Risinghurst
| Risinghurst | |
|---|---|
 Risinghurst
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| Risinghurst shown within Oxfordshire | |
| OS grid reference | SP559070 |
| Civil parish | |
| 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 |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Risinghurst is an outlying residential area of Oxford, England, just outside the Eastern Bypass Road which forms part of the Oxford ring road. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the centre of Headington and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Oxford city centre.
It is part of the Risinghurst and Sandhills civil parish and is typical of housing estates built between the wars to house an increasingly prosperous working class who were moving into new urban centres—in this instance to take advantage of the burgeoning motor industry in Oxford. These estates offered decent housing, relatively sizeable gardens, a garage for a car and whilst Risinghurst isn't quite a garden city it has a sense of tranquility. (The countrification coming from the pebble-dash finish, the rough stone front wall, and a decent sized front garden where roses could be – and often were – grown.)
During the 1930s some 600 homes were built in sets of semi-detached units; two rows of shops were built on Downside Road and more at the end of Green Road in a stretch called The Roundway along with two pubs, a small library but neither a school nor, initially, a church. So not quite a self-contained community and one that by and large was defined by 'The Works' (Morris Motors and Pressed Steel) that offered a broad range of amenities for their employees.
The name Risinghurst 'rising ground towards the or wooded hill' reflects the fact that Risinghurst was built on gently rising land running upwards towards Shotover Hill.
Through part of the Estate runs the course of the Roman road between Silchester and Towcester. The Kilns itself is so-named because kilns were excavated here that are thought to date back to the Roman period. Evidence of Romano-British occupation was discovered during clay-quarrying in the late-19th century (these pits have now become lakes.) Finds recorded in 1898 include building stones, gravel floors, and pottery dated mostly to the 3rd and 4th centuries but including some 2nd-century Samian ware. The surface of a 'probable road' was also sectioned, lying parallel to the main road but over 100 yards (91 m) to the east; this consisted of a spread of stones about 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and about 1 foot (30 cm) thick in the centre, tapering to 'almost nothing at the edges'. Coins recovered from the site and recorded by Harding in 1939 ranged from issues of Tiberius (AD 14–37) to Honorius (AD 395–423).
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Wikipedia