Boars Hill
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Boars Hill is a
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
southwest of
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, straddling the boundary between the
civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...
of
Sunningwell Sunningwell is a village and civil parish about south of Oxford, England. The parish includes the village of Bayworth and the eastern part of Boars Hill. The parish was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfo ...
and Wootton. It consists of about 360 dwellings spread over an area of nearly two square miles as shown on thi
map
from the long establishe
Boars Hill Association
Historically, it was part of
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
.


History

The earliest known record of Boars Hill (or Boreshill) is from the 12th century. The greater part of Boars Hill was historically a manor of the parish of
Cumnor Cumnor is a village and civil parish 3½ miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Botley and its centre is west of the A420 road to Swindon. The parish includes Cumno ...
until the 19th century when the parish of Wootton was formed. Until the late 19th century the hill was almost bare and had fine views - northwards to the city of Oxford, southwards to the Downs and westwards to the upper
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
valley. At that time many houses were built on Boars Hill, and the new residents planted trees and erected fences and walls; within a few decades they had hidden the celebrated views from all but a few places.


Churches


Church of England

Boars Hill does not have its own
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 each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
. As it straddles two parishes the respective parts of Boars Hill are served by St. Peters, Wootton and St. Leonard's, Sunningwell.


Roman Catholic

St.
Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
chapel in Boars Hill is part of the Roman Catholic parish of
North Hinksey North Hinksey is a village in the civil parish of Botley and North Hinksey, in the Vale of White Horse district, in Oxfordshire, England, on the west side of the Thames flood plain immediately opposite the city of Oxford. The civil parish incl ...
.


Notable residents


Poets

The first poet to leave a record of a visit to the hill was
Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and the devoted assistant to Florence Nightingale. He was the brother of suffragist Anne Clough and father of Blanche Athena Clough, who both becam ...
. In his diary for 1841, edited by
Anthony Kenny Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny (born 16 March 1931) is a British philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein of whose literary est ...
, he describes how a walk across the hill inspired the ninth of his 'Blank misgivings of a creature moving about in worlds not realized'; however, he was concerned over his family's financial straits and his impending final exams, and he found the barrenness of the scene under a grey February sky depressing. When
Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...
came up to Oxford later in 1841, Clough introduced him to Boars Hill, which later provided the inspiration and setting for two of his best-known poems, ''
The Scholar Gipsy "The Scholar-Gipsy" (1853) is a poem by Matthew Arnold, based on a 17th-century Oxford story found in Joseph Glanvill's ''The Vanity of Dogmatizing'' (1661, etc.). It has often been called one of the best and most popular of Arnold's poems, and ...
'' (1853) and '' Thyrsis'' (1866), the latter written in memory of Clough. The famous phrase in the latter "the dreaming spires" encouraged people to visit the hill and settle there. Three prominent poets lived on the hill, the first being Margaret Louisa Woods in the 1880s. She was followed by
Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was a British poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...
and
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...
, successive Poets Laureate. For a couple of years after the First World War, they were joined by three of the war poets:
Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
- Masefield's tenant - and
Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was als ...
, both future Oxford Professors of Poetry (as Arnold had been) and (for a few months) Robert Nichols. Bridges' wife Monica Bridges lived there until 1943, when it was hit by a bomb, their daughter, the poet
Elizabeth Daryush Elizabeth Daryush (8 December 1887 – 7 April 1977) was an English poet. Life Daryush was the daughter of Robert and Monica Bridges; her maternal grandfather was Alfred Waterhouse. She married Ali Akbar Daryush, a Persian government offic ...
, continued to live after it was repaired on the hill until her death in 1977. Robert Bridges lived at Chilswell House, which was purchased circa 1963 by the
Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...
order for use as a priory and retreat.


