South Oxford

Visit south Oxford for locks, bridges and a world famous running track

South Oxford stretches past St. Aldates over the river at Folly Bridge towards Abingdon Road where Grandpont, Hinksey and Rose Hill can be found. To the east of Abingdon Road, is another of Oxford’s arterial routes, Iffley Road. This leads from the Plain, near Magdalen Bridge, southeast towards the village of Iffley passing the Iffley Road Track, where Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes for the first time ever on 6 May 1954.

Grandpont

Continuing past St. Aldates and over the river at Folly Bridge leads to Abingdon Road. Off to the right is Grandpont, characterised by narrow streets of terraced turn-of-the-century houses running parallel to the main road. The name ‘Grandpont’ comes from the medieval stone causeway that stretched from the end of St Aldates to the bottom of Hinksey Hill. Everywhere is either within walking distance or a short bus ride of the centre, so this is a popular area for budget conscious students as well as visitors. Its proximity to the rail station also makes it very popular with professionals and commuters

Hinksey

The city’s outdoor swimming pool is just off the Abingdon Road in Hinksey and there are walks across the railway track through fields to South Hinksey.

Iffley

A 5 minute bus ride from The High, Iffley is a village within the city with several shops, a hotel and a no-through road which ends at Iffley Lock on the river, from where there are some attractive walks.

Also situated here is the beautiful twelfth century church of St. Mary with signs of the Zodiac reliefs over the west doorway. It is one of the best preserved twelfth century village churches in the country.

The route down Iffley Road to Iffley features playing fields and the University’s sports centre, famous since 1954 where Sir Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. A large number of spacious and grand houses in a variety of styles are located here.

Rose Hill

A further 5 minutes walk from Iffley is Rose Hill, a 1930s residential area with schools, community centre and some very useful shops. At the foot of Rose Hill look out for a stone marker stating the original name for the road, ‘Ifily Hy Way 1635’. Ifily Hy Way was then renamed Rose Hill by the council in 1930.