Park Town | |
---|---|
The main crescent of Park Town | |
Location within Oxfordshire | |
OS grid reference | SP512078 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Oxford |
Postcode district | OX2 |
Dialling code | 01865 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Oxfordshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Oxford City Council |
Park Town is a small residential area in central North Oxford, a suburb of Oxford, England. It was one of the earliest planned suburban developments in the area and most of the houses are Grade II listed. [1]
Samuel Lipscomb Seckham (1827–1900) developed the houses in the main crescent in 1853–54, with Bath stone front elevations, and the west-facing crescent with an elevated pavement known as "The Terrace" in 1854–55. The Park Town Estate Company [2] was formed in September 1857 through Seckham's efforts. [3]
Many of the houses and gardens in Park Town were originally surrounded by ornamental iron railings. Those for the detached houses were removed for war use in the Second World War [4] but some have been restored. The Friends of Park Town restored the railings and lanterns around the central garden in the middle of the main Park Town crescent and received an award for the project from the Oxford Preservation Trust in 1977. [5]
Park Town includes two crescents of town houses, surrounding communal gardens and a number of larger villas.
To the west is Banbury Road with Canterbury Road on the opposite side and to the east is the Dragon School. St Anne's College has student accommodation here.
Miss Sarah Angelina Acland (1849–1930), daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, lived for the latter part of her life and died at her home in (then No. 7) Park Town, recorded by a blue plaque in 2016. [6] Her interest in colour photography at the turn of the 20th century produced a number of significant early examples, which are held at the History of Science Museum in central Oxford, [7] a number of which were taken in Park Town.
5 Park Town, was the second home of the Central Labour College (1910–1911) before it moved to 11–13 Penywern Road, Earls Court, London. [8]
Former residents include: [9]
Aung San Suu Kyi, sometimes abbreviated to Suu Kyi, is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since the party's founding in 1988 and was registered as its chairperson while it was a legal party from 2011 to 2023. She played a vital role in Myanmar's transition from military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s.
Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about 13 miles (21 km) east of the city of Oxford and 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border with Buckinghamshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Moreton south of the town. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 11,561. Thame was founded in the Anglo-Saxon era and was in the kingdom of Wessex.
Michael Vaillancourt Aris was a British historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan, and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor of Myanmar.
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 houses were initially sold on leasehold by the college.
Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, just north of the former city wall. The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University of Oxford. Among residents, the street is traditionally known as The Broad.
The Acland Hospital was a private nursing home and hospital in central North Oxford, England, located in a prominent position at the southern end of the Banbury Road. It was founded in memory of Sarah Acland, the wife of Sir Henry Acland, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford. Following redevelopment it now serves as graduate accommodation for Keble College.
Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the Woodstock Road, which it meets at the junction with St Giles'. To the north, Banbury Road meets the Oxford Ring Road at a roundabout. The road is designated the A4165. Prior to the building of the M40 motorway extension in 1990, the road formed part of the A423 from Maidenhead to Coventry.
Linton Road is a road in North Oxford, England.
The Norham Manor estate is a residential suburb in Oxford, England. It is part of central North Oxford. To the north is Park Town with its crescents, to the east is the River Cherwell, to the south are the University Parks and to the west is Walton Manor, on the other side of Banbury Road.
Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland, 1st Baronet, was an English physician and educator.
Sarah, Lady Acland was the wife of Sir Henry Acland, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford. She was a socialite and philanthropist. After her death, the Sarah Acland Home was established in her memory.
Rawlinson Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England.
John Ruskin is a portrait of the leading Victorian art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900). It was painted by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais (1829–1896) during 1853–54. John Ruskin was an early advocate of the Pre-Raphaelite group of artists and part of their success was due to his efforts.
William Richard Morfill FBA was Professor of Russian and the other Slavonic languages at the University of Oxford from 1900 until his death. He was the first professor of Russian in Britain, and his house in North Oxford was marked with a commemorative blue plaque by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board in 2009.
Bradmore Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England.
Fyfield Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England, on the Norham Manor estate.
Frederick Codd was a British Gothic Revival architect and speculative builder who designed and built many Victorian houses in North Oxford, England.
Crick Road is a road in North Oxford, England, an area characterised by large Victorian Gothic villas.
Ma Than E Fend was a prominent Burmese singer in the early 20th century, known by her stage name Bilat Pyan Than (ဘိလပ်ပြန်သန်း). She was also an international civil servant who spent a long career in the United Nations.
Sarah Angelina "Angie" Acland was an English amateur photographer, known for her portraiture and as a pioneer of colour photography. She was credited by her contemporaries with inaugurating colour photography "as a process for the travelling amateur", by virtue of the photographs she took during two visits to Gibraltar in 1903 and 1904.