Our Area

Summertown and St. Margaret’s Neighbourhood extends from the Ring road in the North to Canterbury road in the South, bounded by Port Meadow in the West and the River Cherwell in the East.

At the time of the referendum in 2019, the Neighbourhood Forum area was based on the 2 wards of Summertown & St Margaret’s then in existence. Although ward boundaries changed in 2021, the boundaries of the Neighbourhood remain unchanged, reflecting the residence of those voting in this referendum, and will continue as they are until another referendum is held.

Summertown and St. Margaret’s have distinguished histories and identities of their own, as evidenced in the Forum’s Character Assessments. Over the decades of the late 19th and 20th centuries, they have evolved into a stimulating residential environment for approximately 5000 diverse family households as well as many students and visitors who temporarily sojourn here (Historical References). Not least, Summertown and St. Margaret’s provide settings in many novels in part because several notable authors have lived in the area as well as scientists, musicians and other renowned people (Creative Residents ).

This Ward Map shows the location of Summertown and St. Margaret’s within Oxford as of 2019. New boundary changes are forthcoming for the May 2020 elections.

The City Council has produced a helpful report looking at the demography and vital statistics of the area available as a download here .

Educational Facilities

Summertown/St. Margaret’s are highly sought after residential areas because of the abundance of their schools. The wide range of educational facilities comprise a full complement of educational opportunities from creches through to post-graduate university training:

Pre-school – University creche (Rawlinson Road); Lynham pre-prep (Woodstock Road)
Primary schools: Cutteslowe School (Cutteslowe); Dragon School (Bardwell Road); Northern House School for special needs education (South Parade); Oxford High prep (Bardwell Road); St. Aloysius (Woodstock Road); St. Philip and James (Navigation Road); Summer Fields (Mayfield Road)
Secondary schools: Cherwell (Marston Ferry Road); D’Overbroeks, 6th Form College (Woodstock Road); Oxford High School (Belbroughton); St. Clare’s International Baccalaureate Diploma (Banbury Road); St. Edward’s (Woodstock Road), Swan School (Marston Ferry Road); Wychwood (Banbury Road)
MECO Islamic school: School for children aged 4-16 @ Cherwell School on Saturdays (Marston Ferry Road)
English languages school: Numerous along the Banbury Road
University of Oxford colleges: St. Hugh’s (St. Margaret’s Road); Wolfson College (Linton Road)

University of Oxford centres: Voltaire Foundation (Banbury Road); Ewert House Administration and Exam Centre (Diamond Place)
University of Oxford college playing fields: St. John’s (Woodstock Road); Wadham (behind Cherwell North School)
University of Oxford college residential accommodation: Exeter (South Parade); University (Stavertonia)

Cultural and Recreational Facilities

Public Library – community library used for book loaning, informative talks and art exhibits. Under threat of government cut-back closure in 2016, local residents came together as ‘The Friends of Summertown Library’ to object and raise funds which saved the library (South Parade)
The North Wall, a small theatre staging national and international performances raises Summertown’s cultural quotient.
Opportunities for exercise abound at the Marston Ferry Leisure Centre and the Nuffield Health Centre, as well as several places offering yoga, exercise classes and physical therapies.
Parks include the large and very well provisioned Sunnymead Park with a playing field, basketball court, exercise equipment, etc located on the banks of the River Cherwell next to the Cutteslowe housing estate. Alexandra Park is much smaller, located in the historic centre of Summertown northwest of the Summertown shops and the site of SuStM’s first development project. The Park, founded in 1925, has been known primarily for its tennis courts: six hard courts and six grass courts, and is the home of the North Oxford Tennis Club. The Park includes It also has a basketball court and a children’s playground in need of renovation.
Oxford Bowls Club (Marston Ferry Road)
Oxford Bridge Club (Banbury Road)

Health facilities

Two NHS General Practice medical centres (Summertown Health Centre and Banbury Road Medical Centre)
Two pharmacies in Summertown
Several dental practices and various allied health practitioners and wellness services.
Five residential/nursing care homes at: Fairfield, Diamond Court, Lady Nuffield, Charles Ponsonby House and Greengates.

