Risinghurst
Encyclopedia
Risinghurst is an outlying residential area of Oxford
, England
, just outside the Eastern Bypass Road which forms part of the Oxford ring road
. It is about 1 miles (1.6 km)east of the centre of Headington
and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Oxford city centre.
It is part of the Risinghurst and Sandhills
civil parish
and is typical of housing estate
s built between the wars
to house an increasingly prosperous working class
who were moving into new urban centres—in this instance to take advantage of the burgeoning motor industry in Oxford. These estates offered decent housing, relatively sizeable gardens, a garage for a car and whilst Risinghurst isn't quite a garden city
it has a sense of tranquility. (The countrification coming from the pebble-dash finish, the rough stone front wall, and a decent sized front garden where roses could be—and often were—grown.) During the 1930s some 600 homes were built in sets of semi-detached
units; two rows of shops were built on Downside Road and Green Road along with two pubs, a small library but neither a school nor, initially, a church. So not quite a self-contained community and one that by and large was defined by 'The Works' (Morris Motors and Pressed Steel
) that offered a broad range of amenities for their employees.
or wooded hill' reflects the fact that Risinghurst was built on gently rising land running upwards towards Shotover Hill.
Through part of the Estate runs the course of the Roman road
between Silchester
and Towcester
. The Kilns itself is so-named because kiln
s were excavated here that are thought to date back to the Roman period
. Evidence of Romano-British
occupation was discovered during clay-quarrying in the late-19th century (these pits have now become lakes.) Finds recorded in 1898 include building stones, gravel floors, and pottery dated mostly to the 3rd and 4th centuries but including some 2nd-century Samian ware. The surface of a 'probable road' was also sectioned, lying parallel to the main road but over 100 yards (91.4 m) to the east; this consisted of a spread of stones about 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and about 1 feet (30.5 cm) thick in the centre, tapering to 'almost nothing at the edges'. Coins
recovered from the site and recorded by Harding in 1939 ranged from issues of Tiberius
(AD 14–37) to Honorius
(AD 395–423).
In the 17th century a small settlement grew up in what is now the southeast corner of the Estate—the houses are still there. Brick and tile works were established (in the middle of the 19th century three were located off what we now know as Kiln Lane) and that remained in operation until the early part of the 20th century.
The rest of what is now Risinghurst was farmland. Magdalen Farm was located roughly where the top end of Stanway and Collingwood Roads now are. The northern part of Risinghurst was one large field; the southern part was a number of smaller fields. On the site where Nielsen's HQ now sits was a house called Shotover Lodge in the middle of the 19th century but Forest Lodge by the turn of the 20th century.
Up until the late 18th century, the Oxford to London road ran over Shotover Hill. Then a turnpike
was opened on a new route further north with upwards of 80 coaches plus the Mail coach
making the trip to London daily. This is today's A40 road
that forms the northern boundary of Risinghurst. An 18th century turnpike milestone (Oxford 3, London 51) can still be seen on the central reservation near the Thornhill Park and Ride. (Thornhill itself is both the name of the farm to the east of Risinghurst and the hill that rises towards Shotover.)
Bounding the western edge of Risinghurst is Green Road. Maps from the 19th century show that it was a road at that time and it is probably older; its original name was Toot Hill Butts as the road ran through an ancient field of that name.
In the mid to late 1930s the bulk of the Estate was built. Most of the houses in Risinghurst are still these pebble-dashed semi-detached 1930s three-bedroom houses, although there are newer houses behind Nielsen's UK headquarters that date from the 1970s, some smaller ex-council house
s dating from the late 1980s and 18 houses built in 1997 on the site of a coppice. The Estate was built primarily to house the increasing number of workers then employed at Morris Motors (by 1937 Morris Motors was the largest motor manufacturer in Europe); until relatively recently most of the home-owners were still likely to be employed in the automotive industry.
In 1958 work started on the Eastern Bypass—a plan had been under discussion for 30 years and when Risinghurst was built, a gap was left between it and Headington Quarry
so that a road could be built. This dual carriageway
cut off Risinghurst from Headington Quarry. The latter, until then, had been seen as part of the same district by the residents. Now Risinghurst was very much an island with two major trunk roads running along two sides and open countryside along the rest. In 1968 the turn into Risinghurst from the dual carriageway was blocked off causing anger among residents and letters to the local press such as this:
The OCC eventually capitulated.
