Banbury Road is a major arterial road in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the Woodstock Road, which it meets at the junction with St Giles'. To the north, Banbury Road meets the

Oxford Ring Road The Oxford Ring Road circles the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway ring road for most of its length apart from a short section between Woodstock Road and Banbury Road in the north of the city. The severe restrictions on traffi ...

at a roundabout. The road is designated the A4165 (which continues for a short distance as Oxford Road to Kidlington). Prior to the building of the

M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London, Oxford and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately . The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry slip-r ...

extension in 1990, the road formed part of the

A423 The A423 road is a primary A road in England in two sections. The main section leads from central Banbury to the A45 near Coventry. Route It starts in Banbury town centre as Southam Road and goes through the Southam Road Industrial Estate, ...

from

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

. __TOC__

Buildings

The former Mathematical Institute of Oxford University is at the lower end of the road on the east side. Opposite

Keble Road Keble Road is a short road running east–west in central Oxford, England. To the west is the southern end of the Banbury Road with St Giles' Church opposite. To the east is Parks Road with the University Parks opposite. Blackhall Road lead ...

is St Giles' Church, built in 1120 and consecrated in 1200. Further north are the Denys Wilkinson Building (astrophysics) and the prominent 1960s

Thom Building The surname Thom is of Scottish origin, from the city of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus, and is a sept of the Clan MacThomas. Thom is also a first name variant of the abbreviation "Tom" of "Thomas" that holds the "h". People with the surname ...

of the Engineering Science department. One of the University's former women's colleges, St Anne's College backs onto Banbury Road and another, St Hugh's College, flanks the road further up. Kellogg College and

Wycliffe Hall Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England theological college and a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was master of Balliol College, O ...

, which are also part of the university are situated on Banbury Road, near to the junction with

Bevington Road Bevington Road is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. The road runs between Woodstock Road (opposite Observatory Street) to the west and Banbury Road to the east. Winchester Road leads north from halfway along Bevington Roa ...

. The Independent Sixth Form of d'Overbroeck's College is housed in both the Swan Building at 111 and the adjacent number 113 which was, by the turn of the 20th century, occupied by a Mr R. Lamb Abbott MA who advertised for students to take instruction in "a course of lectures" over four weeks or so to enable them to sit their responsions and thus

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at the university. Wychwood School, an independent girls' school, is at 74 Banbury Road. Established in 1897 as Miss Batty's School for the daughters of Oxford dons, from 1898-1907, the school was housed at 77 Banbury Road - a "charming

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

house" - where residents Miss A.S. Batty and Miss Margaret Lee MA taught a handful of

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two ...

girls. Miss Lee would later acquire ownership of number 77. The school at that time also provided accommodation for young women sitting examinations who were members of the Society of Oxford Home Students - later St Anne's College, Oxford where Miss Lee tutored from 1913-1936. 77 Banbury Road was religious in nature: Miss Batty had an academic interest in religious matters and Miss Lee was the granddaughter of an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

. Banbury Road Medical Centre is a

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

facility at 172 Banbury Road.

BBC Oxford BBC Oxford is the name given to the sub-opt out region serving Oxford and the surrounding areas. Its services include: *BBC Oxford News, the local news service called BBC Oxford on screen * BBC Radio Oxford, the local radio station occasionally bra ...

is also based on Banbury Road and is home to the local televised news output and

BBC Radio Oxford BBC Radio Oxford is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Oxfordshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Summertown area of Oxford. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...

. In early 1970 the BBC Oxford studios were actually located further down at 242–254 Banbury Road (now a branch of

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

), but were later moved to 269 in 1989 as local media services within BBC Oxford expanded.

People

Famous residents include the

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

James Murray who produced the first

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

now marks the site) and the zoologist

Desmond Morris Desmond John Morris FLS ''hon. caus.'' (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book ''The Naked Ape'', and for his telev ...

, author of ''

The Naked Ape ''The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal'' is a 1967 book by English zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris that looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals. '' The Human Zoo'', a follow-up book by Morris ...

''. The artist Paul Nash (1889–1946) lived at 106 Banbury Road, marked with an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque.

Jesse Elliston Jesse Elliston (3 March 1806 – 26 July 1853) was a proprietor of Elliston & Cavell, which became the leading department store in Oxford, England. Elliston was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, to James and Mary Ann Elliston. He was baptised a Baptist. ...

