Park Town, Oxford

Park Town is one of the most well-known streets in central North Oxford, a suburb of Oxford, England. It was one of the earliest planned suburban developments in the area.

Samuel Lipscomb Seckham (1827–1900) developed the houses in the main cresent in 1853–4, with Bath stone front elevations, and the west-facing crescent with an elevated pavement known as "The Terrace" in 1854–5. The Park Town Estate Company was formed in September 1857, through the efforts of Seckham.

Many of the elegant houses and gardens in Park Town were originally surrounded by ornamental iron railings. Unfortunately, many of these were removed for the war effort to manufacture guns and ships in World War I.

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

To the west is Banbury Road and to the east is the Dragon School.

Individual houses

Miss Sarah Angelina Acland (1849–1930), daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland, lived for part of her life at Number 10 Park Town. Her interest in colour photography at the turn of the century produced a number of interesting early examples, which are held at the Museum of the History of Science in central Oxford.

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

References

* Hinchcliffe, Tanis, "North Oxford". New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-300-05184-0.

External links

* [http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/sites/parktown.htm Park Town, Oxford] information