc. The vista looking west towards Carfax with University College
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
on the left and Queen's College
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
on the right is an especially popular view. There are many historical buildings on the street, including Oxford University buildings and colleges.
To the north are (west to east): Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
(main entrance on Turl Street
Turl Street
Turl Street is an 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 is colloquially known as The Turl and runs past three of Oxford's historic colleges: Exeter, Jesus and Lincoln...
, including All Saints Church
All Saints Church, Oxford
All Saints Church is on the north side of the High Street in central Oxford, England, on the corner of Turl Street. It is now the library of Lincoln College. This former church is Grade I listed.-History:...
, now Lincoln College's library.), Brasenose College
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
(main entrance in Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square
Radcliffe Square is a square in central Oxford, England. It is completely surrounded by historic Oxford University and college buildings. The square is cobbled, laid to grass surrounded by railings in the centre, and is pedestrianised except for access....
), St Mary's
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew...
(the University Church), All Souls College, The Queen's College
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
, St Edmund Hall
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Better known within the University by its nickname, "Teddy Hall", the college has a claim to being "the oldest academical society for the education of undergraduates in any university"...
(main entrance in Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane is an historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west.At the south-eastern end of Queen's Lane is a junction onto the High Street...
) and Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
(including Magdalen Tower
Magdalen Tower, Oxford
Magdalen Great Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England. It is one of the oldest parts of Magdalen College, Oxford, situated directly in the High Street. Built of stone from 1492, when the foundation stone was laid, its bells hung ready for use in 1505, and completed by 1509, it is an important...
).
To the south are (west to east): Oriel College, University College
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
(including the Boyle-Hooke plaque outside the Shelley Memorial
Shelley Memorial
The Shelley Memorial is a memorial to the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley at University College, Oxford, England, the college that he briefly attended and from which he was expelled for writing a pamphlet on The Necessity of Atheism....
), the Examination Schools
Examination Schools
The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, England.The building was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson , who also designed the cricket pavilion in the University Parks...
, the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, the Eastgate Hotel
Eastgate Hotel
The Eastgate Hotel was originally a 17th century coaching inn on the south side of the High Street in central Oxford, England....
(at the original entrance to the city) and the Botanic Garden.
Commerce
Queen's Lane Coffee HouseQueen's Lane Coffee House
Queen's Lane Coffee House is an historic coffee house dating from 1654, the second oldest still in existence in Oxford, England. It is situated on the north side of the High Street on the corner with Queen's Lane, hence the name...
(in the junction with Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane is an historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west.At the south-eastern end of Queen's Lane is a junction onto the High Street...
) was established in 1654 and is probably Oxford's first coffee house.
Despite an influx of chain stores in nearby Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north-south between Carfax Tower and Magdalen Street.Retailers in Cornmarket include:* Austin Reed...
, the High is home to a number of specialist independent retailers. These include Shepherd & Woodward
Shepherd & Woodward
Shepherd & Woodward are a traditional clothing outfitters in the High Street, Oxford, England. In particular, they provide academic gowns and other clothing for the University of Oxford. They also stock school uniforms for local schools. The shop's origins date back to 1845...
(University outfitters), Payne & Son (goldsmiths), Sanders of Oxford
Sanders of Oxford
Sanders of Oxford is an antique print shop situated on the High Street of the city of Oxford, England.Although stores trading in prints were once common in the country, there are now only a handful left, Sanders being one of the largest and longest running outside of London...
(printsellers) and Waterfield's Books. To the north at the eastern end between Cornmarket and the Turl is the historic traditional Covered Market, established in 1774.
William Henry Butler
William Henry Butler
William Henry Butler was an English wine merchant and Mayor of Oxford.William Butler was the ninth of the ten children. His parents were James and Jane Butler from All Saints parish in Oxford...
, later Mayor of Oxford, was a wine merchant with premises in the High Street during the early 19th century.
Edward Bracher
Edward Bracher
Edward Bracher was a pioneering Victorian photographer based in Oxford, England.Edward Bracher had photographic premises at 26 High Street, Oxford from 1852 to 1863...
, a pioneering Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
photographer, had a shop at 26 High Street. Henry Taunt
Henry Taunt
Henry William Taunt was a professional photographer based in Oxford, England. His studio was in Broad Street, Oxford.Henry Taunt was born in Penson's Gardens in St Ebbe's, Oxford...
, another photographer, joined him as a member of staff in 1856. Taunt later returned to 41 High Street after the lease for his own shop premises in Broad Street
Broad Street, Oxford
Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, located just north of the old city wall.The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University...
expired in 1894.
83 High Street bears a blue plaque
Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board
The Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board, established in 1999, is administered by the Oxford Civic Society. It oversees the installation of blue plaques on historic buildings in the county of Oxfordshire, England to commemorate famous residents and events...
