Hinksey

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Hinksey is a place name associated with Oxford and Oxfordshire. In 1974, many of the places associated with the name were transferred from the county of Berkshire in the county boundary changes.

Contents

History

The place-name is of Old English origin. It is first mentioned in the 10th century in the form Hengestesige, and probably means "stallion island". [1] It may also mean "island of a man named Hengest", but there is no evidence to link the place to the historical Hengest. Place names ending in “-ey” (“island”, commonly used of higher ground in a marshy area) are of early formation, probably names bestowed by the first English farmers who tackled the area. [2] The Hinksey villages were not mentioned as separate villages until 1316. [3]

Hinxey Hall was located in Oxford during the 14th to 16th centuries. [4]

Conduit House, a roofed reservoir at Hinksey for Oxford's first water mains, built during the early 17th century Conduit House Harcourt Hill Geograph-2162812-by-Des-Blenkinsopp.jpg
Conduit House, a roofed reservoir at Hinksey for Oxford's first water mains, built during the early 17th century

The Carfax Conduit from Hinksey Hill to Carfax in the centre of Oxford was completed in 1617. [5]

Hinksey Halt railway station served New Hinksey in south Oxford during 1908−15. In 1934, Hinksey Park was laid out in New Hinksey. [6]

Geography

There are now two villages, North Hinksey to the west of the city of Oxford and South Hinksey to the southwest. [3] Hinksey Stream runs past the west of Oxford, a branch of the River Thames. Hinksey Hill Farm lies on Hinksey Hill, close to South Hinksey. Ferry Hinksey Road is a road in west Oxford. There is also a suburb called New Hinksey to the south of the town centre, which contains the Oxford City Council ward Hinksey Park. Here, Hinksey Park itself is an 11-acre park, including an open-air swimming pool, off Abingdon Road. [7]

Culture

The watercolour painter William Turner (1789–1862) painted Oxford from above Hinksey. [8]

John Ruskin's road builders at Ferry Hinksey Ruskin Crew Roadbuilders Ferry Hinksey Oxford.jpg
John Ruskin's road builders at Ferry Hinksey

The art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) used to walk between Abingdon, where he stayed at the Crown and Thistle, and Oxford. [9] He found the path muddy and organized a party of undergraduates to improve the roadway in the Hinksey area. [10]

Laurence Binyon (1869–1943) wrote a poem entitled Ferry Hinksey. [11]

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) mentions Hinksey in his poems Thyrsis and The Scholar Gipsy.

Sport

Hinksey Pool was the original home of Hinksey Sculling School, a community rowing club.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxfordshire</span> County of England

Oxfordshire 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 Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botley, Oxfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Botley is a village in the civil parish of Botley and North Hinksey, in the Vale of White Horse district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England, just west of the Oxford city boundary. Historically part of Berkshire, it stands on the Seacourt Stream, a stream running off the River Thames. The intersection of the A34 and A420 is to the village's north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Hinksey</span> Human settlement in England

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 includes the large settlement of Botley, effectively an isolated suburb of Oxford, with the Botley Road as the sole highway link across the flood plain. North Hinksey was in all respects part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred administration of the Vale of White Horse district to Oxfordshire County Council; it remains part of the historic county of Berkshire however, since the 1974 act did not change the ancient county boundaries. The village of North Hinksey has a manor house, The Fishes public house, a Church of England primary school and a Church of England parish church, St. Lawrence's, which dates back to at least the 12th century. Four of the older houses have thatched roofs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford West and Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom since 1983

Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford railway station</span> Railway station in Oxfordshire, England

Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station, one of two serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about 0.5 miles (800 m) west of the city centre, north-west of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road. It is on the line for trains between London Paddington and Hereford via Worcester Shrub Hill. It is a starting point for fast and local trains to London Paddington and London Marylebone, and for local trains to Reading, Worcester, and Banbury. It is also on the north/south Cross Country Route from Manchester Piccadilly and Newcastle via Birmingham New Street and Reading to Southampton Central and Bournemouth. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, and also served by CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways trains. Immediately to the north is Sheepwash Channel Railway Bridge over the Sheepwash Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumnor</span> Village west of Oxford, England

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 Cumnor Hill,, Chawley, the Dean Court area on the edge of Botley and the outlying settlements of Chilswell, Farmoor, Filchampstead and Swinford. It was within Berkshire until the 1974 local government boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 5,755.