In 1991 John Snow wrote ...and the aspiring gentility of Risinghurst with its trim rose bushes and weekly ritual of waxing the Rover. Most would agree that this is now a dated view in that the aspiration was never quite reached. The 2001 Census
showed that of 840 people in employment who lived in Risinghurst, 165 worked in healthcare/social work (no doubt due to the proximity of the John Radcliffe Hospital
), 130 in real estate/renting/business activities, 121 in education, and only 105 in manufacturing.
The Green Road or Headington roundabout that lies on the north-eastern corner has become over the years a nationally known landmark, the County's worst accident black-spot and also a traffic-jam nightmare. In 2006, it was ripped-up and replaced at a cost of £2m by a new 'hamburger' design.
In the past, the Estate was bisected by the City Boundary. The part of the Estate within the Bullingdon Rural District Council (the 'County') enjoyed grass verges—lacking in the 'City' sector. The divide meant that children in the two administrative parts went to different schools—this led to little intermingling between families. Both parts also had their own playing fields to further add to the division. However in 1992, the whole of Risinghurst was brought into the City.
There is no school in Risinghurst. In the past, infants and primary aged children who lived in the 'County' attended Sandhills County Primary School. If they passed their 11+
, they went to either Lord Williams's Grammar School in Thame
, or Holton Park Girls Grammar School, Wheatley
. If they failed, they went to the Harlow School in Marston. Those who lived in the 'City', went to primary schools in Headington Quarry; the secondary school
s were either Bayswater or Littlemore Grammar School. Nowadays, the whole of Risinghurst is in the Sandhills Community Primary School and Wheatley Park catchment areas.
Within Oxfordshire City Council, Risinghurst is part of the Quarry and Risinghurst Ward and is represented by two councillors; at national level it forms part of the Oxford East parliamentary constituency.
, who lived in a house called The Kilns for 33 years until his death in 1963. During his time at the address he wrote many of his books, most notably the Narnia books
which were published between 1950 and 1956.
Behind the house is a large wild area, now a nature reserve, but then the garden and this wild area is said to have been both the inspiration for Narnia and possibly Tolkien
's Middle-earth
. 'Jack' Lewis and his brother Warnie purchased the house in 1930. This was before the Estate had been built and at that time The Kilns was surrounded by 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land. Warnie described it as follows: 'The house stands at the entrance to its own grounds at the northern foot of Shotover at the end of a narrow lane, which in turn opens off a very bad and little used road [now Kiln Lane], giving as great privacy as can reasonably be looked for near a large town.' After the Estate was built, The Kilns was given an address as being on Ringwood Road.
In 1969 The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
bought the lake and woodland behind the Kilns. The Trust describes the woods as follows: 'The steeply rising woodland includes beech, birch, alder, sycamore and larch. Dotted around the reserve are large sandstone boulders known as doggers on the slopes in the trees. The pond is full of aquatic plants and many toads migrate here to spawn in spring, when the garden is also full of birdsong. Moorhens and coots regularly nest here and other visitors include herons, kingfishers and warblers. Giant horsetail grows at the margins of a stream which flows in from the east and there are spectacular displays of dragonflies and damselflies in summer.'
At some time in the late 20th century, brick kilns and a drying barn that were also on the Lewis's property were demolished. More of his land was sold for housing and the orchard that once belonged to the house now contains seven large houses (and the lane leading through the orchard to the house is now known as Lewis Close.)
The California-based C.S. Lewis Foundation bought The Kilns itself in the 1980s for £130,000 and has restored it (they claim but this is disputed) to its original 1930s appearance. A bid to gain listed status for the house was rejected in February 2002.
These woods are part of the old Royal Forest
of Shotover and Shotover itself is situated on the steep hill beyond the nature reserve. At its top is Shotover Country Park, which is home to a variety of wildlife and is, in part, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
. Shotover is one of the higher limestone hills that ring Oxford and the top of the hill offers views of Oxfordshire
, although Oxford
itself is hard to see. Perhaps not surprisingly, over 300,000 people visit Shotover each year.
