138-495: The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge , operated by the London and North Western Railway . In World War II , the line became a strategic route for freight avoiding London, and additional connections were made to nearby lines to improve it, but it was not greatly used for its intended purpose. After the war, the line
276-539: A cattle market , Western Europe's largest. Situated on Merton Street in Grimsbury , for many decades, cattle and other farm animals were driven there on the hoof from as far as Scotland to be sold to feed the growing population of London and other towns. Since its closure in June 1998, a new housing development has been built on its site which includes Dashwood Primary School. The estate, which lies between Banbury and Hanwell ,
414-537: A 4% dividend to the other shareholders. The LNWR absorbed the Buckinghamshire Railway company on 21 July 1879. Early in 1854 the line from Verney Junction to Oxford was doubled, completing double track along the full length of the line. Verney was a junction, but no station was built until 1868, prompted by the construction of the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway . The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
552-479: A White Horse of the nursery rhyme. It stands on the corner of West Bar and South Bar, just yards from the present Banbury Cross. Banbury has a museum in the town centre near Spiceball Park, replacing the old museum near Banbury Cross. It is accessible over a bridge from the Castle Quay Shopping Centre or via Spiceball Park Road. Admission to the museum is free. The town's tourist information centre
690-479: A combined capacity of 1,695 seats. Hybrid buses began to be used in Oxford in 2010, and their usage has been expanded. In 2014 Oxford Bus introduced a fleet of 20 new buses with flywheel energy storage on the services it operates under contract for Oxford Brookes University . Most buses in the city now use a smartcard to pay for journeys and have free WiFi installed. The Oxford to London coach route offers
828-517: A connection to the main line railway. In 1844 George Stephenson visited Bedford to discuss the matter. At a meeting on 23 April 1844 he set out his proposed scheme, for a line to Bedford joining the L&;BR main line at Bletchley. Some opinions had preferred Wolverton as the junction, since Bletchley was not then a settlement of any significance. A prospectus for the Bedford and London & Birmingham Railway
966-671: A frequent coach service to London. The Oxford Tube is operated by Stagecoach West and the Oxford Bus Company runs the Airline services to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. There is a bus station at Gloucester Green , used mainly by the London and airport buses, National Express coaches and other long-distance buses including route X5 to Milton Keynes and Bedford and Stagecoach Gold route S6. Among cities in England and Wales, Oxford has
1104-474: A joint station at Bedford. It would have been a little to the west of the contemporary LNWR station. The scheme was agreed to be desirable and feasible, but the Midland Railway board declined to approve it, and it foundered. The Great Northern Railway had opened its line from London to Peterborough on 7 June 1850, ultimately giving access to York , and running through Sandy. The Sandy and Potton Railway
1242-404: A maintenance spare. Due to World War I , the six halts were closed from 1 January 1917, and were reopened on 5 May 1919. The railmotors had limitations: they were underpowered, had insufficient accommodation, and suffered from reliability problems. In about 1921, they were replaced by autotrains , which used a conventional locomotive operating in combination with a coach that was adapted to allow
1380-417: A minor village). Initially, passengers alighted here to take a stagecoach on Watling Street to Rugby during construction work on the intervening section , which opened on 17 September 1838, and this temporary terminus was closed. Subsequently and for a time, Wolverton (a few miles further north and on the main road between Oxford and Cambridge via Buckingham and Bedford) took over as an important stop on
1518-543: A mistake. In November 2022, Mogford announced that his hospitality group The Oxford Collection had joined up with Oxford Business Action Group (OBAG), Oxford High Street Association (OHSA), ROX (Backing Oxford Business), Reconnecting Oxford, Jericho Traders, and Summertown traders to launch a legal challenge to the new bus gates. The city is served by the M40 motorway , which connects London to Birmingham . The M40 approached Oxford in 1974, leading from London to Waterstock , where
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#17328445710191656-483: A new company, Morrells of Oxford. The new owners sold most of the pubs on to Greene King in 2002. The Lion Brewery was converted into luxury apartments in 2002. Oxford's first legal distillery , the Oxford Artisan Distillery , was established in 2017 in historic farm buildings at the top of South Park . The Taylor family of Loughborough had a bell-foundry in Oxford between 1786 and 1854. This
1794-512: A new research annexe; its staff have been involved with the teaching of anthropology at Oxford since its foundation, when as part of his donation General Augustus Pitt Rivers stipulated that the university establish a lectureship in anthropology. Banbury Banbury is an historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire , South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at
1932-412: A pristine Stradivarius violin, regarded by some as one of the finest examples in existence. The University Museum of Natural History holds the university's zoological , entomological and geological specimens. It is housed in a large neo-Gothic building on Parks Road , in the university's Science Area . Among its collection are the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops , and
2070-615: A special train. The new line had a connection to the River Great Ouse at Bedford, trailing from the Bletchley direction. The Bedford station was not yet ready at the time of opening. The commercial benefit to Bedford, already well served by coastal water-borne commerce over the River Great Ouse, is indicated by the immediate fall of coal prices, from 1s 9d to 11d per cwt. There were four passenger trains each way, Sunday excepted, but this
2208-463: A third route, also to Paddington, running via Thame , High Wycombe and Maidenhead , was provided; this was shortened in 1906 by the opening of a direct route between High Wycombe and London Paddington by way of Denham . The distance from Oxford to London was 78 miles (125.5 km) via Bletchley; 63.5 miles (102.2 km) via Didcot and Reading; 63.25 miles (101.8 km) via Thame and Maidenhead; and 55.75 miles (89.7 km) via Denham. Only
2346-605: A through siding only shortly afterwards, and the west to south curve at Bletchley was closed and lifted in 1864. Nevertheless, the goods and mineral traffic from the OW&;WR line remained considerable; Lawrence, writing in 1910, said that, "In March last, no fewer than 7,500 coal trucks made use of the loop." There was a junction but no station at Verney Junction until 1868, when the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway completed their line from Aylesbury to Verney. The Great Western Railway worked
2484-539: A water spring lay to the south of it. The Ruscote estate, which now has a notable South Asian community, was expanded in the 1950s because of the growth of the town due to the London overspill and further grew in the mid-1960s. British Railways closed Merton Street railway station and the Buckingham to Banbury line to passenger traffic at the end of 1960. Merton Street goods depot continued to handle livestock traffic for Banbury's cattle market until 1966, when this too