Abingdon was a rural district in the administrative county of Berkshire from 1894 to 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Hinksey</span> Human settlement in England

South Hinksey is a village and civil parish just over 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Oxford. The parish includes the residential area of Hinksey Hill about 0.5 miles (800 m) south of the village. The parish was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.

New Hinksey is a suburb in the south of the city of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinksey Stream</span> Stream in Oxfordshire, England

Hinksey Stream is a branch of the River Thames to the west of the city of Oxford, England. It starts as Seacourt Stream, which leaves the Thames at a bifurcation north of the village of Wytham, and rejoins the river south of the city near Kennington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abingdon Road</span> Road to the south of Oxford, England

Abingdon Road is the main arterial road to the south of the city of Oxford, England. The road passes through the suburbs of Grandpont and New Hinksey. It is named after the town of Abingdon to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seacourt</span> Deserted medieval village in Oxfordshire, UK

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carfax Conduit</span>

The Carfax Conduit was a water conduit that supplied the city of Oxford with water from 1610 until 1869.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilswell</span> Hamlet in Oxfordshire, England

Edwin Dolby was an English Victorian architect who practised in Abingdon. His works include the design of Abingdon School.

Hormer was an ancient hundred of Berkshire, England. It consisted of the area immediately west of Oxford within the bend of the River Thames, all of which was transferred to Oxfordshire on 1 April 1974 in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972. It included the ancient parishes of

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferry Hinksey Road</span> Road in west Oxford, England

Ferry Hinksey Road is a road in west Oxford, England, leading south from the Botley Road. The road leads to the Osney Mead Industrial Estate to the east, started in 1961. To the east is Osney Ditch.

References

  1. ↑ Mills, A. D.; Room, A. (1998). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford University Press.
  2. ↑ Gelling, M. (1988). "Towards a Chronology for Early English Place Names". In Hooke, D. (ed.). Anglo-Saxon Settlements. pp. 71, 73.
  3. 1 2 Lethbridge, Richard (1988). "Hinkseys, The". Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The New Shell Guides. London: Michael Joseph. p. 108. ISBN   0-7181-2908-3.
  4. ↑ Steane, John (1996). Oxfordshire. London: Pimlico, Random House. p. 197. ISBN   0-7126-6199-9.
  5. ↑ Jessup, Mary (1975). A History of Oxfordshire. The Darwen County History Series. London and Chichester: Phillimore. p. 114. ISBN   0-85033-206-0.
  6. ↑ Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). "Hinksey Park". The Encyclopaedia of Oxford . Macmillan. p. 185. ISBN   0-333-39917-X.
  7. ↑ "Parks in Oxford – Hinksey Park". Oxford City Council . Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  8. ↑ Stevenson, Geoffrey (1977). Oxfordshire. Barracuda Guide to County History. Vol. II. Chesham: Barracuda Books. p. 73. ISBN   0-86023-026-0.
  9. ↑ Batchelor, John (2000). John Ruskin: No Wealth But Life. London: Chatto & Windus. p. 290. ISBN   1-856-19580-5.
  10. ↑ Wilde, Oscar (1908). "Art and the Handicraftsman". In Ross, Robert (ed.). Essays and Lectures. Methuen and Co.
  11. ↑ Binyon, Laurence (1982). "Ferry Hinksey". In Fraser, Antonia (ed.). Oxford and Oxfordshire in Verse. Penguin Books. p. 30.

51°44′N1°16′W / 51.733°N 1.267°W / 51.733; -1.267


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