South Oxhey

South Oxhey
Oxhey Chapel
South Oxhey  South Oxhey shown within Hertfordshire
OS grid reference	TQ115925
Civil parish	Watford Rural
District	Three Rivers
Shire county	Hertfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WATFORD
Postcode district	WD19
Dialling code	020
Police	Hertfordshire
Fire	Hertfordshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	South West Hertfordshire
List of places UK England Hertfordshire

South Oxhey 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.

History

South Oxhey is a large estate built on land that was formerly part of the Oxhey Hall Estate.^[1] There was a manor house here, Oxhey Place, and a chapel.^[2] The manor house was owned by the Blackwell family of Crosse and Blackwell fame. It burnt down in 1960. Oxhey Chapel dates from 1612 and is still standing to the south of the parish church of All Saints.^[3][4] The church was opened in 1957 to serve the new estate built after the Second World War by the London County Council. The church was demolished and rebuilt in 2000.

South Oxhey is a large estate almost exclusively made up of council built properties. This is in stark contrast to the neighbouring estate of Carpenders Park, whose dwellings were predominantly built privately. South Oxhey played host to the National Front Headquarters during the 1990's, and is an area known for racial hate crime.

Since the introduction of the nationwide Right to buy policy in 1980, many South Oxhey residents have bought their homes from the local council, meaning that by 2007, some 70% of houses on the estate are privately owned. The estate was built after the Second World War to help alleviate the housing pressures thrust upon London during the Blitz as well as general inadequate housing. South Oxhey was originally built and managed by the London County Council and later the Greater London Council. In 1980 the ownership and management of the estate was transferred from the GLC to Three Rivers District Council.

South Oxhey Choirs

South Oxhey featured in the BBC television series The Choir: Unsung Town which was first broadcast on BBC Two on 1 September 2009. The programme featured a project by Gareth Malone to assemble a community choir in the town by recruiting local residents and encouraging them to take part.^[5] A legacy of the programme was the foundation of two groups, the South Oxhey Community Choir and the South Oxhey Youth Choir.^[6][7]

As part of the TV series, the choirs performed at venues including the Watford Colosseum, St Albans Abbey, and headlining at Sox Fest '09 in May 2009.^[8] In April 2009, the Community Choir made their debut recording at Abbey Road Studios.^[9]

Gareth Malone continued as choirmaster for two years following the conclusion of the TV recording and now maintains his support as patron.^[10] The current musical director is Simon Wookey ^[11] and both the Community and Youth choirs continue to make regular performances about three to four times per year at events around Hertfordshire and the South East of England.^[12]

Local facilities

The main shopping precinct in South Oxhey town centre

• SO Youth (The Centre, Gosforth Lane) - Youth Project - Youth Connexions Hertfordshire - For Young People aged 13 to 19 ^[13]
• Pedestrianised shopping precinct
• Oxhey Library (Bridlington Road) ^[14]
• The Centre (Gosforth Lane) - A community and leisure facility^[15]
• Sir James Altham Pool (Altham Way)^[16]
• South Oxhey Army Cadets Detachment, 3 Coy, Gosforth Lane
• All Saints Church (Church of England)^[17]
• ASCEND
• Oxhey Jets football club
• South Oxhey Baptist Church
• 2384 Bushey and Oxhey squadron (Gosforth Lane) - Air Cadets
• South Oxhey Choirs
• South Oxhey Labour Party

Transport

Carpenders Park station

South Oxhey is served by London Overground rail services from Carpenders Park railway station which is on the Watford DC Line. Trains run from Watford Junction to London Euston. Until 1982, Carpenders Park was part of the London Underground network, on the Bakerloo line.

A number of local bus routes also pass through South Oxhey.^[18][19] Buses are managed by Hertfordshire County Council's Intalink transport service. Services are provided by Arriva Shires & Essex: No. 2 runs from Watford Town Centre, zig-zags across the northern part of the estate and runs in a loop around the southern area; No. 8 runs from Northwood (Mount Vernon Hospital) to Abbots Langley, serving only the eastern and southern edges of the estate. In addition, there are two limited 'shoppers' services, to North Watford and Hatch End.

Education

Primary Schools

• Colnbrook (Special School)^[20]
• Greenfields^[21]
• Oxhey Woods^[22]
• St. Josephs^[23]
• Warren Dell Primary^[24]
• Woodhall Primary^[25]
• Little Furze (closed in about 2004/05 after being placed under 'Special Measures' by Ofsted in November 2003, and a decline in numbers which made it financially non-viable).^[26]

Secondary Schools

South Oxhey has no secondary schools. However, from the early 1950s, there were two Secondary modern schools – Clarendon, on Chilwell Gardens, and the smaller Hampden School, on Little Oxhey Lane. Built to cater for the post war 'baby boom', both schools eventually combined to form Sir James Altham Comprehensive (upper and lower schools) and eventually closed as a result of the continual selling of public amenities to developers by Three Rivers Council.

Nature reserve

Oxhey Woods Local Nature Reserve is on the western border of South Oxhey.^[27][28]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Oxhey.

Further reading

A book South Oxhey : "a giant on their doorstep" author Rose McNamara-Wright tells a brief history of South Oxhey for children growing up during the war as told through her own experiences.