2622-495: Is 2014, with an average of 11.8 °C (53 °F) and the coldest is 1879, with a mean temperature of 7.7 °C (46 °F). The sunniest month on record is May 2020, with 331.7 hours and December 1890 is the least sunny, with 5.0 hours. The greatest one-day rainfall occurred on 10 July 1968, with a total of 87.9 mm (3.46 in). The greatest known snow depth was 61.0 cm (24.0 in) in February 1888. The city centre
2760-465: Is 52 feet 6 inches (16 m) high, and topped by a gilt cross. Towns with crosses in England before the reformation were places of Christian pilgrimage. The English nursery rhyme " Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross ", in its several forms, may refer to one of the crosses destroyed by Puritans in 1600. In April 2005, Princess Anne unveiled a large bronze statue depicting the Fine Lady upon
2898-471: Is a small selection of the many notable buildings in Oxford. Oxford is a very green city, with several parks and nature walks within the ring road , as well as several sites just outside the ring road. In total, 28 nature reserves exist within or just outside the ring road, including: In addition to the larger airports in the region, Oxford is served by nearby Oxford Airport , in Kidlington . The airport
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#17328445710193036-698: Is also home to CAE Oxford Aviation Academy and Airways Aviation airline pilot flight training centres, and several private jet companies. The airport is also home to Airbus Helicopters UK headquarters. Direct trains run from Oxford station to London Paddington where there is an interchange with the Heathrow Express train links serving Heathrow Airport . Passengers can change at Reading for connecting trains to Gatwick Airport . Some CrossCountry trains run direct services to Birmingham International , as well as to Southampton Airport Parkway further afield. Bus services in Oxford and its suburbs are run by
3174-539: Is famed for Banbury cakes , a spiced sweet pastry. Banbury is located 64 miles (103 km) north-west of London , 37 miles (60 km) south-east of Birmingham , 27 miles (43 km) south-east of Coventry and 22 miles (35 km) north-west of Oxford . The name Banbury may derive from "Banna", a Saxon chieftain said to have built a stockade there in the 6th century (or possibly a byname from Old English : bana meaning felon , murderer ), and burgh / burh meaning settlement . In Anglo Saxon it
3312-531: Is in the Cherwell Valley with many hills in and around the town. Apart from the town centre, much of Banbury is on a slope and each entry into the town is downhill. Estates such as Bretch Hill and Hardwick are built on top of a hill and much of the town can be seen from both. Other notable hills include the suburban, Crouch Hill and the more central Pinn Hill, and Strawberry Hill on the outskirts of Easington. Mine Hill and Rye Hill lie, along with many others, to
3450-466: Is just outside the city, at the park and ride site near Kidlington . The present railway station opened in 1852. Oxford is the junction for a short branch line to Bicester , a remnant of the former Varsity line to Cambridge . This Oxford–Bicester line was upgraded to 100 mph (161 km/h) running during an 18-month closure in 2014/2015 – and is scheduled to be extended to form the planned East West Rail line to Milton Keynes. East West Rail
3588-577: Is located in the museum entrance in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre. Tooley's Boatyard was built in 1778 and is a historic site with a nearly 250-year-old blacksmiths' shop and narrow boat dry dock. Spiceball Park is the largest park in Banbury. It is east of the Oxford Canal , mainly west of the River Cherwell , north of Castle Quay and south of Hennef Way. It includes three large fields,
3726-544: Is now strongly discouraged, and largely prevented, from using the city centre. The Oxford Ring Road or A4142 (southern part) surrounds the city centre and close suburbs Marston , Iffley , Cowley and Headington ; it consists of the A34 to the west, a 330-yard section of the A44 , the A40 north and north-east, A4142/ A423 to the east. It is a dual carriageway , except for a 330-yard section of
3864-475: Is now used as an entrance to a shopping centre. The Northern Aluminium Co. Ltd. or Alcan Industries Ltd. pig and rolled aluminium factory was opened in 1931 on land acquired in 1929 on the east of the Southam road, in the then hamlet of Hardwick. The various Alcan facilities on the 53-acre site closed between 2006 and 2007. The factory was demolished between 2008 and 2009. The laboratory was also closed in 2004 and
4002-404: Is now used as offices for numerous companies. Another major employer is Jacobs Douwe Egberts , which produces instant coffee . The facility moved to Banbury from Birmingham in 1965. In the central area were built many large shops, a bus station, and a large car park north of Castle Street. In 1969 proposals for the redevelopment of the central area were in hand, leading to the creation of
4140-452: Is priced for sale and is a tabloid. The Banbury Cake was formerly a free newspaper: its print edition ceased publication in 2017 and its website subsequently also closed. Regional TV news is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian . Television signals received from the Oxford TV transmitter, although some parts of the town get a better TV signal from the local relay transmitter which
4278-456: Is proposed to continue through Bletchley (for Milton Keynes Central ) to Bedford , Cambridge, and ultimately Ipswich and Norwich , thus providing alternative route to East Anglia without needing to travel via, and connect between, the London mainline terminals. Chiltern Railways operates from Oxford to London Marylebone via Bicester Village , having sponsored the building of about 400 metres of new track between Bicester Village and
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4416-509: Is relatively small and is centred on Carfax , a crossroads which forms the junction of Cornmarket Street (pedestrianised), Queen Street (mainly pedestrianised ), St Aldate's and the High Street ("the High"; blocked for through traffic). Cornmarket Street and Queen Street are home to Oxford's chain stores, as well as a small number of independent retailers, one of the longest established of which
4554-587: Is reputed to have planned the Battle of Edge Hill in the back room (which can still be visited) of a local inn, the Reindeer Inn as it was then known (today's Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn). The town was pro-Parliamentarian, but the castle was manned by a Royalist garrison who supported King Charles I . In 1645 during the Civil War, Parliamentary troops were billeted in nearby Hanwell for nine weeks and villagers petitioned
4692-573: Is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central . Local radio stations are BBC Radio Oxford , Heart South , and Capital Mid-Counties . Banbury Music Radio was a local Internet radio station . At one time Banbury had many crosses (the High Cross, the Bread Cross and the White Cross), but these were destroyed by Puritans in 1600. Banbury remained without a cross for more than 250 years until
4830-570: Is shown. Most of the passenger trains appear to continue to Oxford and London, probably by through coach attached to other trains. Working arrangements were made with the LNWR, authorised by Act of 23 June 1864. The company was absorbed by the LNWR on 5 July 1865. The line as constructed was single; double track was later constructed between Sandy and Gamlingay on 20 October 1870, and on to Cambridge on 10 July 1871. The Midland Railway's London extension opened in 1857, at this stage to Hitchin . It crossed
4968-451: Is the county town. Founded in the 8th century, it was granted city status in 1542. The city is located at the confluence of the rivers Thames (locally known as the Isis ) and Cherwell . It had a population of 163,257 in 2022. It is 56 miles (90 km) north-west of London , 64 miles (103 km) south-east of Birmingham and 61 miles (98 km) north-east of Bristol . The city is home to
