View source for High Street, Oxford

{{Short description|Street in Oxford, England}}
{{for|the painting by J. M. W. Turner|High Street, Oxford (painting){{!}}''High Street, Oxford'' (painting)}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = High Street
| other_name              = The High
| marker_image            = 
| image                   = High Street from above looking east.JPG
| caption                 = The High Street from [[St Mary's Church, Oxford|St Mary's]], looking east
| former_names            =
| postal_code             = OX1
| addresses               = 
| length_m                = 
| length_ft               =
| length_mi               = 
| length_km               =
| length_ref              =
| width                   =
| location                = [[Oxford]], England
| client                  =
| maint                   =
| coordinates             = {{coord|51.7525|N|1.252|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| direction_a             = East
| terminus_a              = [[Magdalen Bridge]]
| direction_b             = West
| terminus_b              = [[Carfax, Oxford|Carfax]]
| junction                = 
| commissioning_date      =
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| completion_date         = 
| inauguration_date       = <!-- {{Start date|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| demolition_date         =
| north                   =
| south                   =M
| east                    =
| west                    =
| known_for               = [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] colleges and buildings
}}
<!-- Image:OrielCollegeOxford20040124CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg| -->The '''High Street''' in [[Oxford]], England, known locally as '''the High''', runs between [[Carfax, Oxford|Carfax]], generally seen as the centre of the city, and [[Magdalen Bridge]] to the east.<ref name="pevsner">{{cite book | title=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides|The Buildings of England]]: Oxfordshire |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |authorlink2=Nikolaus Pevsner | year=1974 | publisher=[[Penguin Books]] | pages=306–311 | chapter=The High Street and the Streets off the High Street | isbn=0-14-071045-0}}</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:Arthur James Melhuish (XIX. century) View of High Street Oxford SFMOMA.jpg|thumb|19th century photograph of the High Street looking west with [[University College, Oxford|University College]] on the left and the spires of the [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin]] and [[All Saints Church, Oxford|All Saints Church]] in the distance.|left]]
The street has been described by [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] as "''one of the world's great streets''".<ref name="hibbert">{{cite book | title=[[The Encyclopaedia of Oxford]] | publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] | chapter=High Street | year=1988 | pages=183–185 | isbn=0-333-39917-X | editor-last=Hibbert |editor-first=Christopher |editor-link=Christopher Hibbert }}</ref> It forms a gentle curve and is the subject of many prints, paintings, photographs, etc. The looking west towards Carfax with [[University College, Oxford|University College]] on the left and [[The Queen's College, Oxford|The Queen's College]] on the right is an especially popular view. There are many historical buildings on the street, including the [[University of Oxford]] buildings and colleges.<ref>Stephanie Jenkins, ''[http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/history/ History of the High]''.</ref> Locally the street is often known as "The High".

==Major buildings==
To the north are (west to east): [[Lincoln College, Oxford|Lincoln College]] (main entrance on [[Turl Street]], including [[All Saints Church, Oxford|All Saints Church]], now Lincoln College's library.), [[Brasenose College, Oxford|Brasenose College]] (main entrance in [[Radcliffe Square]]), [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|St Mary's]] (the University Church), [[All Souls College, Oxford|All Souls College]], [[The Queen's College, Oxford|The Queen's College]], [[St Edmund Hall, Oxford|St Edmund Hall]] (main entrance in [[Queen's Lane]]) and [[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]] (including [[Magdalen Tower]]).

To the south are (west to east): [[Oriel College, Oxford|Oriel College]], [[University College, Oxford|University College]] (including the [[Shelley Memorial#Boyle-Hooke plaque|Boyle-Hooke plaque]] outside the [[Shelley Memorial]]), the [[Examination Schools]], the [[Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art]], the [[Eastgate Hotel]] (at the original entrance to the city) and the [[University of Oxford Botanic Garden|Botanic Garden]].

==Commerce==
[[File:Oxford High Street shoppers.jpg|thumb|View along south side of the High Street from the [[Carfax, Oxford|Carfax]] end.|left]]
[[Queen's Lane Coffee House]] (at the junction with [[Queen's Lane]]) was established in 1654 and was probably Oxford's first [[coffee house]]. This title is however disputed with 'The Grand Café' Coffee House, which claims that it was established in 1650 and stands opposite Queen's Lane coffee house.[[File:Magdalen College Oxford 20040613.jpg|thumb|[[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]] with its [[Magdalen Tower|tower]], at the eastern end of the High Street]]
Despite an influx of chain stores in nearby [[Cornmarket Street]], the High is home to a number of specialist independent retailers. These include [[Shepherd & Woodward]] (University outfitters), Payne & Son (goldsmiths), [[Sanders of Oxford]] (print sellers) and Waterfield's Books. To the north at the western end between Cornmarket and the [[The Turl|Turl]] is the historic traditional [[Covered Market, Oxford|Covered Market]], established in 1774.

