Kings Oak was the fictional village in the television serial ''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

'' which ran on ITV between 1964 and 1988. The show was revived in 2001, the main building being renamed a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

. In 2003, halfway through the third comeback series, ratings stated to decline, so it was decided to axe the programme for good. The final episode ended on a dream sequence in which one of the characters ''Angel Samson'', played by

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

, had thought up the whole thing. The character was actually working in a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

as a checkout operator. The show is sometimes written as King's Oak. Between 1964 and 1970 most of the scenes of the village were actually all recorded inside the Associated Television Studios in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Still photographs would be used to illustrate Kings Oak and its locations during episodes; places used for these pictures included

Bournville Bournville () is a 19th century model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alc ...

, Yardley and

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

Tanworth-in-Arden

In 1970 ''

'' production company, ATV, furnished the serial with the use of an outside broadcast unit to use for a limited number of episodes a year. This enabled filming to take place in and around "Kings Oak" and so a real-life village was sought. Producer

Reg Watson Reginald James Watson (27 August 1926 – 8 October 2019) was an Australian television producer and screenwriter and executive. Watson was executive producer on the British soap opera ''Crossroads (British TV series), Crossroads'' and created ...

picked the

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

village of

Tanworth-in-Arden Tanworth-in-Arden (; often abbreviated to Tanworth) is a village and civil parish in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is south-southeast of Birmingham, north-east of Redditch and 8 miles (13 km) south-southwest of Solihull and is admin ...

. Tanworth-in-Arden was used until the programme's end in 1988; the final scene in ''Crossroads'' takes place on the

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

. As well as the village centre being used for Kings Oak, other buildings were also transformed for the series. Tanworth-in-Arden's Bell Inn public house became the Running Stag, St Mary's Church was St Lawrence's and the Tanworth Post Office became the Kings Oak version. Other places in the village used for Crossroads include the exterior of the village general store and the railway station. "Kings Oak" was supposed to be slightly larger than Tanworth, and in later years the production crew also used Bristol Road in

Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harbor ...

as part of the village. This was supposed to be the main shopping front street.

Village history

Kings Oak, according to a 1964 '' TV World'' article on the village, is exactly ten miles south of Birmingham. The Kings Oak Guidebook, as written by ''Crossroads creator

Peter Ling Peter George Derek Ling (27 May 1926 – 14 September 2006) was a British writer of television, radio and comic strips, best known for his television work. With his professional partner, Hazel Adair, he co-created the television soap opera '' C ...

, (issued by ATV) brings to light some (fictional) facts about the village: Originally the Village was called 'Slohtran Ford', which means "marshy ford". The hamlet was originally inhabited by foresters who built their huts at the easiest crossing point for the River Slotter, which runs through the centre of "Kings Oak". The name "Kings Oak" comes from the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, when King Charles hid there for a night in a giant oak tree. In 1969 the village of Kings Oak had 750 inhabitants and was administered by its own Rural Council. The village has two churches, St Lawrence's and the Methodist Church. The three mainstay pubs were The Crown, The Kings Oak and The Running Stag. Other locations in the village include the Fairlawns Hotel, Crossroads Motel, Ravoli Cinema, Robins Warehouse and a small police station. The village has a housing estate called Kings Hill. There are a couple of nearby towns and villages to "Kings Oak", the biggest is Heathbury - an industrial town, which is six miles north of the village centre. Also Castlewich and Merryfields are located nearby.

New series

In 2001 ''

'' was revived by

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

. Despite many aspects of the original series being dropped from the new version, the name of "Kings Oak" was kept as the location of the Crossroads Hotel; however this Kings Oak looked nothing like its predecessor. The new filming locations were Bingham and its market place. Also

Redmile Redmile is an English village and civil parish in the Melton (borough), Melton district of Leicestershire, about north of Melton Mowbray and west of Grantham. The population of the civil parish, which includes Barkestone-le-Vale and Plungar, w ...

featured as part of the village. Both of the Carlton used locations are in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. In an unusual coincidence however, Julia Burchell, who played Nicola Russell in the revived series, comes from Tanworth in Arden, the original filming location.

External links

Crossroads Locations
Further information on the ''Crossroads'' Fan Club page
Kings Oak History
The History of the Village and also the Crossroads Motel

Crossroads2001 website details on the more recent Kings Oak locations {{Crossroads (soap opera) Fictional elements introduced in 1964 Crossroads (British TV series) Fictional populated places in England Fictional neighbourhoods