5106-645: The Bishop of Lincoln 's demesne lands, and a fourth which was leased to Robert son of Waukelin by the Bishop. Among Banbury's four Medieval mills was probably a forerunner of Banbury Mill, first referred to by this name in 1695. In the year 1279, Laurence of Hardwick was also paying 3 marks (equivalent to 40 shillings) in annual rent to the Bishop for a mill in the then Hardwick hamlet. The forerunners of Butchers Row were probably long standing butchers' stalls which were known to be in situ by 1438. The old Victorian Corn Exchange
5244-1056: The Castle Mill Stream . The rapid expansion of Oxford and the development of its railway links after the 1840s facilitated expansion of the brewing trade. As well as expanding the market for Oxford's brewers, railways enabled brewers further from the city to compete for a share of its market. By 1874 there were nine breweries in Oxford and 13 brewers' agents in Oxford shipping beer in from elsewhere. The nine breweries were: Flowers & Co in Cowley Road , Hall's St Giles Brewery, Hall's Swan Brewery (see below), Hanley's City Brewery in Queen Street , Le Mills's Brewery in St. Ebbes , Morrell's Lion Brewery in St Thomas Street (see below), Simonds's Brewery in Queen Street, Weaving's Eagle Brewery (by 1869
5382-540: The Chiltern Main Line southwards in 2014. The route serves High Wycombe and London Marylebone, avoiding London Paddington and Didcot Parkway . In 1844, the Great Western Railway linked Oxford with London Paddington via Didcot and Reading ; in 1851, the London & North Western Railway opened its own route from Oxford to London Euston , via Bicester , Bletchley and Watford ; and in 1864
5520-571: The Local Government Act 1972 it became part of the traditionally Conservative-ruled Cherwell District Council , an unparished area with Charter Trustees . A civil parish with a town council was set up in 2000. The post of the mayor of Banbury was created in 1607. The first mayor was Thomas Webb. A number of roads are named after former mayors of the town, including Mascord Road, Mold Crescent and Fairfax Close. Another former mayor, Angela Billingham , went into national politics. Banbury
5658-511: The Micheline . It was a ten-wheel articulated vehicle, with pneumatic rubber tyres. It was tried on the line in 1932. Carrying only 24 passengers and with uncertain reliability, it had many of the disadvantages of the steam railmotors, and the trial did not lead to adoption of the system. Oxford Oxford ( / ˈ ɒ k s f ər d / ) is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire , England, of which it
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5796-486: The Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach West as well as other operators including Arriva Shires & Essex and Thames Travel . Oxford has one of the largest urban park and ride networks in the United Kingdom. Its five sites, at Pear Tree, Redbridge , Seacourt , Thornhill, Water Eaton and Oxford Parkway have a combined capacity of 4,930 car parking spaces, served by 20 Oxford Bus Company double decker buses with
5934-455: The Oxford Star (tabloid; free and delivered), and Oxford Journal (tabloid; weekly free pick-up). Oxford is also home to several advertising agencies . Daily Information (known locally as "Daily Info") is an event information and advertising news sheet which has been published since 1964 and now provides a connected website. Nightshift is a monthly local free magazine that has covered
6072-521: The Railways Act 1921 . The LNWR and the Midland Railway were constituents of the new London Midland and Scottish Railway. The Great Western Railway absorbed a number of other concerns and continued under the same name. The Great Northern Railway and the Great Eastern Railway were constituents of the new London and North Eastern Railway . The whole of the Oxford to Cambridge line was thus part of
6210-507: The Ruscote ward of Banbury, is a large food and coffee producing factory. It was built in 1964 and has gone through a number of ownership changes since. It is still sometimes known by its previous names of Bird's , Kraft and General Foods or GF. Banbury was once home to Western Europe's largest cattle market, on Merton Street in Grimsbury. The market was a key feature of Victorian life in
6348-605: The University of Oxford , the oldest university in the English-speaking world ; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon . Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, science, and information technologies. The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period . Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on
6486-519: The West Midlands . As such it has close cultural links with neighbouring Midlands towns such as Stratford-upon-Avon , Leamington Spa , and Warwick . In 1998 and 2007, Banbury was subject to heavy flooding due to its location by the River Cherwell. Heavy clay and Ironstone deposits surround Banbury. The Domesday Book in 1086 listed three mills, with a total fiscal value of 45 shillings , on
6624-517: The Westgate Oxford . The Westgate Centre is named for the original West Gate in the city wall, and is at the west end of Queen Street . A major redevelopment and expansion to 750,000 sq ft (70,000 m ), with a new 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m ) John Lewis department store and a number of new homes, was completed in October 2017. Blackwell's Bookshop is a bookshop which claims
6762-505: The borough of Banbury in 1889. Banbury stands at the junction of two ancient roads: Salt Way (used as a bridle path to the west and south of the town), its primary use being transport of salt; and Banbury Lane, which began near Northampton and is closely followed by the modern 22-mile-long (35 km) road. It continued through what is now Banbury's High Street and towards the Fosse Way at Stow-on-the-Wold . Banbury's medieval prosperity
6900-815: The 1970s and 1980s, leaving behind a city which had developed far beyond the university town of the past. Oxford's latitude and longitude are 51°45′07″N 1°15′28″W / 51.75194°N 1.25778°W / 51.75194; -1.25778 , with Ordnance Survey grid reference SP513061 (at Carfax Tower , which is usually considered the centre). Oxford is 24 miles (39 km) north-west of Reading , 26 miles (42 km) north-east of Swindon , 36 miles (58 km) east of Cheltenham , 43 miles (69 km) east of Gloucester , 29 miles (47 km) south-west of Milton Keynes , 38 miles (61 km) south-east of Evesham , 43 miles (69 km) south of Rugby and 51 miles (82 km) west-north-west of London . The rivers Cherwell and Thames (also sometimes known as
7038-608: The 1994 and 1995 F1 World Championships was based on the Wildmere Industrial Estate. The Marussia F1 team had its manufacturing and production facility sited on Thorpe Way Industrial Estate using the building formerly owned by Ascari Cars , a luxury sports car manufacturer. Both Simtek and Marussia F1 had been brought to Banbury by Nick Wirth who owned the Simtek team and was the former Technical Director at Marussia. After Marussia F1 went into administration in 2014, their base
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#17328445710197176-442: The 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire and southern parts of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire which are predominantly rural. Banbury's main industries are motorsport, car components, electrical goods, plastics, food processing and printing. Banbury is home to the world's largest coffee-processing facility ( Jacobs Douwe Egberts ), built in 1964. The town
