Oxhey | |
---|---|
Location within Hertfordshire | |
Population | 7,200 (2021 census) [1] |
OS grid reference | TQ125955 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Watford |
Postcode district | WD19 |
Dialling code | 01923 |
Police | Hertfordshire |
Fire | Hertfordshire |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
Oxhey is a suburb of Watford, under the jurisdiction of the Watford Borough Council in the county of Hertfordshire, England. [2] It is in the Oxhey ward of Watford Borough Council.
The wider locations which comprise the modern Oxhey area are Oxhey Village (the area around Bushey station and between Pinner Road and London Road) and Oxhey Hall (the area along Hampermill Lane towards Moor Park).
Oxhey grew during the mid-19th century with the coming of the London and Birmingham Railway from London Euston to Boxmoor in 1837, the settlement being developed to house railway workers. The line was completed to Birmingham in 1838. It was originally called 'New Bushey', after the well-established village a mile away, but was renamed 'Oxhey' in 1907.
In 1894 the parish of Bushey was split into 'Bushey Rural' and 'Bushey Urban', on 1 April 1906 Bushey Rural was renamed Oxhey'. [3]
In 1931 the parish had a population of 2,636. [4]
Oxhey Grange in Oxhey Lane was built in 1876 by architect William Young (1843–1900) in the High Victorian Gothic style. It is a Grade II listed building.
Residents are represented by local community group Oxhey Village Environment Group, colloquially known as OVEG. Founded in 1974, OVEG is a non-political, non-profit residents’ group run by volunteers, which aims to "maintain, protect and enhance the character and environment of Oxhey Village and its surroundings." [5] [6] The group takes action on local issues, such as major planning applications, [7] and operates a number of community events including an annual summer fair. [8]
OVEG’s former committee members include Baroness Thornhill; a former mayor of Watford, and the first female directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. [9]
Oxhey has a non-League football team Oxhey Jets F.C. who play at the Boundary Stadium.
Oxhey Park Golf Club is a public pay & play course that used to be an 18-hole course built on land owned by the Blackwell family in 1910, who then sold the estate to London County Council in 1946, who made it a municipal course in 1947 with a par of 78, but it was closed in 1954. It subsequently became a 9-hole course.
Oxhey's parish church is St Matthew's, a Grade II listed building dating from 1880 in Gothic Revival style with some elements of early Art Nouveau decoration. The church also features a Karl Parsons window in the Lady Chapel. [10]
Watford has a long historical association with beer and brewing. At one point, the Oxhey and neighbouring Bushey area was served by as many as 25 pubs. [11]
Oxhey Village is currently served by five public houses:
The nearest secondary schools are Grange Academy, which sits just outside the ward boundaries, and Queens' School in Bushey.
Bushey station is a London Overground and Network Rail station in Travelcard Zone 8; it has direct links to London Euston station and Watford Junction station.
The station is served by London Northwestern Railway semi-fast trains on the West Coast main line, and by London Overground services on the Watford DC line, a slow local service along the West Coast route.
It is an oddity that the station, which serves both Oxhey and the town of Bushey a mile away, is situated on the edge of Oxhey Village and yet is called Bushey Station. The original name of the station was 'Bushey', it was renamed 'Bushey & Oxhey' when Oxhey Village was renamed, and was then renamed again in 1974. [12]
The area is served by London Bus routes 142 and 258.
Oxhey Park is a large public space located in Oxhey. Founded in 1924 by recently-established Watford Borough Council, the park comprises approximately 14 hectares of parkland with a wooded dell and rolling grassy slopes. [13]
The site lies between Eastbury Road, Deacons Hill and the West Coast Main Line at Bushey Arches.
In 2020, a new Oxhey Activity Park was opened within the site, including a skate park and a cafe. [14] The redeveloped activity park subsequently won the 'Excellence in Public Health and Wellbeing' prize at the 2021 Landscape Institute Awards. [15] [16]
Oxhey Park - and Oxhey Activity Park - were named amongst ten parks that received the 2022 Green Flag People's Choice Awards. [17]
Watford is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne.
