Canal Street, Oxford

Jericho Street Fair, held in Canal Street each June.

View of the campanile of St Barnabas Church from the south along Canal Street.

Canal Street is a residential street in Jericho, an inner suburb of Oxford, England, to the northwest of the city centre.^[1][2]

The annual Jericho Street Fair takes place in Canal Street, close to 11 June, the feast day of the patron saint Barnabas.^[3]

Location

The street runs northwest–southeast, with the Oxford Canal just to the west, hence the name. The street is dominated by the campanile of St Barnabas Church. Towards the southern end is a junction with Great Clarendon Street, a major thoroughfare in Jericho.

The Jericho Community Centre, run by the Jericho Community Association, is located in Canal Street.^[4] Canal boats can be rented on the canal at Canal Street. A boatyard is also located on the canal here. To the south are the grounds of Worcester College.

History

Previously the Jericho area was part of the Walton Manor farm owned by St John's College, Oxford. The Oxford Canal was opened in 1790 and the street was named Canal Street around 1870.^[5] St Barnabas Church was consecrated in 1869. There used to be a ferry (with ferry house) and coal wharfs close to the north end of Canal Street.^[6] Flooding has always been an issue due to the proximity of the canal. Although most of the houses in the street are small two-storey terraced houses, Canal Street is now a popular inner-city residential street with high property prices due to its convenient central location.^[7]

Fiction

"Canal Reach" off Canal Street was used as the location of a murder in The Dead of Jericho, the first Inspector Morse novel by Colin Dexter, published in 1981.^[8] This was subsequently filmed in the area for television, starring John Thaw as Inspector Morse.

Gallery

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  Jericho Street Fair stalls along Canal Street in 2012.

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  Music outside the Old Bookbinders pub^[1] in Canal Street.

1. ^ "The Old Bookbinders Ale House". UK. Retrieved 3 November 2014.

References

1. "Canal Street". Jericho Online. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
2. Snow, Peter (1991). "The Walls of Jericho". Oxford Observed. John Murray. p. 205. ISBN 0-7195-4707-5.
3. "Jericho Street Fair". Jericho Online. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
4. "Jericho Online". UK. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
5. Symmonds, Anne Spokes; Morgan, Nigel (2010). The Origins of Oxford Street Names. Robert Boyd Publications. p. 84. ISBN 978 1 899536 99 3.
6. Stewart, Sheila (1994). Ramlin Rose: The Boatwoman's Story. Oxford University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0192853028.
7. "Sold house prices in Canal Street, Oxford OX2". Zoopla. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
8. Goodwin, Cliff (2002). "Old Oxford and New Murders". Inspector Morse Country. UK: Headland Book Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 0 7553 1064 0.

Coordinates: 51°45′29″N 1°16′10″W / 51.758052°N 1.269482°W