7314-637: The A&;BR trains until the company was absorbed by the Metropolitan Railway in 1891, becoming the northern terminus of the Metropolitan Railway. Two Pullman cars worked to Baker Street daily. The Oxford to Cambridge line crossed under the Midland main line, and there were two separate passenger stations. In November 1855 officers of the Midland Railway and the LNWR met to consider the construction of
7452-586: The A40 continued to Oxford. When the M40 extension to Birmingham was completed in January 1991, it curved sharply north, and a mile of the old motorway became a spur. The M40 comes no closer than 6 miles (10 km) away from the city centre, curving to pass to the east of Otmoor . The M40 meets the A34 to the north of Oxford. There are two universities in Oxford, the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University , as well as
7590-421: The A40 where two residential service roads adjoin, and was completed in 1966. The main roads to/from Oxford are: On 28 February 2022 a zero-emission pilot area became operational in Oxford city centre. Zero-emission vehicles can be used without incurring a charge but all petrol and diesel vehicles (including hybrids) incur a daily charge if they are driven in the zone between 7am and 7pm. A consultation on
7728-578: The Castle shopping centre in 1977 (the centre was later combined into the Castle Quay centre). The 1977 plans to build a multi-storey car park on what is now the open air car park behind Matalan and Poundland were scrapped in 1978 and another one was built to the rear of the Castle Shopping Centre in 1978. The former Hunt Edmunds brewery premises became Crest Hotels headquarters, but closed in
7866-463: The Centre of Banbury Studies was published in the 1870s or 1880s and it asserted that the term originated in the 1830s but no source is given for that assertion. In the 1850s magazine articles used "Banburyshire" or the hyphenated term "Banbury-shire". The Banburyshire Natural History Society was formed in 1881. In the 20th century a number of books used the term "Banburyshire" in their titles, dating from
8004-695: The Eagle Steam Brewery) in Park End Street and Wootten and Cole's St. Clement's Brewery. The Swan's Nest Brewery, later the Swan Brewery, was established by the early 18th century in Paradise Street , and in 1795 was acquired by William Hall. The brewery became known as Hall's Oxford Brewery, which acquired other local breweries. Hall's Brewery was acquired by Samuel Allsopp & Sons in 1926, after which it ceased brewing in Oxford. Morrell's
8142-781: The GNR required the site. In 1859 the Cambridge aspirations of several railway companies were competing for Parliamentary approval. A proposed Bedford, Potton and Cambridge Railway was thrown out, but the reverse showed that an alliance with the Great Northern Railway might prove fruitful. In the 1860 session of Parliament, the Bedford and Cambridge Railway (as it now styled itself) got the Royal Assent on 6 August 1860. The Great Northern Railway hoped to build from Shepreth to this new line near Lords Bridge and gain access to Cambridge, by-passing
8280-545: The Isis locally, supposedly from the Latinised name Thamesis ) run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre. These rivers and their flood plains constrain the size of the city centre. Oxford has a maritime temperate climate ( Köppen : Cfb ). Precipitation is uniformly distributed throughout the year and is provided mostly by weather systems that arrive from the Atlantic . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Oxford
8418-437: The LNWR line at Bedford by a (nearly) 90-degree flat crossing; although it was undesirable, it was considered an appropriate economy measure as compared with a bridge crossing. In the early twentieth century, railways sought lower-cost methods of operating passenger trains. The LNWR experimented with a steam railmotor . This was a single passenger coach, designed at Wolverton, with a small integrated steam locomotive. A railmotor
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#17328445710198556-587: The London and North Western Railway, which wished to block northward encroachment from the Great Western Railway, whose area of influence at the time was further south. The junction that became Verney Junction was known at first as Claydon Junction; the name Verney Junction was given to the station that was later established there. When the World War II link from the Great Central Railway main line
8694-404: The London and North Western Railway. In the early days there were five intersecting trunk lines running south to north: Two other trunk routes, the Great Western Railway's Bicester cut-off and the Great Central Railway main line, were built later. The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) opened on 9 April 1838 as far north as Denbigh Hall , about a mile north of Bletchley (which was then
8832-550: The OW&WR was also thrown out. In 1853 however the proposed connection (later known as the Yarnton Spur) was approved, and on 4 June 1853 the OW&WR had opened its line as far as Wolvercot Junction, its southern extremity. The Yarnton Spur was a short double-track line, 1 mile 49 chains (1.61 mi; 2.6 km) in length, from Oxford Road Junction to Yarnton, and it was opened on 1 April 1854. The LNWR at once started operating through passenger services between Euston and Wolverhampton , via Bletchley, Yarnton Spur and
8970-426: The OW&WR. The trains were worked by the LNWR as far as Hanborough , and also from Dudley to Wolverhampton LNWR station via the South Staffordshire curve at Tipton . The Buckinghamshire Railway connection at Bletchley left in a southward direction, and a west to south chord was brought into use there in October 1854 to permit direct running between Euston and the Buckinghamshire line. A west to south curve to
9108-441: The Oxford line (from Claydon Junction, at first as a single track only) followed relatively swiftly: to Islip on 1 October 1850; on to Oxford Road on 2 December 1850. This station was at the crossing of the present-day A4165 road, and therefore near to the modern Oxford Parkway station . Horse omnibuses and carts connected the station with Oxford itself. The line was extended to the company's own station at Oxford on 20 May 1851. It
9246-400: The Oxford music scene since 1991. Oxford is home to many museums , galleries , and collections, most of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions . The majority are departments of the University of Oxford . The first of these to be established was the Ashmolean Museum , the world's first university museum , and the oldest museum in the UK. Its first building
9384-490: The UK's lowest unemployment rates, as of April 2016 it stood at 0.7%. Once Poland joined the European Union in 2004, a number of Banbury-based employment agencies began advertising for staff in major Polish newspapers. In 2006 one estimate placed between 5,000 and 6,000 Poles in the town. With the influx of the largely Roman Catholic Poles, one local church was offering a Mass said partially in Polish and specialist Polish food shops had opened. Jacobs Douwe Egberts , in
9522-697: The United Kingdom, after the British Library . The Bodleian Library is a legal deposit library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. As such, its collection is growing at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year. As well as the BBC national radio stations , Oxford and the surrounding area has several local stations, including BBC Radio Oxford , Heart South , Destiny 105 , Greatest Hits Radio and Hits Radio Oxfordshire , along with Oxide: Oxford Student Radio (which went on terrestrial radio at 87.7 MHz FM in late May 2005). A local TV station , Six TV : The Oxford Channel,
9660-461: The Warwickshire Committee of Accounts to pay for feeding them. The castle was demolished after the war. The opening of the Oxford Canal from Hawkesbury Junction to Banbury on 30 March 1778 gave the town a cheap and reliable supply of Warwickshire coal. In 1787 the Oxford Canal was extended southwards, finally opening to Oxford on 1 January 1790. The canal's main boat yard was the original outlay of today's Tooley's Boatyard . People's Park