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town in Hertsmere. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow reaching elevations of 165 metres (541 ft) above sea level.
Three Rivers is a local government district in south-west Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth. The district borders Hertsmere, Watford, St Albans, Dacorum, Buckinghamshire, and the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow.
South Hampstead is a London Overground station on the Lioness line, situated on Loudoun Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is about 550 yards (500 m) south west of Swiss Cottage Underground station.
South West Hertfordshire is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, represented since 2019 by Gagan Mohindra, a Conservative.
Watford is a UK parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons since 2024 by Matt Turmaine, a member of the Labour Party.
Bushey is an interchange station in Hertfordshire which serves Bushey and Oxhey. It is located on an embankment where the Watford DC line, operated as the Lioness line of the London Overground, diverges from the West Coast Main Line (WCML). National Rail services along the WCML are operated by London Northwestern Railway.
Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately 14 miles (23 km) northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residential development. The local council is Watford Rural Parish Council. The parish covers South Oxhey and Carpenders Park, which although part of the Watford urban area, are outside the borough of Watford. The parish was created in 1894 when the ancient Watford parish was split into urban and rural parishes. At the 2011 census it had a population of 20,867.
The Watford DC line is a suburban railway line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Greater London and Hertfordshire. Its services are operated by London Overground for the whole length of the line and the Bakerloo line of the London Underground between Harrow & Wealdstone and Queen's Park.
The A4008 is a local road in south east England.
Eastbury is a settlement in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, adjacent to the Greater London suburb of Northwood in Hillingdon. Other settlements nearby include Moor Park and South Oxhey, and Eastbury is about equal distance between the Northwood and Moor Park tube stations. Northwood Headquarters is in Eastbury. The post town is Northwood. It is in the Three Rivers Ward of Moor Park and Eastbury, and since 1 April 2017, the civil parish of Batchworth.
South Oxhey is an estate in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At the 2011 Census South Oxhey's population was included in the Northwick Ward of Three Rivers Council.
The Croxley Rail Link, or the Metropolitan Line Extension, was a proposed railway engineering project in the Watford and Three Rivers districts of Hertfordshire, England, that would have connected the London Overground and the London Underground's Metropolitan line at Watford Junction. If the link were to go ahead, the Metropolitan line's terminus at Watford Underground station would be closed and the line diverted and extended from Croxley to Watford Junction via a reopened section of closed line. The main proponent of the scheme was Hertfordshire County Council but it failed to win the support of Transport for London (TfL) which owns the Watford branch. The engineering works would have consisted of the realignment of the disused Watford and Rickmansworth Railway's line between Croxley Green and Watford High Street, with the construction of a viaduct over the Grand Union Canal, River Gade and A412 road and two new stations before branching into the London Overground line near Watford High Street and continuing to Watford Junction.
This article provides brief details of primary schools in the borough of Watford in Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. Some Watford children attend schools in the neighbouring boroughs of Three Rivers and Hertsmere.
Carpenders Park is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. It is bounded to the West by a railway line that separates it from South Oxhey, to the East by the A4008 Watford to Harrow Road, to the South by the B4542, Green Belt and the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow and to the North by woodland.
Dorothy Thornhill, Baroness Thornhill, was the first directly elected mayor of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. She was the Liberal Democrats' first directly elected mayor, and was also the first female directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. She served as Mayor of Watford from May 2002 until May 2018. She was nominated for a life peerage in August 2015.
Mary Pownall, later Mary Bromet, (1862–1937) was a British sculptor. She was active from 1890 until 1937 and was particularly associated with Watford.
The 2018 Watford Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Watford Borough Council in England. This was the same day as other local elections.
Peter Colin Taylor is a Liberal Democrat politician. He is the second directly elected mayor of Watford in the United Kingdom. He was elected in the 2018 election, succeeding Dorothy Thornhill. Before becoming Elected Mayor of Watford, he was a teacher and a local Oxhey ward councillor. He was re-elected in 2022.
Oxhey Village Environment Group http://www.oveg.org