Headington Quarry is a suburb and civil parish of Oxford, England. Once a separate village built on the site of a former limestone quarry, it is now fully integrated into the city of Oxford and lies approximately 3 miles east of the city centre, just inside the Oxford Ring Road. It is near to Headington, Wood Farm, Risinghurst, and Barton.
Headington Quarry
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|---|---|
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  Headington Quarry Location within Oxfordshire | |
| OS grid reference | SP553070 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX3 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
Today it is known colloquially as "Quarry".[1] and is now considerably uneven due to previous quarrying in the area.[citation needed]
The Headington Quarry Morris Dancers are based in the area.[2] Headington Quarry Morris Dancers were the first Morris dancers ever seen by Cecil Sharp, on Boxing Day 1899.[3] This chance meeting was one of the events that sparked a lifelong interest in folk dance, song and music, to which Sharp devoted much of his life.
Headington Quarry was designated a conservation area[4] in 1971, and the Friends of Quarry[5] is a residents' association which aims to preserve the distinctive character of the Conservation Area and its immediate neighbourhood.
History
editHeadington Quarry Church of England First School, built in 1864, was closed in 2003 and was replaced by Headington Quarry Foundation Stage School. The building is now listed.[6][7]
The wartime Bletchley Park cryptoanalyst Joan Clarke, colleague and briefly fiancée of Alan Turing, lived in Headington Quarry from 1991 until her death in 1996. In July 2019, a blue plaque was unveiled at her former home.[8]
Church
editHoly Trinity Church, the local parish church, was designed by George Gilbert Scott - with a window in the chancel being designed by Ninian Comper - and built in the late 1840s.[9] The Friends of Holy Trinity Church was founded in 2002 to raise funds and look after the church.
C. S. Lewis, Oxford academic and author of The Chronicles of Narnia, attended Holy Trinity Church and is buried in the churchyard.[10]
There is a former Methodist Chapel in Quarry High Street.[11]
Headington stone
editHeadington Quarry had a number of stone quarries.[12] Headington stone, a style of limestone, was traditionally used for some Oxford University college buildings, although it was prone to erosion by pollution.[13] In 1396, stone from Headington was used to build the bell-tower for New College. Headington stone was also used for the foundations and walls of All Souls College in the first half of the fifteenth century,[14] and then in the 1520s by Cardinal Wolsey to build his Cardinal College (now Christ Church).
References
edit- ^ Headington Quarry Archived 2 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford City Council.
- ^ The Headington Quarry Morris Dancers
- ^ Oxfordshire Blue Plaques: William Kimber
- ^ More information about the Headington Quarry Conservation Area on city council website
- ^ Friends of Quarry website
- ^ Stephanie Jenkins. "Headington Quarry School". Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ "Headington Quarry Conservation Appraisal" (PDF). Oxford City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ "Joan Murray, née Clarke (1917–1996) Cryptanalyst and numismatist – 7 Larkfields, Headington Quarry, Oxford". UK: Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 337
- ^ Headington History: C.S. Lewis and Headington
- ^ Headington History: Former Methodist Chapel, Quarry High Street, Headington
- ^ "Headington History: The Stone Quarries of Headington". Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ^ Viles, Heather. "Crumbling facades: Past, present and future threats to Oxford's stonework" (PDF). University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ Building accounts of All Souls College Oxford, 1438-1443. Walker, Simon., Munby, Julian. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-904107-23-4. OCLC 620330493.
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Sources
edit- Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 337. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.