, the proprietor of what became Oxford's leading department store,

Elliston & Cavell Elliston & Cavell was for many years the leading department store in Oxford, England. The store was located on the west side of Magdalen Street in central Oxford. The shop stocked uniforms for local schools such as the Dragon School. History ...

, died in the Banbury Road in 1853 at the age of only 47. Dame Honor Fell DBE, FRS (1900–1986) studied at Wychwood School and this is commemorated with a

from the

Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

, installed in 2015.

Christopher Strachey Christopher S. Strachey (; 16 November 1916 – 18 May 1975) was a British computer scientist. He was one of the founders of denotational semantics, and a pioneer in programming language design and computer time-sharing.F. J. Corbató, et al. ...

(1916–1975) founded and led the

Programming Research Group The Programming Research Group (PRG) was part of the Oxford University Computing Laboratory (OUCL) in Oxford, England, along with the Numerical Analysis Group, until OUCL became the Department of Computer Science in 2011. The PRG was founded b ...

(part of Oxford University) from 1965 until his untimely death, at 45 Banbury Road. From 1977, the PRG was then led by

Tony Hoare Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare (Tony Hoare or C. A. R. Hoare) (born 11 January 1934) is a British computer scientist who has made foundational contributions to programming languages, algorithms, operating systems, formal verification, and ...

, located here until 1984.

Adjoining roads in North Oxford

Bardwell Road Bardwell Road is a road in North Oxford, England, off the Banbury Road. The road is the location of the Dragon School, a well-known preparatory school. The second headmaster, Charles Cotterill Lynam (known as the "Skipper"), took a building l ...

Beech Croft Road Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the ...

Belbroughton Road Belbroughton Road is a residential road in the suburb of North Oxford, England. The road runs east from Banbury Road. At the other end is Oxford High School, a girls' school. South from the road about halfway along is Northmoor Road, where J ...

Canterbury Road Canterbury Road is a road in North Oxford, England. It runs between Woodstock Road to the west and Banbury Road to the east. Winchester Road leads south from halfway along Canterbury Road, linking with Bevington Road that runs parallel to ...

Five Mile Drive 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awar ...

* Lathbury Road * Linton Road * Lonsdale Road * Marston Ferry Road * Moreton Road *

Norham Gardens __NOTOC__ Norham Gardens is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. It adjoins the north end of Parks Road near the junction with Banbury Road, directly opposite St Anne's College. From here it skirts the north side of the Oxf ...

* Norham Road *

North Parade North Parade, or more formally North Parade Avenue, is a short shopping street in north Oxford, England. It runs between Winchester Road opposite Church Walk to the west and Banbury Road (with Norham Road slightly north opposite) to the ...

* Park Town *

Parks Road Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with B ...

Rawlinson Road Rawlinson Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England. Location At the western end of the road is a junction with Woodstock Road (A4144) and at the eastern end is a junction with Banbury Road (A4165), the two major arterial roads ou ...

South Parade South Parade is a shopping street in Summertown, north Oxford, England. It runs between Woodstock Road to the west and Banbury Road to the east, where there are also shops stretching south from South Parade. This area of the Banbury Road and ...

Staverton Road Staverton Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England. Location The road runs east–west with a gentle curve halfway along. At the western end of the road is a junction with Woodstock Road, Oxford, Woodstock Road (A4144) and at the ea ...

* St Giles' * St Margaret's Road * Victoria Road * Woodstock Road

Gallery

File:St Giles, Oxford.jpg, The southern end of Banbury Road (right) and Woodstock Road (left) from the north end of St Giles'. File:Denys Wilkinson Building, University of Oxford - Banbury Road.jpg, The Denys Wilkinson Building from the Banbury Road on the corner with

, looking north with the

in the background. File:62banbury.jpg, Kellogg College at 62 Banbury Road. File:Offices in Summertown - geograph.org.uk - 673043.jpg, Offices on Banbury Road in Summertown. File:37 Banbury Road, St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, 37 Banbury Road, St Anne's College, a typical

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

North Oxford house, designed by Frederick Codd in 1866.Hinchcliffe, p.217. File:Oxford University Computing Services, Banbury Road, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 82198.jpg, Oxford University Computing Services building on Banbury Road. File:Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.jpg, The former Mathematical Institute, near the southern end of Banbury Road. File:Wychwood School for Girls - geograph.org.uk - 718191.jpg, Wychwood School for Girls at 74 Banbury Road.

References

Bibliography

* Hinchcliffe, Tanis, ''North Oxford''. New Haven & London:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...