Blackbird Leys
Encyclopedia
Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford
, England, and is one of the largest council estates in Europe. According to the 2001 census
, the ward had a population of 5,803. Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish
. The parish was created in 1990. Its 2001 parish headcount was 12,196.
or Iron Age
settlement on the site. Evidence has been found suggesting pits and roundhouses
, with remains of pottery and a cylindrical loom weight of a kind previously known only from East Anglia
.
Modern-day Blackbird Leys was built mainly in the 1950s and 60s to meet the then pressing need for accommodation. It was part of a plan to re-house people from the dilapidated inner city. This included large-scale clearance of a site near to where the Oxford Ice Rink
is currently located (The Oxpens). Many of the families that moved onto the estate originally came from this area. It was also a convenient site for factory workers at the Morris Motor Company
plant in nearby Cowley
.
and Afro-Caribbeans.
In early September of 1991, rioting plagued Blackbird Leys for three nights. Following a crackdown by police on joyriding, some 150 youths stoned police officers. Two women suffered stab wounds and two men suffered other injuries during the riots.
Around this time, Blackbird Leys was infamous for its joy riding
. Young men from the estate would steal fast cars and 'display' them (with a variety of high-speed stunts) to an audience gathered outside the estate shops (top shops), eventually gaining worldwide media attention. Politician Andrew Smith stated in 1991 that the extensive national media coverage of confrontations with the police in August and September left many of the wider public with a distorted picture of the problem. Some say journalists visiting helped encourage some of the action for filming. Various measures were brought in by the local council and police to stop the displays. Police often found it difficult to catch joy riders, whose stolen cars were faster than the police vehicles, though eventually a faster police car was introduced. Chicanes were built around the shops area, and an anti-skid surface applied to the road, making it difficult to execute handbrake turns and other stunts. Greater Leys (the newest parts of the Blackbird Leys estate) was specifically designed to minimise the number of roads entering the estate, making it easier to prevent drivers from escaping.
There have been several fatalities and serious injuries on Blackbird Leys as a result of joyriding. On 14 December 2000, nine-year-old Ross Doyle was killed by joyriders when a stolen Vauxhall Astra
veered out of control and mounted the pavement. Nobody has ever being convicted in connection with the crime, in spite of several arrests being made in the year following the tragedy.
23-year-old Jamaica
n immigrant Moshean Cameron was fatally stabbed on the estate on 30 April 2004; drugs was the suspected motive. A local man was arrested in connection with the murder but six years on it remains unsolved.
On one scale Blackbird Leys is in the 10% most deprived areas in England.
In 2006, residents from the estate took part in The Singing Estate
, a Channel Five reality TV show following their progress from amateur singers to classical choir. The Blackbird Leys Choir
emerged from the original choir and continues today, just one of the community groups thriving on the estate.
. The Independent Working Class Association
performed strongly in the mid-2000s, holding three of the four council seats on Oxford City Council
between 2006 and 2008, and still retaining one. Local MP Andrew Smith has a house on the estate as well as a Town House in Central London which is registered in his wife's name. His wife is one of the City councillors and County Councillors for the area.
and Stagecoach in Oxfordshire provide bus services between Blackbird Leys and central Oxford.
The freight-only railway between Kennington
Junction and the BMW Mini
factory via Iffley
and Littlemore
forms the northwestern boundary of Blackbird Leys. It is part of the former Wycombe Railway
that British Rail
ways closed to passenger traffic in 1963.
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, and is one of the largest council estates in Europe. According to the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, the ward had a population of 5,803. Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
. The parish was created in 1990. Its 2001 parish headcount was 12,196.
Origin
There was a Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
or Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlement on the site. Evidence has been found suggesting pits and roundhouses
Roundhouse (dwelling)
The roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, originally built in western Europe before the Roman occupation using walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof. Roundhouses ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m...
, with remains of pottery and a cylindrical loom weight of a kind previously known only from East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
.
Modern-day Blackbird Leys was built mainly in the 1950s and 60s to meet the then pressing need for accommodation. It was part of a plan to re-house people from the dilapidated inner city. This included large-scale clearance of a site near to where the Oxford Ice Rink
Oxford Ice Rink
Oxford Ice Rink is a 56 × 26m ice rink located on Oxpens Road in Oxford, England. It is a ten-minute walk from Oxford city centre and railway station....
is currently located (The Oxpens). Many of the families that moved onto the estate originally came from this area. It was also a convenient site for factory workers at the Morris Motor Company
Morris Motor Company
The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984 when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin marque...
plant in nearby Cowley
Cowley, Oxford
Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...
.
Community
Ethnically the population is made up principally of white peopleWhite people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
and Afro-Caribbeans.
In early September of 1991, rioting plagued Blackbird Leys for three nights. Following a crackdown by police on joyriding, some 150 youths stoned police officers. Two women suffered stab wounds and two men suffered other injuries during the riots.
Around this time, Blackbird Leys was infamous for its joy riding
Joyride (crime)
To joyride is to drive around in a stolen car, boat, or other vehicle with no particular goal, a ride taken solely for pleasure.In English law, joyriding is not considered to be theft, because the intention to "permanently deprive" the owner of the vehicle cannot be proven...