Ride
frontman Mark Gardener
lived as a child at 52 Ringwood Road during the 1970s.
The southeastern corner of the estate is bounded by playing fields: a mix of maintained sports pitches, streams, ponds and wilderness; the home ground of Risinghurst Cricket Club, and a haven for children.
built in 1938 by now defunct Ind Coope. Originally, it had three separate bars and a small off-license as well as a function room. The Ampleforth Arms pub has interesting connections. Anyone familiar with the monks' cloisters at Ampleforth Abbey
in north Yorkshire
will recognize the woodwork and other interior features as similar to the decoration in the Abbey. It seems that the foreman involved in the building of the Abbey was from Oxford and on his return built both the Ampleforth Arms and the Somerset House in Marston Road.
The Ampleforth Arms is on the corner of Collinwood Road and Downside Road and was Jack and Warnie's local. A 2003 on-line review was as follows: 'Ampleforth Arms, Collingwood Road, Risinghurst. A large, street corner pub on the Risinghurst estate, and fairly typical of estate pubs everywhere. It is split into three room, bar, lounge and pool table room, with standard, slightly tatty, pub tables, chair and benches. Fairly decent atmosphere and obviously the centre of the local community, but quiet just after opening time on a Sunday. Locals and barman all very friendly. Large range of spirits, lots of bar snacks (don't know about main meals) and a small outside drinking patio at the roadside. The beer was Greene King IPA with guests of Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Wadworth 6X. The Spitfire was very lively and took several tops up to get it to a reasonable pint, but was good and reasonably priced. Overall, a fairly decent pub, the only one on the estate (and therefore likely to be busy in evenings) but very adequate. May 2003.'
Risinghurst Post Office and General Store, known as Mr G's, is a post office
and convenience store
. Originally two separate businesses - a Co-Op (until the 1960s) then newsagents, and Mr and Mrs White's Grocery Store and Car Hire (sometimes branded a Spar
) - they were merged in 1994 by the Gandhi family, who have owned the business since 1992. In 2005 Royal Mail
decided to keep Mr G's Post Office as the only suburban post office open for business in the East Oxford area. In 2007 both Tesco Metro and Sainsburys made bids to purchase Mr G's and convert it into a Tesco Metro or Sainsburys Local. Mr Gandhi declined both bids.
On the edge of Risinghurst is the UK headquarters of Nielsen
, the global market research company which has been here since the early 1960s.
In another part of Risinghurst is a harpsichord
factory: Robert Goble & Son is one of the most distinguished makers of harpsichords, clavichords and spinet
s. The company is at Greatstones, a large house further up the lane that leads off The Kilns. Robert Goble (1903–1991) started making recorder
s and harpsichords here during the late 1940s when he moved to Greatstones from Haslemere
. By 1954, they stopped making recorders and concentrated on harpsichords becoming an internationally known name.
On the Headington Roundabout corner of the estate is another row of shops and a McDonald's
fast food restaurant. This used to be the Shotover Arms built in 1931 as another Ind Coope pub. A large mock Tudor building with black timbering, it was converted into a hotel in 1957 when the southern by-pass was built. It had several bars—all open to the public—and a large off-licence. What is now a Carphone Warehouse store was originally a filling station. A dentist can also be found close by but so far as is known, there was never a doctors' surgery.
At the end of Kiln Lane and the back of Shelley Close is a number of light engineering units.
Public transport for the estate was provided for decades by the Number 2 bus route that originally ran from Risinghurst via (Oxford High Street
and Cornmarket
) to Summertown
and Kidlington
. In 2005, this was terminated as traffic problems were causing severe disruption to the timetable. Now the Number 9 runs to the centre of Oxford every 30 minutes from about 7 am through to 7 pm. There is, however, no bus service at night or on Sundays, unlike that provided to the Barton estate, on the north side of the A40, which is served by up to 200 buses daily until well after midnight as well as on Sundays. A petition by residents in 2003 appealing for an extended bus service to Risinghurst was rejected by the bus companies despite the support of parish councillors.
