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Park Town, Oxford

Coordinates: 51°45′58″N 1°15′40″W / 51.766°N 1.261°W / 51.766; -1.261
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Park Town
The main crescent of Park Town
Park Town is located in Oxford
Park Town
Park Town
Park Town is located in Oxfordshire
Park Town
Park Town
Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid referenceSP512078
Civil parish
  • Unparished
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townOxford
Postcode districtOX2
Dialling code01865
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteOxford City Council
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°45′58″N 1°15′40″W / 51.766°N 1.261°W / 51.766; -1.261
Terraced houses on the north side of the main crescent of Park Town.
North side of the main Park Town crescent, with a traditional Victorian Penfold-style hexagonal pillar box.

Park Town is a small residential area in central North Oxford, a suburb of Oxford, England. It was one of the earliest planned suburban developments in the area and most of the houses are Grade II listed.[1]

History

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Samuel Lipscomb Seckham (1827–1900) developed the houses in the main crescent in 1853–54, with Bath stone front elevations, and the west-facing crescent with an elevated pavement known as "The Terrace" in 1854–55. The Park Town Estate Company[2] was formed in September 1857 through Seckham's efforts.[3]

Many of the houses and gardens in Park Town were originally surrounded by ornamental iron railings. Those for the detached houses were removed for war use in the Second World War[4] but some have been restored. The Friends of Park Town restored the railings and lanterns around the central garden in the middle of the main Park Town crescent and received an award for the project from the Oxford Preservation Trust in 1977.[5]

Location

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Park Town includes two crescents of town houses, surrounding communal gardens and a number of larger villas.

To the west is Banbury Road with Canterbury Road on the opposite side and to the east is the Dragon School. St Anne's College has student accommodation here.

Individual houses

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Miss Sarah Angelina Acland (1849–1930), daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, lived for the latter part of her life and died at her home in (then No. 7) Park Town, recorded by a blue plaque in 2016.[6] Her interest in colour photography at the turn of the 20th century produced a number of significant early examples, which are held at the History of Science Museum in central Oxford,[7] a number of which were taken in Park Town.

5 Park Town, was the second home of the Central Labour College (1910–1911) before it moved to 11–13 Penywern Road, Earls Court, London.[8]

Notable residents

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Former residents include:[9]

The W. R. Morfill house at 42 Park Town, with blue plaque
Memorial to Charles Elton FRS in Park Town

References

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  1. ^ "1–61, Parktown, Oxford". Listed Buildings in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Park Town Estate Co Ltd". Bodleian Library, Oxford. UK: The National Archives. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  3. ^ Hinchcliffe 1992, p. not cited.
  4. ^ a b Spokes Symonds 1998, pp. 95–96.
  5. ^ Keown, Callum (26 September 2017). "Oxford Preservation Trust Awards: Look back at 40 years of award-winning buildings". Oxford Mail.
  6. ^ a b "Sarah Angelina ACLAND (1849–1930), Photographer – 10 Park Town, Oxford". UK: Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Sarah Acland Results List". UK: History of Science Museum, Oxford. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  8. ^ The Plebs Magazine, Volumes 3-4 (Kraus, 1970), pp. 66 & 142
  9. ^ Kelly 1976, p. 417.
  10. ^ Spokes Symonds 1998, pp. 81–83.
  11. ^ "Remembering Michael Dummett". The New York Times. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America". Ecological Society of America. 48 (4). Wiley: 22. doi:10.2307/20165739.
  13. ^ "John Flemming". Oxford Mail. 14 August 2003.
  14. ^ Davies, Caroline (20 June 2012). "Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle commemorated with honorary Oxford degree". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  15. ^ MacAlister, Katherine (4 September 2014). "Ian McEwan talks ahead of his city date". Oxford Mail.
  16. ^ "William Richard Morfill (1834–1909)". Plaques Awarded, Oxford City. Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  17. ^ Christopher J. Barnes, Boris Pasternak: A Literary Biography, Volume 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 164
  18. ^ "Rupert Andrew SPIRA". GOV.UK. UK. Retrieved 19 November 2023.

Sources and further reading

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