9798-404: The Yarnton Spur was opened, allowing direct access from the OW&WR line to the LNWR Oxford station; this was used chiefly for goods traffic, but in the autumn of 1857 local passenger trains used it during a period of exceptionally strained relations between the OW&WR and the GWR. The service to London over the LNWR ceased by 1 September 1861; the west to south curve at Yarnton was reduced to
9936-520: The area is often used by film and TV crews. Aside from the city centre, there are several suburbs and neighbourhoods within the borders of the city of Oxford, including: Oxford is at the centre of the Oxford Green Belt , which is an environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space in Oxfordshire surrounding the city, aiming to prevent urban sprawl and minimize convergence with nearby settlements. The policy has been blamed for
10074-580: The authorised line. Although the OW&WR had originally been expected to be an ally of the GWR, the friendly relations cooled, and the London and North Western Railway (as owner of the Oxford to Bletchley line) developed good relations with the OW&WR. The LNWR tried to negotiate a takeover of the OW&WR, but this was rejected in Parliament; and in 1852 a direct connection between the LNWR Bletchley line and
10212-481: The border of Banburyshire's area. There was a plan in the late 2000s to expand the Bretch Hill estate westwards into local farmland, but this has now been suspended due to the credit crunch and local hostility to the plan, including the southern expansion towards Bodicote . The Hanwell Fields Estate was built in the north between 2001 and 2009. It was intended to provide affordable social housing to
10350-790: The city of Oxford was a county borough , independent from the county council. Oxford City Council meets at the Town Hall on the street called St Aldate's in the city centre. The current building was completed in 1897, on a site which had been occupied by Oxford's guildhall since the 13th century. Most of Oxford is an unparished area , but there are four civil parishes within the city's boundaries: Blackbird Leys , Littlemore , Old Marston , and Risinghurst and Sandhills . Oxford's economy includes manufacturing, publishing and science-based industries as well as education, sports, entertainment, breweries, research and tourism. Oxford has been an important centre of motor manufacturing since Morris Motors
10488-415: The construction significantly overran cost estimates, and the company had to confer with the LNWR (as prospective lessee) about how to raise the extra cash. The authorised capital had been £240,000, and this had never fully been subscribed, and after opening the estimated cost to complete had risen to £370,175. This at last proved to be accurate. There was acrimony between the companies, but the LNWR underwrote
10626-464: The current Banbury Cross was erected in 1859 at the centre of the town to commemorate the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal (eldest child of Queen Victoria ) to Prince Frederick of Prussia . The current Banbury Cross is a stone, spire-shaped monument decorated in Gothic form . Statues of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V were added in 1914 to commemorate the coronation of George V. The cross
10764-547: The direction in which they were going. They were considered by users to be very comfortable. Woodwork was framed teak and the coach was lit electrically. Alighting and departing the vehicle at the ground level platforms of the halts was effected by a set of steps that swung out from the body of the vehicle. The steps were interlocked with the brakes. In 1905, there were six workings between Oxford and Bicester, with one additional on Thursday and Saturday, in each direction. A number of small timber platform halts were built to facilitate
10902-533: The driver to control the train from the coach when it was being propelled. The autotrains, and the halts west of Bicester, were finally withdrawn on 25 October 1926, during the General Strike , but competition from road omnibuses had led to a significant decline in rail patronage. The system continued further east but, in 1959, the autotrains were replaced by diesel multiple units , and the remaining stopping places were given raised platforms. From Oxford to Islip,
11040-673: The early 1960s. The county of Oxfordshire has two main commercial centres, the city of Oxford itself that serves most of the south of the county, and Banbury that serves the north (such as Adderbury , Cropredy , Deddington , Wroxton , Great Bourton , and Bloxham ) plus parts of the neighbouring counties of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire . The villages of King's Sutton and Middleton Cheney , and possibly also Aynho , Fenny Compton , Charlton , and Croughton could be considered part of Banburyshire, as well as Upper and Lower Brailes . The settlements of Bicester , Hinton-in-the-Hedges , Chipping Norton , and Hook Norton are on
11178-425: The entire line to be re-established by the mid 2020s, partly on a new route and under a new name – East West Rail . The Oxford to Cambridge line, when completed, ran broadly west to east. Although a continuous line from Oxford to Cambridge was proposed from time to time, it was actually built by local schemes. From west to east, these were: In time, these sections were all incorporated into
11316-696: The extra capital, and after considerable further negotiation, the LNWR absorbed the Bedford and Cambridge Railway Company by a share conversion, equating to 4% on the £240,000 original capital. It opened on 7 July 1862 for passengers, and for goods in October 1862. The Sandy and Potton Railway had been purchased for £20,000. On 1 July 1862 the Eastern Counties Railway was restructured into the Great Eastern Railway. The May 1864 working timetable shows four passenger trains running throughout from Cambridge to Bletchley, and one early train from Bedford to Bletchley, and three goods trains. One Sunday passenger train
11454-569: The hostile, and even spiteful, Eastern Counties Railway. The Bedford and Cambridge Railway was to take over the Sandy and Potton Railway and use its alignment. The route chosen entered the southern extremity of Cambridge alongside the Eastern Counties route from London, at Cambridge being permitted to use a platform at the ECR station. There was to be a separate LNWR goods station west of Hills Road. In fact
11592-400: The introduction of a wider zero-emission zone is expected in the future, at a date to be confirmed. Oxford has eight bus gates, short sections of road where only buses and other authorised vehicles can pass. Six further bus gates are currently proposed. A council-led consultation on the traffic filters ended on 13 October 2022. On 29 November 2022, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet approved
11730-494: The introduction on a trial basis, for a minimum period of six months. The trial will begin after improvement works to Oxford railway station are complete, which is expected to be by October 2024. The additional bus gates have been controversial; Oxford University and Oxford Bus Company support the proposals but more than 3,700 people have signed an online petition opposing the new traffic filters for Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way, and hotelier Jeremy Mogford has argued they would be
11868-489: The large rise in house prices in Oxford, making it the least affordable city in the United Kingdom outside of London, with estate agents calling for brownfield land inside the green belt to be released for new housing. The vast majority of the area covered is outside of the city, but there are some green spaces within that which are covered by the designation, such as much of the Thames and river Cherwell flood-meadows , and
