Oxford
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- This article is about the city of Oxford in England. See also other meanings, including other cities.
| City of Oxford | |
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| Missing image Oxford_-_Oxfordshire_dot.png Oxford | Missing image OxfordshireOxford.png Oxford Shown within Oxfordshire |
| Geography | |
| Status: | City (1542) |
| Region: | South East England |
| Admin. County: | Oxfordshire |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 306th 45.59 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Oxford |
| ONS code: | 38UC |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2003 est.) - Density | Ranked 117th 142,364 3,123 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 87.1% White 4.8% S.Asian 2.5% Afro-Carib. 1.8% Chinese |
| Politics | |
Missing image Oxfordarms.PNG Oxford City Council http://www.oxford.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Labour |
| MPs: | Evan Harris, Andrew Smith |
Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). It is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
It is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of the university buildings. The Oxford suburb of Cowley has a long history of carmaking, and still produces Minis.
Oxford is twinned with Bonn in Germany, Grenoble in France, León in Nicaragua, Leiden in the Netherlands and Perm in Russia. All of these are university towns.
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History
Oxford was first occupied in Saxon times, and was initially known as "Oxanforda". It began with the foundations of St Frideswide's nunnery in the 8th century, and was first mentioned in written records in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 912. In the 10th century Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes.
The University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. Oxford's earliest colleges were University College (1249), Balliol (1263) and Merton (1264).
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford is unique as a college chapel and cathedral in one foundation. Originally the Priory Church of St Frideswide, the building was extended and incorporated into the structure of the Cardinal's College shortly before its refounding as Christ Church in 1546, since which time it has functioned as the cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford.
The relationship between "town and gown" has often been uneasy—several university students were killed in the St Scholastica Day Riot of 1355.
During the English Civil War, Oxford housed the court of Charles I in 1642, after the king was expelled from London, although there was strong support in the town for the Parliamentarian cause. The town yielded to Parliamentarian forces under General Fairfax in 1646.
In 1790 the Oxford Canal connected the city with Coventry, linking with the River Thames, and in the 1840s the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway linked Oxford with London.
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In the 19th century the controversy surrounding the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church drew attention to the city as a focus of theological thought.
Oxford's Town Hall was built during the reign of Queen Victoria. Though Oxford has city status and is a Lord Mayoralty, the seat of the city council is still called by its traditional name of "Town Hall".
By the early 20th century Oxford was experiencing rapid industrial and population growth, with the printing and publishing industries becoming well established by the 1920s. Also during that decade the economy and society of Oxford underwent a huge transformation as William Morris established the Morris Motor Company to mass produce cars in Cowley, on the south-eastern edge of the city. By the early 1970s over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the huge Morris Motors and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. By this time Oxford was a city of two halves: the university city to the west of Magdalen Bridge and the car town to the east. This led to the witticism that "Oxford is the left bank of Cowley". Cowley suffered major job losses in the 1980s and 1990s during the decline of British Leyland, but is now producing the successful New MINI for BMW.
The influx of migrant labour to the car plants, recent immigration from south-east Asia, and a large student population, have given Oxford a notable cosmopolitan character, especially in the Headington and Cowley Road areas with their many bars, cafes, restaurants, clubs, ethnic shops and fast food outlets.
On 6 May 1954 Roger Bannister ran the first authenticated sub-four minute mile at the Iffley Road track in Oxford.
Oxford's "other" university Oxford Brookes University, formerly Oxford Polytechnic, based at Headington, was given its charter in 1991.
Transport
Oxford is located some 50 miles (80 km) north west of London; the cities are linked by the M40 motorway, which also links northwards to Birmingham.
Rail connections include services to London (Paddington), Bournemouth, Worcester (via the Cotswold Line), and Bicester. The city also has regular train services northwards to Birmingham, Coventry and the north.
The Oxford Canal connects to the River Thames at Oxford.
Tourist attractions
Oxford has many major tourist attractions, some associated with the university. As well as several famous institutions, the town centre is home to Carfax Tower and a historical themed ride, The Oxford Story. In the summer, punting on the Thames (sometimes called the Isis as it flows through Oxford) and the Cherwell is popular.