[[William Henry Butler]], later [[Mayor of Oxford]], was a [[wine merchant]] with premises in the High Street during the early 19th century.<ref name="whb">[http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/mayors/1836_1962/butler_william_1836.html William Henry Butler: Mayor of Oxford, January–October 1836], [http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/mayors/ Mayors of Oxford].</ref>

[[Edward Bracher]], a pioneering [[Victorian era|Victorian]] photographer, had a shop at 26 High Street. [[Henry Taunt]], another photographer, joined him as a member of staff in 1856. Taunt later returned to 41 High Street after the lease for his own shop premises in [[Broad Street, Oxford|Broad Street]] expired in 1894.

83 High Street bears a [[Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board|blue plaque]] (10 October 2001) commemorating [[Sarah Cooper (marmalade maker)|Sarah Cooper]] (1848–1932) [[marmalade]] maker, wife of Frank Cooper whose shop at 83–84 High Street was the origin of the [[Frank Cooper (company)|Frank Cooper]] jam business (a brand now owned by [[Premier Foods]]). The company made "[[Oxford Marmalade]]" famous.

In June 1879, [[George Claridge Druce]] (also a noted botanist and later mayor of the city) moved to Oxford and set up a chemist's shop, Druce & Co., at 118 High Street. This continued until his death 1932.

The [[The Old Bank Hotel, Oxford|Old Bank Hotel]] was the first new hotel for 135 years in the centre of Oxford. Quod Restaurant & Bar is also part of the hotel, located between the junctions with [[Oriel Street]] and [[Logic Lane]].

==Commentary==
The architectural critic [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] wrote in 1974 that <blockquote>"The High Street is one of the world's great streets. It has everything."<ref name=jenkins>Stephanie Jenkins, [http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/quotes/index.html The High – Quotations]</ref><ref>[http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2008/5/3/243066.html Article on the street]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in the [[Oxford Mail]]</ref></blockquote>
He may have been echoing [[Thomas Hardy]]'s comment in ''[[Jude the Obscure]]'': 
<blockquote>"And there's a street in the place – the main street – that ha'n't another like it in the world."<ref name="jenkins"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RudgpOrL69sC&dq=And+there%27s+a+street+in+the+place+%E2%80%93+the+main+street+%E2%80%93+that+ha%27n%27t+another+like+it+in+the+world&pg=PA25 Jude the Obscure] in [[Google Books]]. The comment is made by a carter describing Christminster, Hardy's pseudonym for Oxford.</ref></blockquote>

==Adjoining streets==
The following streets, also of historical significance, are off the High Street:<ref name="pevsner" />

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Alfred Street]]
* [[Catte Street]]
* [[Cornmarket Street]]
* [[King Edward Street]]
* [[Logic Lane]]
* [[Longwall Street]]
* [[Magpie Lane, Oxford|Magpie Lane]]
* [[Merton Street]]
* [[Oriel Street]]
* [[Queen Street, Oxford|Queen Street]]
* [[Queen's Lane]]
* [[St Aldate's, Oxford|St Aldate's]]
* [[Turl Street]]
{{div col end}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:View over Oxford High Street.jpg|View down to buildings on the south side.
File:High Street Oxford Queens College.jpg|View eastwards towards [[The Queen's College, Oxford|The Queen's College]].
File:All Saints Church Oxford (1).jpg|[[All Saints Church, Oxford|All Saints Church]], now [[Lincoln College, Oxford|Lincoln College]]'s library
File:Oxford Mitre Hotel 1.jpg|The Mitre Hotel
File:Oriel College Rhodes Building.JPG|The Rhodes Building of [[Oriel College, Oxford|Oriel College]] on the south side of the High Street.
File:Carfax tower oxford england.jpg|[[Carfax, Oxford|Carfax]], at the western end of the High Street.
File:Magdalen-may-morning-2007-panorama.jpg|[[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]] and the High Street on [[May Morning]], 2007.
File:High Street in Oxford by Night 2009 LL.jpg|Night view of the High Street with Christmas lights, looking east from [[Carfax, Oxford|Carfax]].
</gallery>{{Panorama
|image      = Image:Oxford High Street panorama.jpg
|fullwidth  = 4156
|fullheight = 1384
|caption    = Panoramic view of the High Street looking south from the tower of [[St Mary's Church, Oxford|St Mary's Church]].
|height     = 230
}}

==See also==
* ''[[High Street, Oxford (painting)|High Street, Oxford]]'', an oil painting by [[J. M. W. Turner]], exhibited in 1810

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|High Street, Oxford}}
* [http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/ The High, Oxford] including [http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/tour/ tour] and [http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/history/ history]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/webcams/oxford_high_st_webcam.shtml Webcam] from Carfax tower looking east down the High Street
* [http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/carfaxtower/default.html 360° QuickTime view from the top of Carfax Tower] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716192031/http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/carfaxtower/default.html |date=16 July 2012 }}
* [http://www.oxfordcityguide.com/ Oxford City Guide] including list of shops on The High

[[Category:Academic enclaves]]
[[Category:Shopping streets in Oxford]]
[[Category:Streets in Oxford]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Oxford]]