Jericho, Oxford
Encyclopedia
Jericho is a historic suburb of the English
city of Oxford
. It consists of the streets bounded by the Oxford Canal
, Worcester College
, Walton Street
and Walton Well Road
. Located outside the old city wall, it was originally a place for travellers to rest if they had reached the city after the gates had closed. The name Jericho may have been adopted to signify this 'remote place' outside the wall.
, which arrived in 1790. The Eagle Ironworks
(now redeveloped into apartments), wharves and the Oxford University Press
were based there and its residential streets are mostly 'two-up, two-down' Victorian
workers' houses. With backstreets of nineteenth century terraced housing and many restaurants, it has become a hugely popular location for student
and London
commuter accommodation.
Many reports from the 1870s suggest that early built homes in Jericho were built with very poor drainage. Low lying land and lack of basic drainage in these homes would result in flooding. Flooding and open sewers, contributed to by the many residences and the over-crowded housing, resulted in deaths from diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea, with five out of eleven typhoid deaths in 1873 originating from Jericho.
In the 1950s, Jericho was briefly a red light
area, and in the early 1960s there were plans to demolish it and replace it with light industrial units and new housing. However, many people objected and campaigned to save this historic area, rallied by local city councillor Olive Gibbs and the Jericho Residents Association. As a result the plans were changed. Although the houses beyond repair were demolished many were upgraded in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the help of council grants. This encouraged many young professionals and families to move in and subsequently Jericho became one of Oxford's most sought-after areas.
(11 June). It is also the focus for other community activities and has also been very active in campaigning for responsible development of the canalside land behind St. Barnabas Church on a small part of which it plans to build a new Community Centre.
With its biblical name, Jericho is also known for its iconic places of worship. The Church of England parish church
is the Anglo-Catholic St Barnabas Church
, next to the Oxford Canal
. St. Sepulchre's Cemetery lies off Walton Street, which has no associated church and has lost its chapel. The Albert Street Chapel (Reformed Baptist
) is also in the neighbourhood. The Oxford Synagogue (one of the few in England with more than one denomination of Judaism
worshipping in the same house) and the Oxford Jewish Centre are in Jericho.
Castlemill Boatyard is a 160 year old wharf
on the canal in Jericho, owned by British Waterways
and now closed. There are controversial plans to sell the site. Since the yard's closure of the yard, Jericho Community Boatyard Ltd has been set up to restore services for Oxford boaters and protect the future of Castle Mill Boatyard.
The cinema has had a number of incarnations. It started in from 1913 as the North Oxford Kinema. In the 1925 it was renamed the Scala, then in 1970 it was split in two and became Studios 1 and 2, one of which was well known for showing softcore pornography. In 1977 the cinema revived again after being taken over by the London company Contemporary Entertainments and acquired its current name, the Phoenix, showing first-run and arthouse films.
Thomas Hardy
's Jude the Obscure
has a scene set in St Barnabas Church, and it is possible that the suburb nicknamed 'Beersheba' in the novel is actually Jericho. As a homage to Hardy, in 1996, one of Jericho's pubs was renamed Jude the Obscure.
The first episode of the long running ITV drama series Inspector Morse
, starring British actor John Thaw
called "The Dead of Jericho
", was partially filmed in the streets of Jericho, notably Combe Road (which is 'Canal Reach' in the drama). It also featured the exterior of the Bookbinders Arms public house
on the corner of Victor Street. The spin-off show Lewis has also stories based around the same area.
Philip Pullman
set parts of his novels Northern Lights
and Lyra's Oxford
in Jericho. In the books, Jericho is home to the water-dwelling "Gyptians". He has been a vocal advocate of the residential boaters' fight to save the Castlemill Boatyard.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
city of Oxford
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...
. It consists of the streets bounded by the Oxford Canal
Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Coventry via Banbury and Rugby. It connects with the River Thames at Oxford, to the Grand Union Canal at the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, and to the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction in Bedworth just...
, Worcester College
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, Walton Street
Walton Street
Walton Street is on the eastern edge of the Jericho district of central Oxford, England.- Overview :The street runs north from the western end of Beaumont Street and northern end of Worcester Street by the main entrance of Worcester College. Somerville College, one of the former women's colleges,...
and Walton Well Road
Walton Well Road
Walton Well Road is a road in central north Oxford, England. It provides the main link from central Oxford to Port Meadow and beyond.- Location :...
. Located outside the old city wall, it was originally a place for travellers to rest if they had reached the city after the gates had closed. The name Jericho may have been adopted to signify this 'remote place' outside the wall.
History
The area was originally an industrial area which grew up because of the presence of the Oxford CanalOxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Coventry via Banbury and Rugby. It connects with the River Thames at Oxford, to the Grand Union Canal at the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, and to the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction in Bedworth just...
, which arrived in 1790. The Eagle Ironworks
Eagle Ironworks, Oxford
The Eagle Ironworks was an ironworks owned by Lucy's on the Oxford Canal in Jericho, Oxford, England. The ironworks was on Walton Well Road at the northern end of Walton Street and backed onto St Sepulchre's Cemetery...
(now redeveloped into apartments), wharves and the Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
were based there and its residential streets are mostly 'two-up, two-down' Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
workers' houses. With backstreets of nineteenth century terraced housing and many restaurants, it has become a hugely popular location for student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
commuter accommodation.
Many reports from the 1870s suggest that early built homes in Jericho were built with very poor drainage. Low lying land and lack of basic drainage in these homes would result in flooding. Flooding and open sewers, contributed to by the many residences and the over-crowded housing, resulted in deaths from diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea, with five out of eleven typhoid deaths in 1873 originating from Jericho.
In the 1950s, Jericho was briefly a red light
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
area, and in the early 1960s there were plans to demolish it and replace it with light industrial units and new housing. However, many people objected and campaigned to save this historic area, rallied by local city councillor Olive Gibbs and the Jericho Residents Association. As a result the plans were changed. Although the houses beyond repair were demolished many were upgraded in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the help of council grants. This encouraged many young professionals and families to move in and subsequently Jericho became one of Oxford's most sought-after areas.
Community
Jericho retains a strong community spirit. The Jericho Community Association runs the Jericho Community Centre in Canal Street, publishes the local newspaper the Jericho Echo and organizes the annual Street Fair which is held in mid-June each year, around the feast day of the patron saint BarnabasBarnabas
Barnabas , born Joseph, was an Early Christian, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. In terms of culture and background, he was a Hellenised Jew, specifically a Levite. Named an apostle in , he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts...
(11 June). It is also the focus for other community activities and has also been very active in campaigning for responsible development of the canalside land behind St. Barnabas Church on a small part of which it plans to build a new Community Centre.
With its biblical name, Jericho is also known for its iconic places of worship. The Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
is the Anglo-Catholic St Barnabas Church
St Barnabas Church, Oxford
St Barnabas Church is a Church of England parish church in Jericho, central Oxford, England, located close to Oxford Canal.The church was founded by Thomas Combe, Superintendent of the Oxford University Press close to the church, and his wife Martha. They were followers of the Oxford Movement...
, next to the Oxford Canal
Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Coventry via Banbury and Rugby. It connects with the River Thames at Oxford, to the Grand Union Canal at the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, and to the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction in Bedworth just...
. St. Sepulchre's Cemetery lies off Walton Street, which has no associated church and has lost its chapel. The Albert Street Chapel (Reformed Baptist
Reformed Baptist
Reformed Baptists are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology. They can trace their history through the early modern Particular Baptists of England. The first Reformed Baptist church was formed in the 1630s...
) is also in the neighbourhood. The Oxford Synagogue (one of the few in England with more than one denomination of Judaism
Jewish denominations
Jewish religious movements , sometimes called "denominations" or "branches", include different groups which have developed among Jews from ancient times and especially in the modern era among Ashkenazi Jews living in anglophone countries...
worshipping in the same house) and the Oxford Jewish Centre are in Jericho.
Castlemill Boatyard is a 160 year old wharf
Wharf
A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...
on the canal in Jericho, owned by British Waterways
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
and now closed. There are controversial plans to sell the site. Since the yard's closure of the yard, Jericho Community Boatyard Ltd has been set up to restore services for Oxford boaters and protect the future of Castle Mill Boatyard.
The cinema has had a number of incarnations. It started in from 1913 as the North Oxford Kinema. In the 1925 it was renamed the Scala, then in 1970 it was split in two and became Studios 1 and 2, one of which was well known for showing softcore pornography. In 1977 the cinema revived again after being taken over by the London company Contemporary Entertainments and acquired its current name, the Phoenix, showing first-run and arthouse films.
Jericho in fiction
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
has a scene set in St Barnabas Church, and it is possible that the suburb nicknamed 'Beersheba' in the novel is actually Jericho. As a homage to Hardy, in 1996, one of Jericho's pubs was renamed Jude the Obscure.
The first episode of the long running ITV drama series Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
, starring British actor John Thaw
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
called "The Dead of Jericho
The Dead of Jericho
The Dead of Jericho is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter, as part of the Inspector Morse series.-Plot summary:Detective Chief Inspector E. Morse of the Thames Valley Police meets Anne Scott at a party hosted by Mrs Murdoch in North Oxford. Six months later Anne Scott is found...
", was partially filmed in the streets of Jericho, notably Combe Road (which is 'Canal Reach' in the drama). It also featured the exterior of the Bookbinders Arms public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
on the corner of Victor Street. The spin-off show Lewis has also stories based around the same area.
Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
set parts of his novels Northern Lights
Northern Lights (novel)
Northern Lights, known as The Golden Compass in North America, is the first novel in English novelist Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy...
and Lyra's Oxford
Lyra's Oxford
Lyra's Oxford is a short book by Philip Pullman depicting an episode involving the heroine of His Dark Materials, Pullman's best-selling trilogy. Lyra's Oxford is set when Lyra Silvertongue is 15, two years after the end of the trilogy...
in Jericho. In the books, Jericho is home to the water-dwelling "Gyptians". He has been a vocal advocate of the residential boaters' fight to save the Castlemill Boatyard.