NORTH HINKSEY

North Hinksey, like neighbouring South Hinksey, is 'wedged' between the busy A34 Oxford bypass and the Hinksey Stream, one of the several branches of the River Thames that flow just to the west of the city. Some of the houses in the old part of the village are attractive with thatched roofs and there is some ribbon development along North Hinksey Lane (that links the village with Botley) and the A34.

The name of the village is thought to mean 'stallion's isle' although the village appears to have had several names since it was originally settled in the Saxon period - Laurence Hinksey (after the parish church), Ivy Hinksey and Ferry Hinksey - perhaps to differentiate the village from nearby South Hinksey. At one time access to and from west Oxford could be by ferry by way of Ferry Hinksey Road, off the Botley Road. The ferry ceased to run in 1928.

The parish church is the Church of St. Lawrence which dates back to at least the 12th century. For the history and full information about the Church of St. Lawrence Click here.

On the far side of the A34 is North Hinksey Conduit House which was a roofed conduit for Oxford's first water mains, constructed during the early 17th century. The Conduit House is in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public.

The artist and critic John Ruskin, who was fond of riding out from Oxford, often road to North Hinksey, as he admired the village's rustic charm. Ruskin noted the poor state of the village road and, in 1874, he thought of a scheme which would enable Oxford students "to feel the pleasure of useful muscular work" as well as improving conditions for the villagers. He organized a group of undergraduates to help him to build an improved road, bordered with banks of flowers, which would link the village with nearby South Hinksey. There is a blue plaque to this effect on one of the old thatched cottages.

North Hinksey is about a mile and a half west of the centre of Oxford just off the A34 Oxford bypass.