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Other notable attractions include:
Religious sites
- Christ Church Cathedral
- The Church of St Mary the Virgin (the University Church)
- Martyrs' Memorial
Churches in central Oxford
- Blackfriars (Roman Catholic) Dominican Priory, 64 St Giles
- Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican), St Aldates
- German Lutheran at St Mary the Virgin, High Street
- New Road Baptist Church, Bonn Square
- Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity and the Annuciation, 1 Canterbury Road (off Banbury Road)
- Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)
- Roman Catholic chaplaincy, Rose Place, St Aldate's
- St Aldate's (Anglican)
- St Aloysius (Roman Catholic), Woodstock Road
- St Columba's United Reformed Church, Alfred Street
- St Cross (Anglican)
- St Ebbe's (Anglican), Pennyfarthing Place, off St Ebbe's
- St Giles' (Anglican), St Giles'
- St Mary Magdalen (Anglican) Magdalen Street
- St Mary the Virgin University Church * St Michael-at-the-Northgate (Anglican)
- The Salvation Army, Oxford Citadel, Albion Place
- Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, New Inn Hall Street
Museums and galleries
- Ashmolean Museum
- Pitt Rivers Museum
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, home of (the remains of) the Oxford Dodo
- Museum of Modern Art
- University Museum of the History of Science
University buildings
(Other than the colleges)
- The Bodleian Library
- The Clarendon Building (often used as a set for film and television)
- The Radcliffe Camera (one of several institutions named after John Radcliffe)
- The Sheldonian Theatre
- The Oxford University Press
- University Offices (administration), Wellington Square
Open spaces
OxfordBoats.JPG
- The University Parks
- The University Botanic Garden
- Christ Church Meadow
- Port Meadow
- Mesopotamia
- Angel & Greyhound Meadow
Commercial areas
Theatres and cinemas
- Oxford Playhouse
- New Theatre, George Street
- Ultimate Picture Palace, Cowley Road
- Phoenix Picturehouse, Walton Street
- The Odeon Cinema, George Street
- The Odeon Cinema, Magdalen Street
Traditional and historic pubs
- The Eagle and Child
- The Turf Tavern
- The Lamb and Flag
Media and press
As well as the BBC national radio stations, Oxford and the surrounding area has several local stations, including BBC Radio Oxford, Fox FM, Passion 107.9 [1] (http://www.passion1079.com/), and Oxide: Oxford Student Radio [2] (http://www.oxfordstudentradio.com/) (which went on terrestrial radio at 87.7 MHz FM in late May 2005). A local TV station, Six TV: The Oxford Channel is also available.
Popular local papers include the Oxford Mail, the Oxford Times, and the Oxford Star. The New Internationalist magazine is also based here.
Recently (2003) DIY grassroots non-corporate media has began to spread. [3] (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/)
Literature in Oxford
Well-known Oxford-based authors include:
- Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Dodgson), Fellow of Christ Church.
- Colin Dexter who wrote and set his Inspector Morse mystery novels in Oxford.
- Michael Innes (J. I. M. Stewart), of Christchurch College.
- C. S. Lewis, Fellow of Magdalen.
- Iris Murdoch, Fellow of St Anne's
- Philip Pullman who was an undergraduate at Exeter.
- J. R. R. Tolkien, Professor of English at Merton.
Many English novels have been set partly or wholly in Oxford. They include:
- Jude the Obscure (1895) by Thomas Hardy (in which Oxford is thinly disguised as "Christminster").
- Zuleika Dobson (1911) by Max Beerbohm (Merton).
- Gaudy Night (1935) by Dorothy L. Sayers (Somerville).
- Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh (Hertford).
See also the Literature section in the University of Oxford article.
Geography
Oxford's latitude and longitude are 51°45'07" N and 1°15'28" W (at Carfax Tower, which is usually considered the centre).
Wards, neighbourhoods, and suburbs
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- Blackbird Leys
- Botley, Oxfordshire
- Cowley
- Temple Cowley
- East Oxford
- Headington - home to the Oxford shark.
- Jericho
- Marston
- North Oxford
- Osney
- Summertown
- Littlemore
- Wolvercote
Politics in Oxford
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Despite stereotypes of Oxford being a conservative city, there are no Conservatives on the city council. Since the local election in mid-2004, the council has been in minority administration by councillors from the Labour Party, with the Liberal Democrats being the official opposition. At 7 councillors, Oxford is one of the UK cities with highest Green Party representation on the council. The Independent Working Class Association also has councillors, mainly from wards with many housing estates in the southeast, such as Blackbird Leys.
The two MPs are Andrew Smith from the constituency Oxford East, erstwhile employment minister in the Labour government; and Evan Harris from the constituency Oxford West and Abingdon, sometime Liberal Democrat spokesperson on health.
There is also a large and vibrant alternative political culture mostly situated in East Oxford. Some examples are:
- Oxford BOP Samba
- Oxford Student Activist Network
- Undercurrents
- OCSET
- Campaign to Close Campsfield
- Corporate Watch
- ETC Group
- Oxford Indymedia (Oxford Indymedia (http://oxford.indymedia.org.uk))
Images of Oxford
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See also
- University of Oxford (including links to the individual colleges)
- Bishop of Oxford
- Earl of Oxford
- Oxford United F.C.
- Oxfam
External links
- Oxford City Council official web site (http://www.oxford.gov.uk/)
- Oxford City Council official tourism web site (http://www.oxford.gov.uk/tourism/index.cfm)
- Virtual Tour of Oxford (http://www.seeoxford.com/)
- Oxford Information (http://archive.museophile.org/ox/)
- The Aliens' Guide to Oxford (http://archive.museophile.org/ox/guide/)
- Mushroom Guide to Oxford (http://www.mushroompublishing.com/maps/oxford.html)
- The Oxford Guide: an Open Guide to Oxford (http://www.ox.compsoc.net/oxfordguide/)
- The Oxford shark (http://www.headington.org.uk/history/misc/shark.htm)
- Whats on at Oxford Indymedia (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/)
cy:Rhydychen da:Oxford de:Oxford es:Oxford eo:Oksfordo fr:Oxford it:Oxford la:Oxonia nl:Oxford no:Oxford pl:Oxford pt:Oxford ru:Оксфорд simple:Oxford sl:Oxford fi:Oxford sv:Oxford