Park Town, Oxford Explained

Official Name:	Park Town
Static Image Name:	Park Town, Oxford - crescent.JPG
Static Image Caption:	The main crescent of Park Town
Coordinates:	51.766°N -1.261°W
Os Grid Reference:	SP512078
Label Position:	left
Civil Parish:	Unparished
Shire District:	Oxford
Shire County:	Oxfordshire
Country:	England
Region:	South East England
Post Town:	Oxford
Postcode Area:	OX
Postcode District:	OX2
Dial Code:	01865
Constituency Westminster:	Oxford West and Abingdon
Website:	Oxford City Council
Pushpin Map:	United Kingdom Oxford

Park Town is a small residential area in central North Oxford, a suburb of Oxford, England. It was one of the earliest planned suburban developments in the area and most of the houses are Grade II listed.^[1]

History

Samuel Lipscomb Seckham (1827–1900) developed the houses in the main crescent in 1853–54, with Bath stone front elevations, and the west-facing crescent with an elevated pavement known as "The Terrace" in 1854–55. The Park Town Estate Company^[2] was formed in September 1857 through Seckham's efforts.

Many of the houses and gardens in Park Town were originally surrounded by ornamental iron railings. Those for the detached houses were removed for war use in the Second World War but some have been restored. The Friends of Park Town restored the railings and lanterns around the central garden in the middle of the main Park Town crescent and received an award for the project from the Oxford Preservation Trust in 1977.^[3]

Location

Park Town includes two crescents of town houses, surrounding communal gardens and a number of larger villas.

To the west is Banbury Road with Canterbury Road on the opposite side and to the east is the Dragon School. St Anne's College has student accommodation here.

Individual houses

Miss Sarah Angelina Acland (1849–1930), daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, lived for the latter part of her life and died at her home in (then No. 7) Park Town, recorded by a blue plaque in 2016.^[4] Her interest in colour photography at the turn of the 20th century produced a number of significant early examples, which are held at the History of Science Museum in central Oxford,^[5] a number of which were taken in Park Town.

5 Park Town, was the second home of the Central Labour College (1910–1911) before it moved to 11–13 Penywern Road, Earls Court, London.^[6]

Notable residents

Former residents include:

• Sarah Angelina Acland (1849–1930), pioneer colour photographer.
• Edmund Bowen FRS (1898–1980), chemist and Fellow of University College.
• Godfrey Rolles Driver CBE, FBA (1892–1975), orientalist and Fellow of Magdalen College.
• Professor Sir Michael Dummett (1925–2011), philosopher and anti-racism campaigner, All Souls College, New College, Wykeham Professor of Logic.^[7]

• Charles Sutherland Elton FRS (1900–1991), zoologist, ecologist and Fellow of Corpus Christi College.^[8]
• John Flemming (1941–2003), economist and Warden of Wadham College.^[9]
• James Clerk Maxwell Garnett CBE (1880–1958), educationist and Secretary of the League of Nations.
• Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945), Myanmar State Counsellor.^[10]
• Ian McEwan (born 1948),^[11] Booker Prize winning novelist.
• William Richard Morfill (1834–1909), first Professor of Russian and Slavonic Languages at Oxford, lived at number 42 and is commemorated by a blue plaque.^[12]
• Leonid Pasternak (1862–1945), Russian painter, spent the last six years of his life living with his daughter Lydia Pasternak Slater (1902–1989), chemist and poet, at no. 20.^[13] Leonid Pasternak was the father of Boris Pasternak, poet and author of Doctor Zhivago, but he remained in Russia until his death. Ann Pasternak Slater, academic and translator, is the daughter of Lydia Pasternak Slater.
• Rupert Spira (born 1960), spiritual teacher and philosopher.^[14]

Sources and further reading

• Book: Crossley . Alan . Elrington . C.R. . Christopher Elrington . Chance . Eleanor . Colvin . Christina . Cooper . Janet . Day . C.J. . Hassall . T.G. . Selwyn . Nesta . . A History of the County of Oxford . 4: The City of Oxford . 1979 .
• Book: Hinchcliffe, Tanis . North Oxford . 1992 . New Haven . . 0-300-05184-0 .
• Book: Kelly . Frederic Festus . Frederic Festus Kelly . Kelly's Directory of Oxford . Park Town . 68th . 1976 . Kingston-upon-Thames . . 417 .
• Book: Sherwood . Jennifer . Pevsner . Nikolaus . Nikolaus Pevsner . . Oxfordshire . 1974 . Harmondsworth . . 0-14-071045-0 . 320–321 .
• Book: Spokes Symonds, Ann . The Changing Faces of North Oxford . Book One . 1998 . Witney . . Families . 81–83, 95–96 . 1-899536-25-6 .
• Book: Tyack, Geoffrey . Oxford An Architectural Guide . 1998 . . Oxford & New York . 0-19-817423-3 . 215–216 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1–61, Parktown, Oxford . British Listed Buildings . Listed Buildings in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England . 12 September 2012.
2. Web site: Park Town Estate Co Ltd . Bodleian Library, Oxford . . UK . 22 September 2020 .
3. News: Oxford Preservation Trust Awards: Look back at 40 years of award-winning buildings . Callum . Keown . . 26 September 2017 .
4. Web site: Sarah Angelina ACLAND (1849–1930), Photographer – 10 Park Town, Oxford . . UK . 24 July 2016 . 19 November 2023 .
5. Web site: Sarah Acland Results List . . UK . 19 November 2023 .
6. The Plebs Magazine, Volumes 3-4 (Kraus, 1970), pp. 66 & 142
7. News: Remembering Michael Dummett . 4 January 2012 . . 2012-09-12.
8. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America . . 48 . 4 . 22 . . 10.2307/20165739 .
9. News: John Flemming . . 14 August 2003 .
10. News: Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle commemorated with honorary Oxford degree . Davies . Caroline . . 20 June 2012 . 1 March 2016.
11. News: Ian McEwan talks ahead of his city date . Katherine . MacAlister . . 4 September 2014 .
12. Web site: William Richard Morfill (1834–1909) . Plaques Awarded, Oxford City . . 2012-09-12.
13. Christopher J. Barnes, Boris Pasternak: A Literary Biography, Volume 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 164
14. Web site: Rupert Andrew SPIRA . . UK . 19 November 2023 .