Risinghurst: Difference between revisions
Tidying |
m Tidying |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
== Houses == |
== Houses == |
||
Most of the houses in Risinghurst are semi-detached 1930s 3 bedroom residences, although there are newer houses behind Nielsen's UK headquarters that date from the 1970s, and some smaller ex-council houses dating from the late 1980s. In addition, in the SE corner of the estate is a small settlement of houses that date back to the 17th century. The estate was built primarily to house the increasing number of workers then employed at Morris Motors and today most of the home-owners are still likely to be employed in the automotive industry. Property prices are relatively high |
Most of the houses in Risinghurst are semi-detached 1930s 3 bedroom residences, although there are newer houses behind Nielsen's UK headquarters that date from the 1970s, and some smaller ex-council houses dating from the late 1980s. In addition, in the SE corner of the estate is a small settlement of houses that date back to the 17th century. The estate was built primarily to house the increasing number of workers then employed at [[Morris Motors]] and today most of the home-owners are still likely to be employed in the automotive industry. Property prices are relatively high — sometimes reaching £250,000. |
||
== Places of interest == |
== Places of interest == |
||
Risinghurst was home to the author [[C.S. Lewis]], who lived in a house called The Kilns and the nature reserve directly behind his former house is named after him. This wild area is said to have been the inspiration for Narnia. Situated on the steep hill beyond the nature reserve lies Shotover Country Park, which is home to a variety of wildlife and is designated as a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]]. The top of the hill offers views of [[Oxfordshire]], although [[Oxford]] itself is hard to see. Through part of the estate runs the route of the Silchester to Towcester Roman road; the Kilns itself is so-named because kilns were excavated here that are thought to date back to the Roman period. Romano-British occupation was discovered during clay-quarrying in the late-nineteenth century (these pits have now become lakes.) Finds recorded in 1898 include building stones, gravel floors, and pottery dated mostly to the 3rd and 4th centuries but including some 2nd-century Samian ware. The surface of a 'probable road' was also sectioned, lying parallel to the main road but over 100 yards (90+ metres) to the east; this comprised of a spread of stones about 20 feet (c.6 metres) wide and about a foot (c.30.5 cm) thick in the centre, tapering to 'almost nothing at the edges'. Coins recovered from the site and recorded by Harding in 1939 ranged from issues of Tiberius ( |
Risinghurst was home to the author [[C.S. Lewis]], who lived in a house called The Kilns and the nature reserve directly behind his former house is named after him. This wild area is said to have been the inspiration for [[Narnia]]. Situated on the steep hill beyond the nature reserve lies [[Shotover Country Park]], which is home to a variety of wildlife and is designated as a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]]. The top of the hill offers views of [[Oxfordshire]], although [[Oxford]] itself is hard to see. Through part of the estate runs the route of the [[Silchester]] to [[Towcester]] Roman road; the Kilns itself is so-named because kilns were excavated here that are thought to date back to the Roman period. Romano-British occupation was discovered during clay-quarrying in the late-nineteenth century (these pits have now become lakes.) Finds recorded in 1898 include building stones, gravel floors, and pottery dated mostly to the 3rd and 4th centuries but including some 2nd-century Samian ware. The surface of a 'probable road' was also sectioned, lying parallel to the main road but over 100 yards (90+ metres) to the east; this comprised of a spread of stones about 20 feet (c.6 metres) wide and about a foot (c.30.5 cm) thick in the centre, tapering to 'almost nothing at the edges'. Coins recovered from the site and recorded by Harding in 1939 ranged from issues of Tiberius (AD14–37) to Honorius (AD395–423). |
||
== Businesses and services == |
== Businesses and services == |
||
Revision as of 22:47, 20 July 2006
Risinghurst is a quiet outlying residential area of Oxford, England, situated just outside the Eastern Bypass road which forms part of the Oxford ring road. It is around a mile from the centre of Headington and about 3 miles from Oxford city centre. It is part of the Risinghurst and Sandhills civil parish.
Houses
Most of the houses in Risinghurst are semi-detached 1930s 3 bedroom residences, although there are newer houses behind Nielsen's UK headquarters that date from the 1970s, and some smaller ex-council houses dating from the late 1980s. In addition, in the SE corner of the estate is a small settlement of houses that date back to the 17th century. The estate was built primarily to house the increasing number of workers then employed at Morris Motors and today most of the home-owners are still likely to be employed in the automotive industry. Property prices are relatively high — sometimes reaching £250,000.
Places of interest
Risinghurst was home to the author C.S. Lewis, who lived in a house called The Kilns and the nature reserve directly behind his former house is named after him. This wild area is said to have been the inspiration for Narnia. Situated on the steep hill beyond the nature reserve lies Shotover Country Park, which is home to a variety of wildlife and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The top of the hill offers views of Oxfordshire, although Oxford itself is hard to see. Through part of the estate runs the route of the Silchester to Towcester Roman road; the Kilns itself is so-named because kilns were excavated here that are thought to date back to the Roman period. Romano-British occupation was discovered during clay-quarrying in the late-nineteenth century (these pits have now become lakes.) Finds recorded in 1898 include building stones, gravel floors, and pottery dated mostly to the 3rd and 4th centuries but including some 2nd-century Samian ware. The surface of a 'probable road' was also sectioned, lying parallel to the main road but over 100 yards (90+ metres) to the east; this comprised of a spread of stones about 20 feet (c.6 metres) wide and about a foot (c.30.5 cm) thick in the centre, tapering to 'almost nothing at the edges'. Coins recovered from the site and recorded by Harding in 1939 ranged from issues of Tiberius (AD14–37) to Honorius (AD395–423).
Businesses and services
Risinghurst is home to The Ampleforth, the local public house which has recently been renovated, next door to Risinghurt Post Office, which contains a convenience store. It is from this store that the phrase to "double dip" was first coined during the early 1990s. In the colloquial slang of the time, this phrase loosely translated to mean — "obtaining goods with comedic undertones". Its usage was very much parlance of the time as today it would be rare to hear it quoted in everyday converstation.
The Ampleforth Arms pub has interesting connections. Anyone familiar with the monks' cloisters at Ampleforh Abbey in north Yorkshire will recognize the woodwork and other interior features as similar to the decoration in the Abbey. It seems that the foreman involved in the building of the Abbey was from Oxford and on his return built both the Ampleforth Arms and the Somerset House in Marston Road.
The Ampleforth Arms sits on the corner of Collinwood Road and Downside Road. There is often friendly rivalry between the Benedictine abbeys of Downside, in Somerset, and Ampleforth in north Yorkshire.
On the edge of Risinghurst is the UK headquarters of Nielsen, the global market research company who have been here since around the early 1960s.
In another part of Risinghurst, there was once a harpsichord factory: Robert Goble & Son were harpsichord makers at Greatstones, a large house found further up the lane that leads off the Kilns. It is believed that they started manufacturing harpsichords during the 1950s.
Religion
There is one church: the United Reformed Church in Collinwood Road. Orginally, a Congragationlist church established in the early 1950s, it merged with the Presbyterians and Churches of Christ, and is the main now representative of the Reformed tradition in England. The church itself was built in the late '50s. The Revd Tom Stiff was the driving force behind its establishment and in 2001 he celebrated his 50 years of being associated with the church.
External links
 | This Oxfordshire location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |