St John Street is a street

Street

A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...

 in central 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...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The street mainly consists of stone-faced Georgian-style

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 terraced houses. It was built as a speculative development by St John's College

St John's College, Oxford

__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...

 starting in the 1820s and finishing in the 1840s at the start of the Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 era.

At the northern end is Rewley House

Rewley House

Rewley House, located on the corner of Wellington Square and St John Street in the city of Oxford, England, is the primary base of Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education....

 (housing Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education, formally Kellogg College

Kellogg College, Oxford

Kellogg College is one of the largest and most international graduate constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Kellogg College is a graduate college and admissions are not open to undergraduates. The college focuses on the concept of higher, postgraduate and lifelong learning...

) and near the southern end is the Sackler Library

Sackler Library

The Sackler Library holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the University of Oxford, England.- History :...

, which opened in 2001. To the south is Beaumont Street

Beaumont Street

Beaumont Street is a street in the centre of Oxford, England.The street was laid out from 1828 to 1837 with elegant terraced houses in the Regency style. Before that, it was the location of Beaumont Palace, now noted by a plaque near the junction with Walton Street...

 and to the north is Wellington Square

Wellington Square, Oxford

Wellington Square is a garden square in central Oxford, England, a continuation northwards of St John Street. In the centre of the square is a small park, Wellington Square Gardens, owned by the University of Oxford...

. St John Street runs parallel with St Giles' (linked via Pusey Street

Pusey Street

Pusey Street links the wide thoroughfare of St Giles' Street to the east with St John Street to the west in the St John Street area of central Oxford, England. Pusey Street, formerly called Alfred Street, was renamed in honour of Edward Bouverie Pusey in 1926.The street is bordered by two Oxford...

) to the east and Walton Street

Walton Street

Walton Street is on the eastern edge of the Jericho district of central Oxford, England.- Overview :The street runs north from the western end of Beaumont Street and northern end of Worcester Street by the main entrance of Worcester College. Somerville College, one of the former women's colleges,...

 to the west.

Note that part of Merton Street

Merton Street

Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled lane in central Oxford, England. It joins the High Street at its northeastern end, between the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art and the Eastgate Hotel at the historic east gate of the city...

 was once known as St John Street.

Famous residents

The Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

-born painter William Turner

William Turner (artist)

William Turner was an English painter who specialised in watercolour landscapes. He was a contemporary of the more famous artist J. M. W. Turner and his style was not dissimilar. He is often known as William Turner of Oxford or just Turner of Oxford to distinguish him from his better known namesake...

 (1789–1862) lived at No 16 from 1853 until his death. The house is marked with a blue plaque

Blue plaque

A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....

.

Other famous residents of St John Street have included the theologians Henry Chadwick

Henry Chadwick (theologian)

Henry Chadwick KBE was a British academic and Church of England clergyman. A former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford — and as such also head of Christ Church, Oxford — he also served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, becoming the first person in four centuries to have headed a college at...

 and Arthur Peacocke

Arthur Peacocke

The Reverend Canon Arthur Robert Peacocke MBE was a British theologian and biochemist.-Biography:Arthur Robert Peacocke was born at Watford in on 29 November 1924...

; authors P.D. James, Iain Pears

Iain Pears

Iain Pears is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. He was educated at Warwick School, Warwick, Wadham College and Wolfson College, Oxford. Before writing, he worked as a reporter for the BBC, Channel 4 and ZDF and correspondent for Reuters from 1982 to 1990 in Italy, France, UK and...

 and J.R.R. Tolkien; musician Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke

Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...

; sportsman Na Oofoka.
The Curator

Curator

A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...

 of the Museum of the History of Science (in Broad Street

Broad Street, Oxford

Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, located just north of the old city wall.The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University...

, not far away), Kurt Josten

Kurt Josten

Kurt Josten was a historian of science and Curator of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford in England....

, lived in rooms in St John Street.

External links

• Summer Rain in St John Street, Oxford Daily Photo, 26 July 2007