12006-534: The largest single room devoted to book sales in the whole of Europe, the Norrington Room (10,000 sq ft). There is a long history of brewing in Oxford. Several of the colleges had private breweries, one of which, at Brasenose , survived until 1889. In the 16th century brewing and malting appear to have been the most popular trades in the city. There were breweries in Brewer Street and Paradise Street , near
12144-607: The late 1970s and was abandoned in the late 1980s, while the Crown Hotel and the Foremost Tyres/Excel Exhausts shops found new owners after they closed in 1976 due to falling sales. Hella , a vehicle electronics firm, closed its factory on the Southam Road in the mid-2000s. The ironmonger , Hoods, opened in the mid-1960s and closed in 2007, with the shop becoming part of the then enlarged Marks and Spencer . Owing to
12282-519: The late 6th century. It was assessed at 50 hides in the Domesday survey and was then held by the Bishop of Lincoln . The Saxons built Banbury on the west bank of the River Cherwell. On the opposite bank they built Grimsbury , which was formerly part of Northamptonshire . Another district, Neithrop , is one of the oldest areas in Banbury, having first been recorded as a hamlet in the 13th century. Both Grimsbury and Neithrop were formally incorporated into
12420-473: The line, as a point where engines were changed over and passengers rested . In 1836, proposals were put forward to build a line from Cambridge to join the L&BR (still under construction) at Bletchley; the line would have passed through Bedford, but the scheme was not taken forward. The obvious enhancement to the prosperity of Aylesbury following that town's connection to the L&BR changed attitudes, and as time passed, Bedford business interests sought
12558-648: The most complete remains of a dodo found anywhere in the world. It also hosts the Simonyi Professorship of the Public Understanding of Science , currently held by Marcus du Sautoy . Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum , founded in 1884, which displays the university's archaeological and anthropological collections, currently holding over 500,000 items. It recently built
12696-598: The new LMS. In the 1930s, the major railways adopted a novel form of collaboration in the interest of reducing operating expenses. In 1934 the Stationmaster of the GWR's Oxford General station took over the management of the LMS's Rewley Road station. Cartage lorries in Oxford carried the initials of both companies. In 1931, the Michelin Tyre Company was trying to market an internal combustion (petrol) railcar, which it named
12834-447: The new service. The halts were unstaffed, and tickets were issued by a conductor on the train. The first was Summertown Halt, opened on 20 August 1906. By the following January the name had been changed to Port Meadow. The remainder of the halts were opened on 9 October 1905. From 1 December 1905, a steam railmotor was operated between Bedford and Bletchley also, and several new halts were opened. Three vehicles were used, one being kept as
12972-521: The northeast, southeast and west of Banbury. Banbury is located at the bank of the River Cherwell which sweeps through the town, going just east of the town centre with Grimsbury being the only estate east of the river. Banbury is at the northern extreme of the UK's South East England region, less than two miles (3 km) from the boundary with the East Midlands , and three miles (5 km) from that with
13110-416: The original ( Didcot ) route is still in use for its full length, portions of the others remain. There were also routes to the north and west. The line to Banbury was opened in 1850, and was extended to Birmingham Snow Hill in 1852; a route to Worcester opened in 1853. A branch to Witney was opened in 1862, which was extended to Fairford in 1873. The line to Witney and Fairford closed in 1962, but
13248-670: The others remain open. Oxford was historically an important port on the River Thames , with this section of the river being called the Isis ; the Oxford-Burcot Commission in the 17th century attempted to improve navigation to Oxford. Iffley Lock and Osney Lock lie within the bounds of the city. In the 18th century the Oxford Canal was built to connect Oxford with the Midlands . Commercial traffic has given way to recreational use of
13386-507: The pool of Oxford University students and graduates, and, especially for EFL education , use their Oxford location as a selling point. Oxford has numerous major tourist attractions, many belonging to the university and colleges. As well as several famous institutions, the town centre is home to Carfax Tower and the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, both of which offer views over
13524-497: The railmotor halts were: Summertown Halt, soon renamed Port Meadow, Wolvercote, and Oxford Road, and between Islip and Bicester: Oddington, Charlton, and Wendlebury Halt, near Bicester. The eastern section halts were Bow Brickhill, Aspley Guise, Husborne Crawley, Wootton Pillinge, Wootton Broadmead, Kempston Hardwick, and Kempston & Elstow. At the beginning of 1923, the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" into one or other of four new, large companies, in compliance with
13662-512: The river and canal. Oxford was the original base of Salters Steamers (founded in 1858), which was a leading racing-boatbuilder that played an important role in popularising pleasure boating on the Upper Thames. The firm runs a regular service from Folly Bridge downstream to Abingdon and beyond. Oxford's central location on several transport routes means that it has long been a crossroads city with many coaching inns , although road traffic
13800-458: The second highest percentage of people cycling to work. Oxford railway station is half a mile (about 1 km) west of the city centre. The station is served by CrossCountry services to Bournemouth and Manchester Piccadilly ; Great Western Railway (who manage the station) services to London Paddington , Banbury and Hereford ; and Chiltern Railways services to London Marylebone . Oxford has had three main railway stations. The first
13938-474: The site was made available. Approaching trains crossed a swing bridge over the Sheepwash Channel to reach it. The junction with Oxford and Rugby Railway at Banbury was not made by the company, and the southwards extension from Verney was abandoned for the time being. The LNWR provided more than half the capital and worked the line from the beginning, and leased it for 999 years from 1 July 1851 guaranteeing
14076-612: The specialist further and higher education institution Ruskin College that is part of the University of West London in Oxford. The Islamic Azad University also has a campus near Oxford. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and one of the most prestigious higher education institutions of the world, averaging nine applications to every available place, and attracting 40% of its academic staff and 17% of undergraduates from overseas. In September 2016, it
14214-519: The spires of the city. Many tourists shop at the historic Covered Market . In the summer, punting on the Thames / Isis and the Cherwell is a common practice. As well as being a major draw for tourists (9.1 million in 2008, similar in 2009) , Oxford city centre has many shops, several theatres and an ice rink. There are two small shopping malls in the city centre: the Clarendon Centre and
14352-512: The surrounding area's notable links with world motorsport , the town is home to many well known organisations within the industry. Prodrive , one of the world's largest motorsport and automotive technology specialists, is based in the town as are a host of race teams involved in competition across many different disciplines and countries. Within Formula One , two teams have had their base of operations in Banbury. The Simtek team which competed in
