| Headington | |
The Headington Shark |
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Headington
Headington shown within Oxfordshire |
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| OS grid reference | SP5407 |
|---|---|
| Parish | unparished |
| District | Oxford |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX3 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Oxford East |
| Website | www.headington.org.uk |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Headington is a suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames Valley below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London and Oxford.
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The site of Headington shows evidence of continued occupation from the Stone Age, as the 2001 field excavations in Barton Lane found, suggesting a date in the 11th century BC. Pottery was found on the Manor Ground, suggesting an Iron Age settlement there in the 7th century BC. Roman kilns from about AD 300 have been found, including one now on display at the Museum of Oxford. Anglo-Saxon burial remains from about AD 500 have also been discovered.
Headington's toponym is derived from the Old English Hedena's dun, meaning "Hedena's hill", when it was the site of a palace or hunting lodge of the Kings of Mercia. In a charter of 1004, Ethelred II of England, "written at the royal ville called Headan dune", gave land in Headington to Frideswide's priory, which included the quarry and the area around it.
Henry I granted a chapel at Headington to the Augustinian canons regular of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford when the priory was founded in 1122.[1] The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew was built in the middle of the 12th century and enlarged in the 13th century.[1][2] The bell tower was started in the 13th or 14th century[2] and completed in about 1500.[1] St. Andrew's was repaired in the 17th and 18th centuries.[1] The Gothic Revival architect J.C. Buckler restored the building[1] and lengthened the nave in 1862–1864.[1][2]
Headington developed rapidly in the early 20th century, significant amounts of housing developed around the medieval village, now known as Old Headington. In 1927 it became an urban district separate from the Headington Rural District and in 1929 it was added to the city of Oxford. The other side of the London Rd is called New Headington. [3]
Oxford United was originally Headington United F.C. Until 2001 its home ground was the Manor Ground, which had its main entrance on London Road. In 2001 Oxford United moved to the Kassam Stadium near Blackbird Leys. The Manor Ground has since been demolished and a private hospital built on the site.
In 2002 a re-warding of the City created a ward called Headington representing both sides of the London Road, from Bury Knowle Park to Headley Way, with two elected representatives. The first councillors for this ward were David Rundle (2002–) and Stephen Tall (2002–2008). Ruth Wilkinson was elected to succeed Stephen Tall in May 2008.
Headington has a large and growing population. Headington's main employment sectors are medicine, education, and research. In the centre of Headington are a number of shops, pubs, cafés, restaurants, and other services. The area also includes the main campus of Oxford Brookes University, the Ruskin House campus of Ruskin College and the city's main hospitals, including the John Radcliffe, Nuffield and Churchill.
Headington's most famous landmark is The Headington Shark, made by John Buckley for local broadcaster Bill Heine in 1986.
Headington has a number of green spaces including Headington Hill and Bury Knowle parks. Close by is Shotover Hill, a heath and woodland area with views over Oxfordshire, and listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Warneford Meadow a wild grassland, bought in 1918 by public subscription for the adjacent Warneford Hospital has been registered as a Town Green and has thus escaped development.
J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, lived at 76 Sandfield Road in Headington from 1953 until 1968. C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, moved to the district in 1921 (he was born in Northern Ireland in 1898) and lived there until moving to The Kilns at nearby Risinghurst in 1930. He lived there until his death in 1963 at "The Kilns".[4] Lewis is buried at Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry.
A more recent resident was John Simpson, senior editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. A number of Oxford academics have decamped to Headington over the years, preferring it to North Oxford where most dons lived. They include Lord Krebs, David Marquand and Anthony Kenny. Sir Isaiah Berlin, the historian A. B. Emden, the chemist Dalziel Hammick, Lord Elton, Michael Ernest Sadler and John Johnson (the University Printer) were also among them. Others included music producer Adam Lee, the author Elizabeth Bowen, Robert Maxwell and Lord Nuffield (William Morris) and Anne Diamond, the TV presenter and author. Brian Aldiss, the science fiction writer, lives in Old Headington. Emma Watson, Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films, lived in Headington together with her mother and brother until she moved to Hampstead in London. She also attended Headington School.
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