Other notable residents

The hill was also the home of
Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...
, famous for his verse translations of classical Greek drama, and later the classicist Leighton Durham Reynolds, Emeritus Professor of Classical Languages and Literature, until his death in 1999. Other notable residents were the sculptor
Oscar Nemon Oscar Nemon (born Oscar Neumann; 13 March 1906 – 13 April 1985) was a Croatian sculptor who was born in Osijek, Croatia, but eventually settled in England. He is best known for his series of more than a dozen public statues of Winston Churchill ...
who fled from Nazi rule in Vienna in 1938, and the archaeologist
Sir Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Minoan palace Minoan palaces were massive building complexe ...
who lived on Boars Hill from 1894 until his death in 1941. His house, Youlbury, notable for its Minoan decoration, was bought after his death by his next-door-neighbour
Arthur Lehman Goodhart Arthur Lehman Goodhart (1 March 1891 – 10 November 1978) was an American-born academic jurist and lawyer; he was Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, 1931–51, when he was also a Fellow of University College, Oxford. He ...
, who later demolished it. Goodhart's son William Goodhart, Baron Goodhart built a modern house on its site, preserving the Victorian gardens. (Those of Margaret Woods, Robert Bridges and Gilbert Murray burnt down.) Herbert Edward Douglas Blakiston, for many years President of
Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
, and Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, lived in Boar's Hill from his retirement in 1938 until his death in 1942, after he was struck by a car while walking in Boar's Hill. The political scientist and public servant W. G. S. Adams lived there, at a house called Powder Hill, and entertained
Horace Plunkett Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett (24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932), was an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer, pioneer of agricultural cooperatives, Unionist MP, supporter of Home Rule, Irish Senator and author. Plunkett, a younger brother of J ...
,
Sir William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Progressivism, progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role ...
,
Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...
 and 
Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was a British poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...
. The husband and wife historians Hugh Trevor Lambrick and Gabrielle Lambrick lived here. The composer
Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley CBE (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James ...
was born in Sunningwell Plains, Boar’s Hill, in 1903. The historian
Basil Joseph Mathews Basil Joseph Mathews (28 August 1879 – 29 March 1951) was an English historian, biographer, and writer on the ecumenical movement. In his early life, Mathews was a librarian, a journalist, and Editorial Secretary of the London Missionary Societ ...
(1879–1951) lived at Triangle Cottage. Catherine Octavia Stevens, astronomer, built a house and observatory on Boars Hill in 1910 and she lived there until 1956.Catherine Octavia Stevens - Obituary
British Astronomical Association. df/ref> Sir Frederick Keeble, FRS and his wife, the noted actress
Lillah McCarthy Lillah, Lady Keeble OBE (born Lila Emma McCarthy; 22 September 1875 – 15 April 1960) was an English people, English actress and Actor-manager, theatrical manager. Biography Lila Emma McCarty was born in Cheltenham on 22 September 1875, the s ...
built a house, Hammels, from old timbers and lived there in the 1920s.


The Carritt family

During the 1930s, Boars Hill was home to an infamous family of left-wing revolutionaries and intellectuals known as the Carritt family, notable for their deep involvement in anti-fascist activism, activism within the
Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...
, and academic achievements within
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
. Famous members of the Carritt family who lived in Boars Hill include: * Liesel Carritt: A German-Jewish refugee and communist revolutionary who fled Nazi Germany to Oxford with her family. She married into the Carritt family and later fought in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. *
Michael Carritt Michael John Carritt (3 January 1906 – 1990) was a British communist revolutionary, spy, university lecturer, and a supporter of Indian independence. After graduating from Oxford University, Carritt joined the British Empire's Indian Civil Serv ...
: An Oxford University professor and communist spy who infiltrated the British civil service to pass on intelligence to Indian pro-independence activists. * Anthony Carritt: An anti-fascist revolutionary and the son of zoologist Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire. He was killed by fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War. * Edgar Frederick Carritt: English philosopher and Oxford University professor at
University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...
. *
Noel Carritt Noel Carritt (1910–1992) was a British communist activist, teacher, and volunteer for the International Brigades. He was born into the Carritt family, known for their Marxist and anti-fascist politics which heavily influenced him. As a young m ...
: Communist, aviation engineer, and anti-fascist revolutionary who fought against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. * Bill Carritt: British communist activist, politician, humanitarian aid worker, and foreign editor for the ''Daily Worker''. The Carritt family's home in Boars Hill became famous as a hub for left-wing intellectual debate, attracting a wide number of people including communist trade union leader
Abraham Lazarus Abraham Lazarus (1911–1967) was a leading British Communist activist, charity worker, and anti-fascist, most famous for leading numerous high profile factory strikes in London and Oxford, and for organising communists and Jews to resist the ...
, multiple labour politicians including Dick Crossman, the novelist
Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her fi ...
, /sup> and numerous poets including
WH Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone (l ...
/sup> and
Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...
. /sup> The Carritt family were also friends with another family of left-wing activists which lived close to them called the Thompsons, whose famous members included the historian
E. P. Thompson Edward Palmer Thompson (3 February 1924 – 28 August 1993) was an English historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is best known for his historical work on the radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in partic ...
and his brother
Frank Thompson Frank Thompson Jr. (July 26, 1918 – July 22, 1989) was an American politician. He represented in the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from 1955 to 1980, and was chairman of the United Sta ...
. /sup> The children of both families attended
Dragon School The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxfo ...
together. /sup>


Sites

Arthur Evans had Jarn Mound built (by hand), built to create a viewpoint from which to see the famous vistas that had been hidden by development. The surrounding trees have continued to grow taller, and the views are again obscured. Evans left most of his estate to the
Boy Scouts Boy Scouts or Boy Scout may refer to: * Members, sections or organisations in the Scouting Movement ** Scout (Scouting), a boy or a girl participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America ...
and Youlbury Camp is still available for their use. Several sites on Boars Hill, including Jarn Mound, Matthew Arnold Field and land on the north side of the hill with views of the "dreaming spires" of Oxford, are now owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust. From 1933 to 1975 Boars Hill was the home of Ripon Hall. When Ripon Hall moved to Cuddesdon, the site became known as Foxcombe Hall, and was the regional headquarters of the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
. In 2016 the site was purchased by Peking University. From 1955 to the mid-1970s, Boar's Hill was home to
Plater College Plater College was an adult education establishment which was based in Oxford, England. College history The college was founded in 1921 by Father Leo O'Hea, S.J. (1881–1976), director of the Catholic Social Guild, in memory of the Father Ch ...
. Some digs in 2002 near Lincombe Lane cul-de-sac, 3 metres left and 8 metres forward of the first bend in the road, left of the footpath, uncovered underground walls and a hearth 6 foot deep, which are alleged to be a Roman kiln. From 1976 to 1996,
Warnborough College The name Warnborough is associated with several related institutions of higher education existing from 1973 to the present, including Warnborough College Oxford, Warnborough College UK, Warnborough College Ireland and Warnborough University, s ...
, occupied the former Plater College facilities, the Bishop's palace of the
Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, ...
, and Yatscombe Hall, having moved from Warnborough Road in
North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...
. The college attracted controversy due to alleged links to Oxford University and was eventually sued with the site repossessed.King, Tim (1996-10-25). Oxford College Sued in US is Repossessed. ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' (UK)
Soon after the repossession squatters moved in and the site of the former Bishop's palace and Yatscombe Hall has been subject to numerous planning disputes ever since. Yatscombe Hall was destroyed by fire in December 2003 and all the buildings on the site were demolished and a retirement village was planned. However eventually a development of a four large country homes was built on the site by Millgate Homes.Boar's Hill

Millgate Homes
United Kingdom.


''Brideshead Revisited''

Boars Hill is twice mentioned in the 1945 novel ''
Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of Charles Ryder, esp ...
'' by
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
(1903–1966). First, Cousin Jasper advises the young Charles Ryder upon his coming up to
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, "Keep clear of Boar's Hill." In contrast, Sebastian Flyte describes a model student at Oxford as one who "smokes a great pipe and plays hockey and goes out to tea on Boar's Hill and to lectures at
Keble Keble is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Bernard Keble Sandwell (1876–1940), Canadian newspaper editor * Edward Keble Chatterton (1878–1944), English writer * Henry Keble (?–1517), Lord Mayor of Lond ...
...".


See also

*
Ann Paludan Ann Elizabeth Paludan (née Murray; 1928–30 October 2014) was a British author of several books on Chinese history, sculpture and architecture. Biography Ann Paludan was one of two daughters of Pauline Mary ( Newton) and Basil Murray. Her ...


References


Sources

* * * * *


External links


Boars Hill Association website
* {{authority control Hills of Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse