North Hinksey
Encyclopedia
North Hinksey is a small (797 acres) civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in county Berkshire, 2 miles west of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, and 5 miles north of of Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...

,
situated on the right bank of the Isis
The Isis
The Isis is the name given to the part of the River Thames above Iffley Lock which flows through the city of Oxford. The name is especially used in the context of rowing at the University of Oxford...

. One branch of the river, having formed numerous islands at this place, is its eastern boundary.The ground slopes upward from the river-banks to a height of roughly 380 ft.

It was part of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

 until the 1974 boundary changes
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

 transferred it to Oxfordshire.

Overview

The village has a manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

, The Fishes public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, a Church of England
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...

 primary school and a Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 of Saint Lawrence that dates back to at least the 12th century. Four of the older houses have thatched roofs. There is also a cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 which includes a number of Commonwealth war graves, and the administrative offices of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 diocese of Oxford (Diocesan Church House). Harcourt Hill
Harcourt Hill
Harcourt Hill is a hill and community in North Hinksey in Oxfordshire, England, west of the city of Oxford. There is a good view of the city from the hill. It lies between Hinksey Hill to the southeast, Boars Hill to the south and Botley to the north...

 and Raleigh Park
Raleigh Park, Oxfordshire
Raleigh Park is a park of about in North Hinksey, Oxfordshire . The land was formerly part of the estates of the Harcourt family. The land was sold in 1924 to Raymond ffennell, then owner of Wytham Abbey, who gave it to the City of Oxford for use as a park...

 lie to the southwest.

The civil parish of North Hinksey also includes the larger settlement of Botley
Botley, Oxfordshire
Botley is a village in the civil parish of North Hinksey, just west of the Oxford city boundary in the English county of Oxfordshire. It was in Berkshire until 1974, when it was transferred to Oxfordshire...

 to the north, where all the shopping and other facilities are now found. The centre of the old village is now effectively cut off from much of the newer part of Botley by the busy Oxford Ring Road
Oxford Ring Road
The Oxford ring road is a ring road around the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway for most of its length apart from a short section to the North between the Woodstock and Banbury Roads....

, part of the A34 trunk road, though there are two pedestrian underpass
Subway (underpass)
In England and Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong and some Commonwealth countries , the term subway normally refers to a specially constructed underpass for pedestrians and/or cyclists beneath a road or railway, allowing them to reach the other side in safety.The term is also used in the...

es.

History

Hengestesige (x cent.); Hengsteseia (xii cent.); Henxtesey (xiii cent.); Northengseye (xv cent.); Laurence Hinksey, Ferry Hinksey, Ivy Hinksey, (passim).
North Hinksey was anciently called Hengestseigge, and was given in 955 to Abingdon Abbeis.This place was settled in the Saxon era
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...

. Its toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

 is thought to mean 'stallion's isle'. Along with the neighbouring village of South Hinksey
South Hinksey
South Hinksey is a village and civil parish just over south of the centre of Oxford. The parish includes the residential area of Hinksey Hill about south of the village....

, it was once part of the estate of the Benedictine abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...

 at Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...

, and was in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

 until the boundary changes of 1974. The village appears on the 1610 John Speed
John Speed
John Speed was an English historian and cartographer.-Life:He was born at Farndon, Cheshire, and went into his father's tailoring business where he worked until he was about 50...

 map as 'Laurence Hinksey', after the church's dedication, while a 1670s map shows 'Ivy Hinksey'. It was also at one time called Ferry Hinksey, being linked to the eastern side of Hinksey Stream
Hinksey Stream
Hinksey Stream is a branch of the River Thames to the west of the city of Oxford, England. It starts as Seacourt Stream , which leaves the Thames at a bifurcation north of the village of Wytham, and rejoins the river south of the city near Kennington.-Seacourt Stream:From the bifurcation Seacourt...

 by a small ferry, reached from west Oxford by way of Ferry Hinksey Road
Ferry Hinksey Road
Ferry Hinksey Road is a road in west Oxford, England, leading south from the Botley Road. The road leads to the Osney Mead Industrial Estate to the east, started in 1961.- History :...

