Summertown in North Oxford is a suburb of Oxford, England. Summertown is a one-mile square residential area, north of St Giles, the boulevard leading out of Oxford's city centre. Summertown is home to several independent schools and the city's most expensive houses.[1] On both sides of Banbury Road are Summertown's popular shops. There is also a smaller street of shops and restaurants, South Parade, that links Banbury Road and Woodstock Road. Summertown is home to much of Oxford's broadcast media. BBC Radio Oxford and the BBC Television's Oxford studios are on Banbury Road. Start-ups also have an increasing presence on the parade, such as Brainomix and Passle. The studios for JACK FM, Glide FM, and Six TV Oxford (no longer broadcasting) are on Woodstock Road.
History
Most of North Oxford came into being as a result of the revolutionary decision by the university in 1877[when?] to permit college fellows to marry and live in real houses,[2] as opposed to rooms in college.[1][dead link] Large houses were built on farmland either side of Banbury Road and Woodstock Road. Much of the land belonged to St John's College, Oxford and the houses were originally sold leasehold. St John's has since sold the freehold on most of these properties.[citation needed]
The congregation outgrew St. John the Baptist so a new church, Saint Michael and All Angels in Lonsdale Road, was built to replace it in 1908–09.[4] St. John's was demolished in 1924,[4] the site was sold in 1970 and a block of flats now stands on the site.[5] St. Michael's is also a cruciformEarly English Gothic Revival building, in this case designed by A.M. Mowbray.[4][6] The building has never been completed. It has a chancel, north and south transepts, vestry, and a south chapel beside the chancel, but the nave and north and south aisles comprise only one bay ending in a "temporary" west wall that has stood for more than a century.[4] The building is coursedrubblestone apart from the temporary west wall, which is brick.[5]
The Roman CatholicParish church of Saints Gregory and Augustine on Woodstock Road,[9] was founded in 1911,[6][10] the same year as Saint Edmund and Frideswide (Iffley Road, now run by the Capuchin Franciscans). Previously the Oxford area had been served by the Jesuits at St Aloysius (now an Oratory of St Philip Neri), which was founded in 1875, replacing the church of St Ignatius (in St Clement's), which had been founded immediately after the relaxation of the penal laws forbidding the building of Catholic places of worship, in 1795. More Catholic parishes were established in the ensuing decades. The architect was Ernest Newton, and a much admired member of the Arts and Crafts movement. The fabric of the church is very little changed from the time of its foundation. Nikolaus Pevsner described the church thus (1974): "By Ernest Newton. Small and stuccoed. A rectangle, white, with a cupola. W. window with a gently double-curved head. Plaster tunnel-vault inside with tie beams."
Public transport
In 1898 the City of Oxford Tramways Company extended its Banbury Roadhorse tram route to a new terminus at Summertown. In 1913 the company replaced its horse trams with motor buses.[11] Buses running between central Oxford and Summertown via Banbury Road include the Oxford Bus Company 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D, Heyfordian Travel 25 and 25A and Stagecoach 7, 7A, 7B, 17 and S5. Banbury Road also has limited-stopPark and Ride bus services linking Water Eaton with central Oxford (route 500 run by the Oxford Bus Company) and with the John Radcliffe Hospital (route 700 run by Stagecoach). As of 2011, Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach came to an agreement in which they would share the same bus timetable. This eliminated the 7, 7A and 7B buses. This also benefited the public because not only were the buses more coordinated in their schedule but the public could use the same ticket/bus pass on each of the bus companies' buses[according to whom?].
Educational facilities
The following schools and colleges are in Summertown:[12]
St. Clare's, Oxford, an independent, international residential college offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma, English-language courses and IB teacher workshops, is on Banbury Road.
The independent day and boarding Sixth Form of d'Overbroeck's College is on Banbury Road.
Summer Fields School, an independent boys' (8-13) preparatory school, is on Mayfield Road.
The Dragon School, an independent co-educational boarding and day school (4-13), is on Bardwell Road on the perimeter of Summertown. Lynams, the pre-prep school for the Dragon School, is located on Woodstock Road.
Northern House School, for special needs education, is on South Parade.
Oxford High School, an independent girls' (11-18) school, is on Belbroughton Road, east of Banbury Road. The two junior sections, Greycotes and The Squirrel, are respectively on Bardwell Road and Woodstock Road.
Ewert House in Ewert Place is part of the University of Oxford. It houses lecture and seminar rooms of the Department for Continuing Education and a large examination hall.
^Kinchin, Perilla (2006). Seven Roads in Summertown: Voices from an Oxford Suburb. White Cockade Publishing. ISBN187348713-4.
Sources
Eleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, Janet Cooper, C.J. Day, T.G. Hassall, Mary Jessup, Nesta Selwyn (1979). Crossley, Alan; Elrington, C.R. (eds.). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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