, meeting at various locations in the district under the supervision of Temple Cowley Congregational Church. In 1945 they signed a covenant which formed Collinwood Congregational Church and, in September 1949, the first church building—an Orlitt prefabricated concrete structure—was opened. Over 200 people attended the ceremony as the Rev. John Philips unlocked the door and participated in the service led by the Rev. A.R. Vine. The following day, the first Children's Service was held.
In 1951 the Rev. Tom Stiff was appointed as pastor. He and his wife Peggy lived in a caravan until the manse
was completed in 1953. He retired in the 1986 but remained a member of the church, and in 2001 celebrated 50 years association with Collinwood Road.
The original church building is now used a hall. The current church itself was built in the latter half of the 1950s and is a simple but effective expression of church architecture. A second church hall was built in the 1980s.
In 1972 the Church became part of the United Reformed Church
(a union of Congregationalists, Presbyterians and later Churches of Christ) which is the now the main representative of the Reformed tradition in England. The current minister is the Rev. Dick Wolff.
The Church provides a number of services to the community, including a weekly lunch-club for the elderly and a coffee lounge which is open for anyone to drop for conversation, coffee, tea and biscuits on weekday mornings. It also provides space for Scout
and Guide Association
groups. Since the early 1960s, the 16th Oxford Cubs
and Scouts have met at the Church.
The building is currently shared with three other congregations: the Presbyterian Church of Korea
, the Punjabi
-speaking Asian Evangelical Church, and a Portuguese-speaking (largely Brazilian) Assemblies of God
church.
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
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...
, just outside the Eastern Bypass Road which forms part of the Oxford ring road
Oxford Ring Road
The Oxford ring road is a ring road around the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway for most of its length apart from a short section to the North between the Woodstock and Banbury Roads....
. It is about 1 miles (1.6 km)east of the centre of Headington
Headington
Headington is a suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames Valley below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London and Oxford.-History:...
and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Oxford city centre.
It is part of the Risinghurst and Sandhills
Risinghurst and Sandhills
Risinghurst and Sandhills is a civil parish in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. It consists of Risinghurst and Sandhills, two areas in the east of Oxford, east of the junction of the A40 and the A4142.-External links:*...
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...
and is typical of housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
s built between the wars
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
to house an increasingly prosperous working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
who were moving into new urban centres—in this instance to take advantage of the burgeoning motor industry in Oxford. These estates offered decent housing, relatively sizeable gardens, a garage for a car and whilst Risinghurst isn't quite a garden city
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
it has a sense of tranquility. (The countrification coming from the pebble-dash finish, the rough stone front wall, and a decent sized front garden where roses could be—and often were—grown.) During the 1930s some 600 homes were built in sets of semi-detached
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...
units; two rows of shops were built on Downside Road and Green Road along with two pubs, a small library but neither a school nor, initially, a church. So not quite a self-contained community and one that by and large was defined by 'The Works' (Morris Motors and Pressed Steel
Pressed Steel Company
The Pressed Steel Company Limited was a British car body manufacturing company founded at Cowley near Oxford in 1926 as a joint venture between William Morris, the Budd Corporation and an American bank. Today at what was the company's Cowley plant, the BMW new MINI is assembled, this site is...
) that offered a broad range of amenities for their employees.
History
The name Risinghurst 'rising ground towards the hurstHurst
-People:* Alan Hurst * Alan Hurst , British politician* Brian Desmond Hurst, an Irish film director* Bruce Hurst, a former Major League Baseball pitcher* Charles Angas Hurst, an Australian Mathematical Physicist...
or wooded hill' reflects the fact that Risinghurst was built on gently rising land running upwards towards Shotover Hill.
Through part of the Estate runs the course of the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
between Silchester
Silchester
Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading....
and Towcester
Towcester
Towcester , the Roman town of Lactodorum, is a small town in south Northamptonshire, England.-Etymology:Towcester comes from the Old English Tófe-ceaster. Tófe refers to the River Tove; Bosworth and Toller compare it to the "Scandinavian proper names" Tófi and Tófa...
. The Kilns itself is so-named because kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s were excavated here that are thought to date back to the Roman period
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
. Evidence of Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
occupation was discovered during clay-quarrying in the late-19th century (these pits have now become lakes.) Finds recorded in 1898 include building stones, gravel floors, and pottery dated mostly to the 3rd and 4th centuries but including some 2nd-century Samian ware. The surface of a 'probable road' was also sectioned, lying parallel to the main road but over 100 yards (91.4 m) to the east; this consisted of a spread of stones about 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and about 1 feet (30.5 cm) thick in the centre, tapering to 'almost nothing at the edges'. Coins
Roman currency
The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...
recovered from the site and recorded by Harding in 1939 ranged from issues of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
(AD 14–37) to Honorius
Honorius (emperor)
Honorius , was Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the eastern emperor Arcadius....
(AD 395–423).
In the 17th century a small settlement grew up in what is now the southeast corner of the Estate—the houses are still there. Brick and tile works were established (in the middle of the 19th century three were located off what we now know as Kiln Lane) and that remained in operation until the early part of the 20th century.
The rest of what is now Risinghurst was farmland. Magdalen Farm was located roughly where the top end of Stanway and Collingwood Roads now are. The northern part of Risinghurst was one large field; the southern part was a number of smaller fields. On the site where Nielsen's HQ now sits was a house called Shotover Lodge in the middle of the 19th century but Forest Lodge by the turn of the 20th century.
Up until the late 18th century, the Oxford to London road ran over Shotover Hill. Then a turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
was opened on a new route further north with upwards of 80 coaches plus the Mail coach
Mail coach
In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...
making the trip to London daily. This is today's A40 road
A40 road
The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road in all legal documents and Acts...
that forms the northern boundary of Risinghurst. An 18th century turnpike milestone (Oxford 3, London 51) can still be seen on the central reservation near the Thornhill Park and Ride. (Thornhill itself is both the name of the farm to the east of Risinghurst and the hill that rises towards Shotover.)
Bounding the western edge of Risinghurst is Green Road. Maps from the 19th century show that it was a road at that time and it is probably older; its original name was Toot Hill Butts as the road ran through an ancient field of that name.
In the mid to late 1930s the bulk of the Estate was built. Most of the houses in Risinghurst are still these pebble-dashed semi-detached 1930s three-bedroom houses, although there are newer houses behind Nielsen's UK headquarters that date from the 1970s, some smaller ex-council house
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
s dating from the late 1980s and 18 houses built in 1997 on the site of a coppice. The Estate was built primarily to house the increasing number of workers then employed at Morris Motors (by 1937 Morris Motors was the largest motor manufacturer in Europe); until relatively recently most of the home-owners were still likely to be employed in the automotive industry.
In 1958 work started on the Eastern Bypass—a plan had been under discussion for 30 years and when Risinghurst was built, a gap was left between it and Headington Quarry
Headington Quarry
Headington Quarry is a residential district of Oxford, England, located east of Headington and west of Risinghurst, just inside the Oxford ring road in the east of the city. To the south is Wood Farm. Today the district is also known colloquially as "Quarry"...
so that a road could be built. This dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
cut off Risinghurst from Headington Quarry. The latter, until then, had been seen as part of the same district by the residents. Now Risinghurst was very much an island with two major trunk roads running along two sides and open countryside along the rest. In 1968 the turn into Risinghurst from the dual carriageway was blocked off causing anger among residents and letters to the local press such as this:
Does the Oxford City Corporation really think that by closing the Risinghurst turn for cars, mopeds etc it will reduce accident figures for that stretch of road. In my view, cyclists and moped riders returning from the factories will be jostling to get through the ridicuously small gap. I don't think that many men, especially on mopeds, are going to continue up the Green Road Roundabout, and then on to the A40...
The OCC eventually capitulated.
In 1991 John Snow wrote ...and the aspiring gentility of Risinghurst with its trim rose bushes and weekly ritual of waxing the Rover. Most would agree that this is now a dated view in that the aspiration was never quite reached. 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....
showed that of 840 people in employment who lived in Risinghurst, 165 worked in healthcare/social work (no doubt due to the proximity of the John Radcliffe Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England.It is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. As such, it is a well-developed centre of medical research. It also incorporates the Medical School of the University of Oxford....