. Young men from the estate would steal fast cars and 'display' them (with a variety of high-speed stunts) to an audience gathered outside the estate shops (top shops), eventually gaining worldwide media attention. Politician Andrew Smith stated in 1991 that the extensive national media coverage of confrontations with the police in August and September left many of the wider public with a distorted picture of the problem. Some say journalists visiting helped encourage some of the action for filming. Various measures were brought in by the local council and police to stop the displays. Police often found it difficult to catch joy riders, whose stolen cars were faster than the police vehicles, though eventually a faster police car was introduced. Chicanes were built around the shops area, and an anti-skid surface applied to the road, making it difficult to execute handbrake turns and other stunts. Greater Leys (the newest parts of the Blackbird Leys estate) was specifically designed to minimise the number of roads entering the estate, making it easier to prevent drivers from escaping.
There have been several fatalities and serious injuries on Blackbird Leys as a result of joyriding. On 14 December 2000, nine-year-old Ross Doyle was killed by joyriders when a stolen Vauxhall Astra
Vauxhall Astra
Astra is a model name which has been used by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors , on their small family car ranges since 1979. Astras are technically essentially identical with similar vehicles offered by GM's German subsidiary Opel in most other European countries...
veered out of control and mounted the pavement. Nobody has ever being convicted in connection with the crime, in spite of several arrests being made in the year following the tragedy.
23-year-old Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n immigrant Moshean Cameron was fatally stabbed on the estate on 30 April 2004; drugs was the suspected motive. A local man was arrested in connection with the murder but six years on it remains unsolved.
On one scale Blackbird Leys is in the 10% most deprived areas in England.
In 2006, residents from the estate took part in The Singing Estate
The Singing Estate
The Singing Estate was a four-part constructed documentary series made by North One Television for Five and FiveArts Cities in the UK, shot from January 2006 to April 2006 and transmitted from 11 June to 2 July 2006...
, a Channel Five reality TV show following their progress from amateur singers to classical choir. The Blackbird Leys Choir
Blackbird Leys Choir
The Blackbird Leys Choir formed in January 2006 as 'Ivor's Choir' for a constructed documentary series, The Singing Estate under Ivor Setterfield...
emerged from the original choir and continues today, just one of the community groups thriving on the estate.
Politics
The area has traditionally been staunchly LabourLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. The Independent Working Class Association
Independent Working Class Association
The Independent Working Class Association is a minor working-class political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the working class, regardless of the consequences to existing political and economic structures...
performed strongly in the mid-2000s, holding three of the four council seats on Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council
The Oxford City Council provides local government for the city of Oxford in England.- Overview :Between the 2004 local elections, and 2010 the council was in minority administration, first by councillors from the Labour Party, with the Liberal Democrats being the official opposition...
between 2006 and 2008, and still retaining one. Local MP Andrew Smith has a house on the estate as well as a Town House in Central London which is registered in his wife's name. His wife is one of the City councillors and County Councillors for the area.
Transport
Oxford Bus CompanyOxford Bus Company
Oxford Bus Company is a bus operator serving the city and surrounding area of Oxford, England and is the trading name of City of Oxford Motor Services Ltd. It is now a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group...
and Stagecoach in Oxfordshire provide bus services between Blackbird Leys and central Oxford.
The freight-only railway between Kennington
Kennington, Oxfordshire
Kennington is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, just south of Oxford. The village occupies a narrow stretch of land between the River Thames and the A34 dual carriageway...
Junction and the BMW Mini
MINI (BMW)
Mini is a British automotive marque owned by BMW which specialises in small cars.Mini originated as a specific vehicle, a small car originally known as the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and developed into a brand encompassing a range of...
factory via Iffley
Iffley Halt railway station
Iffley Halt railway station was built by the Great Western Railway to serve Iffley, a suburb of Oxford; it was actually in Kennington, and not in Iffley.The station was situated at the western end of Kennington Railway Bridge, which crosses the River Thames...
and Littlemore
Littlemore railway station
Littlemore railway station was on the Wycombe Railway and served Littlemore in Oxfordshire. Littlemore was then a village but is now a suburb of Oxford.The Wycombe Railway opened the station in 1864 as part of its extension from Thame to Oxford....
forms the northwestern boundary of Blackbird Leys. It is part of the former Wycombe Railway
Wycombe Railway
The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to .-History:The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament passed in 1846...
that British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways closed to passenger traffic in 1963.
See also
- Littlemore BrookLittlemore BrookLittlemore Brook is a tributary of the River Thames in Oxfordshire, southern England. It runs from the Blackbird Leys estate in the city of Oxford behind the Kassam Stadium and through the Oxford Science Park to the south of the city, near the village of Littlemore after which it is named. It joins...
, which flows from Blackbird Leys and through the Oxford Science ParkOxford Science ParkThe Oxford Science Park is a science and technology park located on the southern edge of the city of Oxford, England. It was founded jointly by Magdalen College, Oxford and Prudential in 1990...
to the south.