14490-581: The town and county. It was formally closed in June 1998, after being abandoned several years earlier and was replaced with a new housing development and Dashwood Primary School. Banbury railway station is served by three train operating companies: The town's bus routes are operated primarily by Stagecoach in Oxfordshire both within the town and linking it with Brackley , Chipping Norton , Oxford and places further afield including Daventry , Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon . Hennef Way ( A422 )
14628-643: The town. A heavily ecclesiastical town, Oxford was greatly affected by the changes of the English Reformation , emerging as the seat of a bishopric and a full-fledged city. During the English Civil War , Oxford housed the court of Charles I and stood at the heart of national affairs. The city began to grow industrially during the 19th century, and had an industrial boom in the early 20th century, with major printing and car-manufacturing industries. These declined, along with other British heavy industry, in
14766-463: The two schemes were amalgamated to form the Buckinghamshire Railway, authorised by Act of Parliament on 22 July 1847. The new company would form a Y shape from Bletchley to both Oxford and Banbury . The 1847 powers also included an extension to Banbury, connecting to the Oxford and Rugby Railway there, and a southward extension from Verney Junction to join the Aylesbury branch. The scheme was encouraged by
14904-544: The upper reaches of the River Thames at its confluence with the River Cherwell , the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period , and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford . The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142. During the Middle Ages Oxford had an important Jewish community, of which David of Oxford and his wife Licoricia of Winchester were prominent members. The university rose to dominate
15042-583: The village of Binsey , along with several smaller portions on the fringes. Other landscape features and places of interest covered include Cutteslowe Park and the mini railway attraction, the University Parks , Hogacre Common Eco Park, numerous sports grounds, Aston's Eyot , St Margaret 's Church and well, and Wolvercote Common and community orchard. There are two tiers of local government covering Oxford, at district and county level: Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council . From 1889 to 1974
15180-537: The west and north of Banbury, and more upmarket housing in the Hanwell fields area. In January 1554 Banbury was granted a royal charter that established the town as a borough to be governed by the aldermen of the town. The same charter created the position of High Steward of Banbury . Banbury was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835 . It retained a borough council until 1974, when under
15318-426: Was Boswell's , founded in 1738. The store closed in 2020. St Aldate's has few shops but several local government buildings, including the town hall , the city police station and local council offices. The High (the word street is traditionally omitted) is the longest of the four streets and has a number of independent and high-end chain stores, but mostly university and college buildings. The historic buildings mean
15456-412: Was 1788, with 336.7 mm (13.26 in) of rainfall. The wettest year was 2012, with 979.5 mm (38.56 in). The wettest month on record was September 1774, with a total fall of 223.9 mm (8.81 in). The warmest month on record is July 1983, with an average of 21.1 °C (70 °F) and the coldest is January 1963, with an average of −3.0 °C (27 °F). The warmest year on record
15594-512: Was a Roman villa at nearby Wykham Park. The area was settled by the Saxons around the late 5th century. In about 556 Banbury was the scene of a battle between the local Anglo-Saxons of Cynric and Ceawlin , and the local Romano-British . It was a local centre for Anglo-Saxon settlement by the mid-6th century. Banbury developed in the Anglo-Saxon period under Danish influence, starting in
15732-456: Was a single track west of Claydon Junction. The 1853 passenger timetable shows 4 trains each way daily except Sundays, the first trains each way divided and joined Buckingham portions at Winslow . The journey time Oxford to Bletchley was 75 minutes and a typical journey Oxford to London took about 2 hours 45 minutes. The company had its own station at Oxford. It was fortunate in finding a site: Rewley Abbey had long since fallen into ruins, and
15870-567: Was again scheduled to be developed as a strategic route, but that scheme was never fully implemented either. Passenger services were withdrawn from most of the line on 1 January 1968, and only the Bletchley–Bedford section remained open for passenger traffic. In 1987, the section between Oxford and Bicester was reopened, followed in 2015 by a connection to the Chiltern Main Line at Bicester, enabling Chiltern Railways to operate an Oxford to London passenger service. There are funded plans for
16008-591: Was also available but closed in April 2009; a service operated by That's TV , originally called That's Oxford (now That's Oxfordshire), took to the airwaves in 2015. The city is home to a BBC Television newsroom which produces an opt-out from the main South Today programme broadcast from Southampton . Local papers include The Oxford Times (compact; weekly), its sister papers the Oxford Mail ( tabloid ; daily) and
16146-403: Was authorised as a broad gauge line on 4 August 1845. Its line was to be 89 miles in length, connecting to the Great Western Railway at Wolvercot Junction, just north of Oxford. The cost of the line was heavy, and the estimates fell considerably short, so that the company was constantly short of funds during the construction period. For some time it concentrated its resources on the northern part of
16284-515: Was based on wool . Banbury Castle was built from 1135 by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln , and survived into the Civil War , when it was besieged. Due to its proximity to Oxford , the King's capital, Banbury was at one stage a Royalist town, but the inhabitants were known to be strongly Puritan . Banbury played an important part in the English Civil War as a base of operations for Oliver Cromwell , who
16422-502: Was brought to Oxford for trials with a service to Bicester. However, during a trial run on 5 October 1905 the vehicle developed a hot axlebox, and the opening was deferred to the 9th. The railmotor was found to be capable of a top speed of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), and was timed for 30 minutes for the 12 miles (19 km) to Bicester. The vehicle had seats for 48 passengers in two saloons, smoking and non-smoking. The transverse seating had reversible backs, to allow passengers to face
16560-447: Was built on the grounds of Hanwell Farm during 2005 and 2006. Banburyshire is an informal area centred on Banbury, claimed to include parts of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire as well as north Oxfordshire . Use of the term dates from the early to mid 19th century. It was common in the 19th century for market towns in England to describe their hinterland by tacking "shire" onto the town's name. "Stones Map of Banburyshire" held by
16698-550: Was called Banesburh (dative Banesbyrig ). The name appears as Banesberie in the Domesday Book of 1086. Another known spelling was Banesebury in medieval times. During excavations for the construction of an office building in Hennef Way in 2002, the remains of a British Iron Age settlement with circular buildings dating back to 200 BC were found. The site contained around 150 pieces of pottery and stone. Later there
