Jericho, Oxford
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Jericho, looking north down Walton Street from the southeast corner of the neighbourhood. Oxford University Press is on the left hand side. |
Jericho is an historic area of the
English city of
Oxford. Located outside the old
city wall, it was originally a place for travellers to rest if they had reached the city after the gates had closed. The area was originally an industrial area which grew up because of the presence of the Oxford Canal, which arrived in 1790. Ironworks, wharves and the Oxford University Press were based there and its residential streets are mostly two-up, two-down Victorian workers' houses. With backstreets of
1930s terraced housing and many restaurants, it has become a popular location for
student accommodation. In the
1950s it was a red light area with a
pornography cinema (now the independent Phoenix Cinema). Thanks to gentrification, it is now one of Oxford's most desirable areas. Jericho is named after the local pub, the Jericho Tavern.
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Looking from the Oxford Canal towards Jericho. The tower of St Barnabas' Church is prominent in the background. |
The
Anglo-Catholic church St Barnabas'
[St Barnabas Church Website] is the
Church of England parish church in Jericho, next to the
Oxford Canal. The Jericho Street Fair is held in mid-June each year, around the feast day of the patron saint
Barnabas (11 June). The Albert Street Chapel
[The Albert Street Chapel website] (
Reformed Baptist) is also in the neighbourhood. The Oxford Oratory
[The Oxford Oratory website] with a shrine for
Our Lady of Oxford is nearby in
Woodstock Road.
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Boaters protest about the proposed sale of the Jericho Boatyard on the Oxford Canal, 2005 |
The
Oxford Synagogue (one of the few in England with more than one
denominations of Judaism worshipping in the same house) and the
Oxford Jewish Centre [Oxford Synagogue] are located in Jericho.
The
Oxford University Press and
St Sepulchre's Cemetery are located in the area off
Walton Street.
Philip Pullman set parts of his novels
Northern Lights and
Lyra's Oxford in Jericho. In the books, Jericho is home to the water-dwelling "Gyptians". He has been a vocal advocate of the residential boaters fight to save the boatyard
[Portmeadow.org].
British Waterways plans to sell the 160-year-old
wharf known as the
Castlemill Boatyard. This is at odds with the opinions of some boaters, some Jericho residents, and the
Oxford City Council. Yet, it has persisted in closing the boatyard.
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Jericho Restaurants