. The ferry ceased operation in 1928, and the various streams are now crossed by small bridges, though a 'Ferry Cottage' remains that matches the period and has access to the river. Ferry Hinksey (as it then was) is also the burial place of Thomas and Rachael Willis (died 1648 and 1631 respectively) the parents of the physician Dr Thomas Willis
Thomas Willis
Thomas Willis was an English doctor who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology and psychiatry. He was a founding member of the Royal Society.-Life:...

. He played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology, and psychiatry, and was a founding member of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

.

John Ruskin and the diggers

The artist and critic John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...

 was fond of riding out from Oxford, and his trips often took him westwards to North Hinksey, whose rustic charm he admired. (There is a plaque to this effect on one of the old thatched cottages.) He noted the poor state of the village road, and in 1874, he thought of a scheme which would give Oxford students the benefits of manual labour, and also improve conditions for the villagers. He organised a group of undergraduates to help him in the building of an improved road, bordered with banks of flowers. The episode might have vanished into historical obscurity, except that the students in his road-building gang included Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

, Alfred Milner, Hardwicke Rawnsley
Hardwicke Rawnsley
Canon Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley , was an English clergyman, poet, writer of hymns and conservationist, known as one of the co-founders of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty...

 and Arnold Toynbee
Arnold Toynbee
Arnold Toynbee was a British economic historian also noted for his social commitment and desire to improve the living conditions of the working classes.-Biography:...

. Wilde later wrote of the episode in Art and the Handicraftsman (published in Essays, 1879):
It is still not easy to get from North Hinksey to South Hinksey
South Hinksey
South Hinksey is a village and civil parish just over south of the centre of Oxford. The parish includes the residential area of Hinksey Hill about south of the village....

, although the Oxford Ring Road
Oxford Ring Road
The Oxford ring road is a ring road around the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway for most of its length apart from a short section to the North between the Woodstock and Banbury Roads....

 now links the two villages.
The most notable path between Oxford and North Hinksey is a metalled bridleway and cycle track variously known as Willow Walk and Ruskin's Ride. This path was built in 1876–77 by Aubrey Harcourt
House of Harcourt
The House of Harcourt is a Norman family, descended from the Viking Bernard the Dane and named after its seigneurie of Harcourt in Normandy. Its mottos were "Gesta verbis praeveniant" , "Gesta verbis praevenient" , and "Le bon temps viendra .....

 (1852–1904), a major local landowner, but not open to the public until 1922. There is also a smaller unmade path which begins alongside the large back garden of The Fishes and crosses Hinksey Stream by a bridge at the site of the old ferry.

See also

  • Hinksey
    Hinksey
    Hinksey is a place name associated with Oxford and Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire.The place name is of Old English origin. It is first mentioned in the 10th century in the form Hengestesige, and probably means "stallion island". It may also mean "island of a man named...

  • Hinksey Stream
    Hinksey Stream
    Hinksey Stream is a branch of the River Thames to the west of the city of Oxford, England. It starts as Seacourt Stream , which leaves the Thames at a bifurcation north of the village of Wytham, and rejoins the river south of the city near Kennington.-Seacourt Stream:From the bifurcation Seacourt...

  • New Hinksey
    New Hinksey
    New Hinksey is a suburb in the south of the city of Oxford.-Geography:The suburb is west of the Abingdon Road . To the north is Grandpont and to the east, over Donnington Bridge, which crosses the River Thames, is Cowley...

  • South Hinksey
    South Hinksey
    South Hinksey is a village and civil parish just over south of the centre of Oxford. The parish includes the residential area of Hinksey Hill about south of the village....

  • Botley, Oxfordshire
    Botley, Oxfordshire
    Botley is a village in the civil parish of North Hinksey, just west of the Oxford city boundary in the English county of Oxfordshire. It was in Berkshire until 1974, when it was transferred to Oxfordshire...


External links

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