), 130 in real estate/renting/business activities, 121 in education, and only 105 in manufacturing.
The Green Road or Headington roundabout that lies on the north-eastern corner has become over the years a nationally known landmark, the County's worst accident black-spot and also a traffic-jam nightmare. In 2006, it was ripped-up and replaced at a cost of £2m by a new 'hamburger' design.
In the past, the Estate was bisected by the City Boundary. The part of the Estate within the Bullingdon Rural District Council (the 'County') enjoyed grass verges—lacking in the 'City' sector. The divide meant that children in the two administrative parts went to different schools—this led to little intermingling between families. Both parts also had their own playing fields to further add to the division. However in 1992, the whole of Risinghurst was brought into the City.
There is no school in Risinghurst. In the past, infants and primary aged children who lived in the 'County' attended Sandhills County Primary School. If they passed their 11+
Eleven plus
In the United Kingdom, the 11-plus or Eleven plus is an examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to various types of secondary school. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years...
, they went to either Lord Williams's Grammar School in Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
, or Holton Park Girls Grammar School, Wheatley
Wheatley, Oxfordshire
Wheatley is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of Oxford.-Archaeology:There was a Roman villa on Castle Hill, about southeast of the parish church. It was excavated in 1845, when Roman coins dating from AD 260 to 378 and fragments of Roman pottery and Roman tiles were...
. If they failed, they went to the Harlow School in Marston. Those who lived in the 'City', went to primary schools in Headington Quarry; the secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s were either Bayswater or Littlemore Grammar School. Nowadays, the whole of Risinghurst is in the Sandhills Community Primary School and Wheatley Park catchment areas.
Political
Risinghurst is part of the Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council. The PC covers an area of some 800 acres (3.2 km²) that naturally encompasses Sandhills and Risinghurst but one that also stretches up over Shotover and down its southern slopes; and east towards Forest Hill. The Parish Council was formed in 1956, breaking out from the bigger Forest Hill and Shotover PC.Within Oxfordshire City Council, Risinghurst is part of the Quarry and Risinghurst Ward and is represented by two councillors; at national level it forms part of the Oxford East parliamentary constituency.
Places and people of interest
Risinghurst was home to the author C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
, who lived in a house called The Kilns for 33 years until his death in 1963. During his time at the address he wrote many of his books, most notably the Narnia books
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
which were published between 1950 and 1956.
Behind the house is a large wild area, now a nature reserve, but then the garden and this wild area is said to have been both the inspiration for Narnia and possibly Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
. 'Jack' Lewis and his brother Warnie purchased the house in 1930. This was before the Estate had been built and at that time The Kilns was surrounded by 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land. Warnie described it as follows: 'The house stands at the entrance to its own grounds at the northern foot of Shotover at the end of a narrow lane, which in turn opens off a very bad and little used road [now Kiln Lane], giving as great privacy as can reasonably be looked for near a large town.' After the Estate was built, The Kilns was given an address as being on Ringwood Road.
In 1969 The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
Wildlife Trust
The term Wildlife Trust can be used in one of two senses to describe organisations concerned with wildlife:* in a specific sense, to refer to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, or one of its constituent members known as The Wildlife Trusts; a list of these can be found at...
bought the lake and woodland behind the Kilns. The Trust describes the woods as follows: 'The steeply rising woodland includes beech, birch, alder, sycamore and larch. Dotted around the reserve are large sandstone boulders known as doggers on the slopes in the trees. The pond is full of aquatic plants and many toads migrate here to spawn in spring, when the garden is also full of birdsong. Moorhens and coots regularly nest here and other visitors include herons, kingfishers and warblers. Giant horsetail grows at the margins of a stream which flows in from the east and there are spectacular displays of dragonflies and damselflies in summer.'
At some time in the late 20th century, brick kilns and a drying barn that were also on the Lewis's property were demolished. More of his land was sold for housing and the orchard that once belonged to the house now contains seven large houses (and the lane leading through the orchard to the house is now known as Lewis Close.)
The California-based C.S. Lewis Foundation bought The Kilns itself in the 1980s for £130,000 and has restored it (they claim but this is disputed) to its original 1930s appearance. A bid to gain listed status for the house was rejected in February 2002.
These woods are part of the old Royal Forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of Shotover and Shotover itself is situated on the steep hill beyond the nature reserve. At its top is Shotover Country Park, which is home to a variety of wildlife and is, in part, designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
. Shotover is one of the higher limestone hills that ring Oxford and the top of the hill offers views of Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, although 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...
itself is hard to see. Perhaps not surprisingly, over 300,000 people visit Shotover each year.
Ride
Ride (band)
Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...
frontman Mark Gardener
Mark Gardener
Mark Stephen Gardener is an English rock musician, and former singer and guitarist with the shoegazing band, Ride.-Ride:...
lived as a child at 52 Ringwood Road during the 1970s.
The southeastern corner of the estate is bounded by playing fields: a mix of maintained sports pitches, streams, ponds and wilderness; the home ground of Risinghurst Cricket Club, and a haven for children.
Businesses and services
The centre of Risinghurst is Downside Road, home to The Ampleforth, the local public housePublic 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...
built in 1938 by now defunct Ind Coope. Originally, it had three separate bars and a small off-license as well as a function room. The Ampleforth Arms pub has interesting connections. Anyone familiar with the monks' cloisters at Ampleforth Abbey
Ampleforth Abbey
Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine Monks in North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It claims descent from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the last surviving monk from Westminster Sigebert Buckley.The current Abbot is Fr...
in north Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
will recognize the woodwork and other interior features as similar to the decoration in the Abbey. It seems that the foreman involved in the building of the Abbey was from Oxford and on his return built both the Ampleforth Arms and the Somerset House in Marston Road.
The Ampleforth Arms is on the corner of Collinwood Road and Downside Road and was Jack and Warnie's local. A 2003 on-line review was as follows: 'Ampleforth Arms, Collingwood Road, Risinghurst. A large, street corner pub on the Risinghurst estate, and fairly typical of estate pubs everywhere. It is split into three room, bar, lounge and pool table room, with standard, slightly tatty, pub tables, chair and benches. Fairly decent atmosphere and obviously the centre of the local community, but quiet just after opening time on a Sunday. Locals and barman all very friendly. Large range of spirits, lots of bar snacks (don't know about main meals) and a small outside drinking patio at the roadside. The beer was Greene King IPA with guests of Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Wadworth 6X. The Spitfire was very lively and took several tops up to get it to a reasonable pint, but was good and reasonably priced. Overall, a fairly decent pub, the only one on the estate (and therefore likely to be busy in evenings) but very adequate. May 2003.'
Risinghurst Post Office and General Store, known as Mr G's, is a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
. Originally two separate businesses - a Co-Op (until the 1960s) then newsagents, and Mr and Mrs White's Grocery Store and Car Hire (sometimes branded a Spar
SPAR
Spar , trades from approximately 12400 stores in 34 countries worldwide and is the world's largest independent voluntary retail trading chain. Spar was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 by retailer Adriaan Van Well and now, through its affiliate organisations, operates through most European...
) - they were merged in 1994 by the Gandhi family, who have owned the business since 1992. In 2005 Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
decided to keep Mr G's Post Office as the only suburban post office open for business in the East Oxford area. In 2007 both Tesco Metro and Sainsburys made bids to purchase Mr G's and convert it into a Tesco Metro or Sainsburys Local. Mr Gandhi declined both bids.
On the edge of Risinghurst is the UK headquarters of Nielsen
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, the global market research company which has been here since the early 1960s.
In another part of Risinghurst is a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
factory: Robert Goble & Son is one of the most distinguished makers of harpsichords, clavichords and spinet
Spinet
A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.-Spinets as harpsichords:While the term spinet is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the bentside spinet, described in this section...
s. The company is at Greatstones, a large house further up the lane that leads off The Kilns. Robert Goble (1903–1991) started making recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
s and harpsichords here during the late 1940s when he moved to Greatstones from Haslemere
Haslemere
Haslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...
. By 1954, they stopped making recorders and concentrated on harpsichords becoming an internationally known name.