(10 October 2001) commemorating Sarah Cooper
Sarah Cooper
Sarah Jane Cooper was a British marmalade maker and wife of Frank Cooper .Sarah Cooper was born Sarah Jane Gill in Beoley, Worcestershire in 1848. In 1872 she got married in Clifton, Bristol to Frank Cooper of Oxford and they made their home at 31 Kingston Road, Oxford.In 1867 Frank had inherited...
(1848–1932) marmalade
Marmalade
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits, boiled with sugar and water. The benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain is the "Seville orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var...
maker, wife of Frank Cooper whose shop at 83–84 High Street was the origin of the Frank Cooper
Frank Cooper (company)
Frank Cooper's is a UK brand of marmalades and jams owned by Premier Foods. Frank Cooper's is known primarily for its "Oxford" Marmalade and holds a Royal Warrant.-Oxford High Street:...
jam business (a brand now owned by Premier Foods
Premier Foods
Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
). The company made "Oxford Marmalade" famous.
In June 1879, George Claridge Druce
George Claridge Druce
George Claridge Druce, MA, LLD, JP, FRS, FLS was an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford.G. Claridge Druce was born at Potterspury on Watling Street in Northamptonshire. He was the illegitimate son of Jane Druce, born 1815 in Buckinghamshire.He went to school in the village of Yardley Gobion....
(also a noted botanist and later mayor of the city) moved to Oxford and set up a chemist's shop, Druce & Co., at 118 High Street. This continued until his death 1932.
The Old Bank Hotel
The Old Bank Hotel, Oxford
The Old Bank Hotel is a hotel located in the historic university city of Oxford, England. It is located on the south side of Oxford's High Street, where it was the first hotel in one hundred and thirty five years to be created in the city's heart.-Facilities:...
was the first new hotel for 135 years in the centre of Oxford. Quod Brasserie is also part of the hotel, located between junctions of Oriel Street
Oriel Street
Oriel Street is a narrow but historic street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England. The street is now blocked off to traffic by bollards at the High Street end....
and Logic Lane
Logic Lane
Logic Lane is a small historic cobbled lane through University College in Oxford, England, so-called because it was the location of a school of logicians. It links the High Street at the front of the college with Merton Street to the rear, which is also cobbled...
.
Commentary
The architectural critic Nikolaus PevsnerNikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
wrote in 1974 that
"The High Street is one of the world’s great streets. It has everything."
He may have been echoing Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's comment in Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
:
"And there's a street in the place — the main street — that ha'n't another like it in the world."
Adjoining streets
- Alfred StreetAlfred StreetAlfred Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and the junction with Blue Boar Street and Bear Lane at the southern end, in central Oxford, England. To the south is Christ Church, one of Oxford University's historic colleges....
- Catte StreetCatte StreetCatte Street is a historic street in central Oxford, England.- Location :Catte Street runs north-south, continuing as Parks Road to the north...
- Cornmarket StreetCornmarket StreetCornmarket Street is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north-south between Carfax Tower and Magdalen Street.Retailers in Cornmarket include:* Austin Reed...
- King Edward StreetKing Edward StreetKing Edward Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England.To the east is the "Island" site of Oriel College, one of the colleges of Oxford University...
- Logic LaneLogic LaneLogic Lane is a small historic cobbled lane through University College in Oxford, England, so-called because it was the location of a school of logicians. It links the High Street at the front of the college with Merton Street to the rear, which is also cobbled...
- Longwall StreetLongwall StreetLongwall Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs along the western flank of Magdalen College, separated by an imposing and high 15th century stone wall for the length of the street, behind which is the deer park in the college...
- Magpie LaneMagpie Lane, OxfordMagpie Lane is a narrow historic lane in central Oxford, England. It leads south from the High Street where it is at its narrowest, now completely pedestrianised as a pavement, and north from the cobbled Merton Street....
- Merton StreetMerton StreetMerton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled lane in central Oxford, England. It joins the High Street at its northeastern end, between the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art and the Eastgate Hotel at the historic east gate of the city...
- Oriel StreetOriel StreetOriel Street is a narrow but historic street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England. The street is now blocked off to traffic by bollards at the High Street end....
- Queen StreetQueen Street, OxfordQueen Street is a shopping street in central Oxford, England. It is one-way for buses and taxis, two-way for cyclists outside main shopping hours, and forbidden for cars. It runs west from the centre of Oxford at Carfax...
- Queen's LaneQueen's LaneQueen's Lane is an historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west.At the south-eastern end of Queen's Lane is a junction onto the High Street...
- St Aldate'sSt Aldate's, OxfordSt Aldate's is a street in central Oxford, England. It is named after Saint Aldate of whom little is known, although it has also been suggested that the name is a corruption of 'old gate', referring to the south gate in the former city walls. St Aldate's Church is on the west side of the street, in...
- Turl StreetTurl StreetTurl Street is an 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 is colloquially known as The Turl and runs past three of Oxford's historic colleges: Exeter, Jesus and Lincoln...
Gallery
External links
- The High, Oxford including tour and history
- Webcam from Carfax tower looking east down the High Street
- 360° Quicktime view from the top of Carfax Tower
- Oxford City Guide including list of shops on The High