Public Health England has produced a health profile download here.

Transport

Frequent bus services exist on the Banbury Road and to a lesser extent the Woodstock Road
Cycle routes are discontinuous, poorly maintained and inadequate on the Woodstock and Banbury Roads
Residential and general parking are very constrained in Summertown.

Places of Religious Worship

Christian churches

St. Andrew’s, Church of England, Linton Road
St. Margaret’s, Church of England, St. Margaret’s Road
St. Michael & All Angels, Church of England, Banbury Road
Woodstock Road Baptist Church
SS Gregory and Augustine, Roman Catholic, Woodstock Road
The Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity and the Annunciation, Canterbury Road

Non-conformist

Spiritualist church, Middle Way

Please inform us of any inadvertent omissions in listing of all facilities and places.

Housing

Most of the area’s housing dates from the 1870s to the present, as revealed in the neighbourhood character assessments. In Summertown, the character assessments were carried out by teams of SuStM Neighbourhood Forum volunteers guided by expert planners. Describing essential characteristics of each sub-area in a standard format, these character assessments identify the qualities and needs of sub-areas that form vital baseline evidence for planning. The Character Assessment for the Conservation area in St Margaret’s has recently been completed and submitted; this has been consulted on widely and is referenced in the Plan. To view the Character Assessment for your specific area, click on its label in the area listing.

Shops

Given the two mile distance between Summertown and the City Centre, there is great convenience in having an extensive shopping area along the Banbury Road and South Parade. The wide selection of coffee shops and restaurants preclude having to go into the City Centre for a good meal or an enjoyable cup of coffee. They are complemented by the historic Dewdrop pub and a wine bar on South Parade. There are three supermarkets, two health food shops, along with clothing shops for all ages, a stationery shop and a book shop. Services include several hair salons, a dry cleaners, one investment advisory centre, a betting shop, some solicitor firms, and numerous estate agents and other professional offices. The nearest Post Office in in Cutteslowe (Kendal Crescent), and the nearest bank is in the city centre.

Elsewhere northwards on the Banbury Road, longstanding Alcock’s family butcher and fishmonger continues to serve its local clientele and college dining halls. Along Hayfield Road/St. Margaret’s Road, residents of St. Margaret’s have the Anchor restaurant and pub, a grocery store and the highly innovative Makespace located on Aristotle Lane, a collective of creative people-seeking environmental and social alternatives to western consumerism, including a Repair Cafe.

Character Assessments

The Character Assessments are a means by which the Neighbourhood Plan can identify the qualities and needs of particular sub areas and describe them in a standard format. This will help make sure that any new development respects the essential characteristics of the area in which it is set. These were originally carried out by teams of volunteers. Both versions are available below.

The Character Assessment for the Conservation area in St Margaret’s has recently been completed and submitted; this has been consulted on widely and is referenced in the Plan.

To view the Character Assessment for your area, click on the list.

History References

Kennedy, Julie 1995. The Changing Faces of Summertown and Cutteslowe. Oxford: Robert Boyd Publications

Symonds, Ann Spokes 1998. The Changing Faces of North Oxford. Oxford: Robert Boyd Publications

Kinchin, Pernilla. 2006. Seven Roads in Summertown: Voices from an Oxford Suburb. Oxford; White Cockade Publishing.

Minn, H. 1946-47. A Manuscript History of Summertown. Oxoniensia, XI-XXII.

Badcock, J. 1832. Summer-Torn 1820-1832. Origins, History and Description of Summer-Town. Top. Oxon. e 240. Bodleian Library.

Winrow, Gareth. 2023. The Butcher, the Tailor, the Picture Frame Maker. Stories of Middle Way. Leicestershire: The Book Guild

Website users: Please inform us of any other relevant references.