16836-658: Was discontinued and the railway dismantled. In March 1962 Sir John Betjeman celebrated the line from Culworth Junction in his poem Great Central Railway, Sheffield Victoria to Banbury . British Railways closed this line too in 1966. The main railway station, previously called Banbury General but now called simply Banbury , is now served by trains running from London Paddington via Reading and Oxford once daily, from London Marylebone via High Wycombe and Bicester onwards to Birmingham and Kidderminster and by CrossCountry Trains from Bournemouth and Reading to Birmingham , Manchester and Newcastle . Banbury used to have
16974-598: Was erected in 1678–1683 to house a cabinet of curiosities given to the University of Oxford in 1677. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment. It holds significant collections of art and archaeology, including works by Michelangelo , Leonardo da Vinci , Turner , and Picasso , as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead , the Parian Marble and the Alfred Jewel . It also contains " The Messiah ",
17112-520: Was established in 1990, and the Begbroke Science Park , owned by the university, lies north of the city. Oxford increasingly has a reputation for being a centre of digital innovation, as epitomized by Digital Oxford. Several startups including Passle, Brainomix, Labstep, and more, are based in Oxford. The presence of the university has also led to Oxford becoming a centre for the education industry. Companies often draw their teaching staff from
17250-519: Was established in the city in 1910. The principal production site for Mini cars, owned by BMW since 2000, is in the Oxford suburb of Cowley . The plant, which survived the turbulent years of British Leyland in the 1970s and was threatened with closure in the early 1990s, also produced cars under the Austin and Rover brands following the demise of the Morris brand in 1984, although the last Morris-badged car
17388-571: Was founded in 1743 by Richard Tawney. He formed a partnership in 1782 with Mark and James Morrell, who eventually became the owners. After an acrimonious family dispute the brewery was closed in 1998. The beer brand names were taken over by the Thomas Hardy Burtonwood brewery, while the 132 tied pubs were bought by Michael Cannon, owner of the American hamburger chain Fuddruckers , through
17526-495: Was made, the junction there was called Claydon LNE Junction to emphasise the distinction. Following authorisation of the Buckinghamshire company, the directors determined on 10 November 1847 to press ahead with the Banbury line in preference to the Oxford line. Work started on the last day of 1847. The line opened from Bletchley to Banbury on 1 May 1850 for passenger traffic, and goods trains started on 15 May 1850. Opening of
17664-554: Was opened at Grandpont in 1844, but this was a terminus, inconvenient for routes to the north; it was replaced by the present station on Park End Street in 1852 with the opening of the Birmingham route. Another terminus, at Rewley Road , was opened in 1851 to serve the Bletchley route; this station closed in 1951. There have also been a number of local railway stations, all of which are now closed. A fourth station, Oxford Parkway ,
17802-527: Was planned by Captain Sir William Peel . He had settled in Potton, and conceived a railway running almost entirely over his own lands, connecting with the Great Northern Railway at Sandy. The length of the line was 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles, and an opening ceremony was held in June 1857. The line opened to public goods traffic on 23 June 1857. A Board of Trade inspection took place on 5 November 1857, and this
17940-442: Was prepared; the capital was to be £125,000. On 16 July 1846 the London and Birmingham Railway amalgamated with others, and formed the London and North Western Railway . A proposed extension of the Bedford line on to Cambridge through Hitchin was submitted to Parliament in the 1846 session but failed standing orders. The line to Bedford opened on 17 November 1846, when a ceremonial opening took 600 persons from Bedford to Bletchley in
18078-581: Was produced there in 1982. Oxford University Press , a department of the University of Oxford , is based in the city, although it no longer operates its own paper mill and printing house. The city is also home to the UK operations of Wiley-Blackwell , Elsevier and several smaller publishing houses. The presence of the university has given rise to many science and technology based businesses, including Oxford Instruments , Research Machines and Sophos . The university established Isis Innovation in 1987 to promote technology transfer. The Oxford Science Park
18216-542: Was purchased by the United States–based Haas F1 Team to service their cars during the European races. Until 2017, when the team went into administration and subsequently folded, Manor Racing (the successor to Marussia) was based in the town. Arden Motorsport , a British multi-formula motorsports team (founded by Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner ), is also based in the town. Banbury has one of
18354-563: Was ranked as the world's number one university, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings . Oxford is renowned for its tutorial -based method of teaching. The University of Oxford maintains the largest university library system in the United Kingdom, and, with over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in
18492-700: Was set up as a private park in 1890 and opened in 1910, along with the adjacent bowling green . The land south of The New Foscote Hospital in Calthorpe and Easington Farm were mostly open farmland until the early 1960s as shown by the Ordnance Survey maps of 1964, 1955 and 1947. It had only a few farmsteads, the odd house, an allotment field (now under the Sainsbury's store), the Municipal Borough of Banbury council's small reservoir just south of Easington Farm and
18630-518: Was soon enhanced to five each way, one of which was limited-stop, and two Sunday trains. Immediately on opening the Bedford Railway was absorbed into the London and North Western Railway. The terms were 4% per annum on the capital, plus half of any surplus. The LNWR had subscribed 1,522 of the 2,500 shares. The Oxford and Bletchley Junction Railway and the Buckingham and Brackley Junction Railway had both been authorised in 1846, and before construction
18768-549: Was successful, enabling opening of the line to passengers on 9 November 1857. Peel acquired a locomotive for the line from George England and Co. of Hatcham; it was named Shannon , after the frigate commanded by Peel. A locomotive was hired from the GNR on one or two occasions, and passenger rolling stock was supplied by the GNR. The line had cost £15,000 to build. The GNR had allowed Captain Peel to terminate his line in their Sandy goods yard, on condition that he would remove his works if
18906-404: Was upgraded to a dual carriageway , easing traffic on the heavily congested road and providing north Banbury and the town centre with higher-capacity links to the M40 motorway . The Oxford Canal is a popular place for pleasure trips and tourism. The canal's main boatyard is now the listed site Tooley's Boatyard . The Banbury Guardian is published weekly on Thursdays by Johnston Press ,
19044-599: Was −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) on 24 December 1860. The highest temperature ever recorded in Oxford is 38.1 °C (101 °F) on 19 July 2022. The average conditions below are from the Radcliffe Meteorological Station . It has the longest series of temperature and rainfall records for one site in Britain . These records are continuous from January 1815. Irregular observations of rainfall, cloud cover, and temperature exist since 1767. The driest year on record
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