On the Headington Roundabout corner of the estate is another row of shops and a McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
fast food restaurant. This used to be the Shotover Arms built in 1931 as another Ind Coope pub. A large mock Tudor building with black timbering, it was converted into a hotel in 1957 when the southern by-pass was built. It had several bars—all open to the public—and a large off-licence. What is now a Carphone Warehouse store was originally a filling station. A dentist can also be found close by but so far as is known, there was never a doctors' surgery.
At the end of Kiln Lane and the back of Shelley Close is a number of light engineering units.
Public transport for the estate was provided for decades by the Number 2 bus route that originally ran from Risinghurst via (Oxford High Street
High Street, Oxford
The High Street in Oxford, England runs between Carfax, generally recognized as the centre of the city, and Magdalen Bridge to the east. Locally the street is often known as The High. It forms a gentle curve and is the subject of many prints, paintings, photographs, etc...
and Cornmarket
Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north-south between Carfax Tower and Magdalen Street.Retailers in Cornmarket include:* Austin Reed...
) to Summertown
Summertown
Summertown may refer to:* Summertown, Oxford, a suburb of Oxford, England* Summertown, Tennessee, USA, the home of The Farm, an intentional community* Summertown, Georgia, USA* Summertown, South Australia, Australia- See also :...
and Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
. In 2005, this was terminated as traffic problems were causing severe disruption to the timetable. Now the Number 9 runs to the centre of Oxford every 30 minutes from about 7 am through to 7 pm. There is, however, no bus service at night or on Sundays, unlike that provided to the Barton estate, on the north side of the A40, which is served by up to 200 buses daily until well after midnight as well as on Sundays. A petition by residents in 2003 appealing for an extended bus service to Risinghurst was rejected by the bus companies despite the support of parish councillors.
Church
Risinghurst has one church: Collinwood Road United Reformed Church. The congregation first came together during the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, meeting at various locations in the district under the supervision of Temple Cowley Congregational Church. In 1945 they signed a covenant which formed Collinwood Congregational Church and, in September 1949, the first church building—an Orlitt prefabricated concrete structure—was opened. Over 200 people attended the ceremony as the Rev. John Philips unlocked the door and participated in the service led by the Rev. A.R. Vine. The following day, the first Children's Service was held.
In 1951 the Rev. Tom Stiff was appointed as pastor. He and his wife Peggy lived in a caravan until the manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
was completed in 1953. He retired in the 1986 but remained a member of the church, and in 2001 celebrated 50 years association with Collinwood Road.
The original church building is now used a hall. The current church itself was built in the latter half of the 1950s and is a simple but effective expression of church architecture. A second church hall was built in the 1980s.
In 1972 the Church became part of the United Reformed Church
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
(a union of Congregationalists, Presbyterians and later Churches of Christ) which is the now the main representative of the Reformed tradition in England. The current minister is the Rev. Dick Wolff.
The Church provides a number of services to the community, including a weekly lunch-club for the elderly and a coffee lounge which is open for anyone to drop for conversation, coffee, tea and biscuits on weekday mornings. It also provides space for Scout
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
and Guide Association
Girlguiding UK
Girlguiding UK is the national Guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. Guiding began in the UK in 1910 after Robert Baden-Powell asked his sister Agnes to start a group especially for girls that would be run along similar lines to Scouting for Boys. The Guide Association was a founder member of...
groups. Since the early 1960s, the 16th Oxford Cubs
Cub Scouts (The Scout Association)
Cub Scouts or Cubs are an age-based section of The Scout Association for young boys and girls ages 8 to 10½. This section follows on from the Beaver Scouts and Cubs will move on to Scouts at the age of 10½. The section originally opened as Wolf Cubs in 1916...
and Scouts have met at the Church.
The building is currently shared with three other congregations: the Presbyterian Church of Korea
Presbyterian Church of Korea
The Presbyterian Church of Korea or PCK is a mainline Protestant denomination based in South Korea and currently has the second largest membership of any Presbyterian denomination in the world...
, the Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
-speaking Asian Evangelical Church, and a Portuguese-speaking (largely Brazilian) Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
church.