Kennedy, Julie 1995. The Changing Faces of Summertown and Cutteslowe. Oxford: Robert Boyd Publications

Symonds, Ann Spokes 1998. The Changing Faces of North Oxford. Oxford: Robert Boyd Publications

Kinchin, Pernilla. 2006. Seven Roads in Summertown: Voices from an Oxford Suburb. Oxford; White Cockade Publishing.

Winrow, Gareth. 2023. The Butcher, the Tailor, the Picture Frame Maker. Stories of Middle Way. Leicestershire: The Book Guild

Creative Residents of Past and Present

Science

John Goodenough, Nobel Laureate, inventor of the lithium ion battery

John Scott Haldane, physiologist
J.B.S. Haldane, geneticist and evolutionary biologist
Dorothy Hodgkin, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Dame Louise Johnson, molecular biologist
Lord Robert May, ecologist and President of the Royal Society
Sir Chassar Moir, CBE, obstetrician/gynaecologist
Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape, surrealist painter
Sir Peter Morris, transplant surgeon and President of the Royal College of Surgeons
Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate, genetics and cell biology
Sir Francis Simon, chemist and physicist
Sir Harold Warris Thompson, physical chemist
Abdus Salam, Nobel Laureate in Physics
Nikolaas Tinbergen, Nobel Laureate, ethology

Sir Andrew Wiles, mathematician who proved Fermat’s Last Theorem

Sir Martin Wood, co-founder of Oxford Instruments

Politics, Diplomacy and Defence

Sir Douglas Bader, Royal Air Force ace pilot during World War II
T.E. Lawrence, distinguished army officer in World War I, diplomat in Arabia, author
Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister

Sports

Sir Roger Bannister, record-breaking runner and neurologist

Art

Raymond Blanc, Michelin-starred French chef, opened Les Quat’ Saisons restaurant in Summertown in 1977
Betty Blandino, coil pottery artist, Director of the Upper Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery
Rosamund Chorley, book illustrator, Common Clay
Paul Nash, surrealist landscape painter and war artist
Korky Paul, children’s book illustrator

Music

Elizabeth Brazil, musician who initiated the Oxford Music Festival
Kató Havas, OBE, celebrated violinist and teacher drawing from the musical tradition of Hungarian Gypsy violinists
Yannis Philippakis, Foals
Thom Yorke, Radiohead

Authors

Sir Tony Atkinson, CBE, FBA, economist, author of Measuring Poverty around the World
John Betjeman, Poet Laureate
Colin Dexter, author of Last Bus to Woodstock (1975) and 33 two-hour episodes of the Inspector Morse ITV detective series between 1987 and 2000, followed by 33 episodes of Lewis from 2006 to 2016.
Geraldine Lux Flanagan, author of popular science books, The First Nine Months of Life
Kenneth Graham, author of Wind and the Willows.
Naomi Mitchison, novelist and poet, author of Travel Light
Iris Murdoch, author of The Black Prince and many other novels
Sir James Murray, Lexicographer, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary

Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy
J.J.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

Novels mentioning sites in Summertown or St. Margaret’s

William Boyd 2006, Restless, (Moreton Road, and Summertown shopping precinct)-
Philip Pullman 1995, His Dark Materials (Summertown ATM, corner of Banbury Road and South Parada)

Neighbourhood & Civic Activists

Sally Bromley, Teacher at Cherwell School and passionate campaigner/fundraiser for research on Parkinson’s disease
Mariele Kuhn, worked with German POW soldiers in the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford during World War II, her diary now in the Imperial War Museum. A founding member of Oxfam.
Jean Robinson, Researched maternity services, Chair of the Patients’ Association and Member of the General Medical Council
Helen Turner, journalist working at the Oxford Times, Founder of the Oxford Consumer Group and the Oxford Civic Society (with others), Director of the Oxford Preservation Trust in the 1960s.

Website users: Please email us (sstmnf.secretary@gmail.com) with details of any other relevant references. This website constitutes work-in-progress that relies on SuStM resident members’ inputs.