|
Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames. ==History== The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the village as ''Ulfgarcote'' (cottage of Woolgar; or Woolgar's place). The toponym had mutated to "Wolvercote" by 1185. Wolvercote housing faced onto its extensive commons, which provided much of the community's livelihood. Some residents still have ancient rights on the commons. Geese rearing was once an important local activity, and a goose is still one of the village symbols. Horses and cattle are still grazed on Wolvercote Common and Port Meadow. In 1789 the Oxford Canal divided the village into two parts, and in 1846 the Oxford and Rugby Railway was built beside the canal through the village. In 1850 the Buckinghamshire Railway was completed through a tunnel and cutting along the eastern edge of Upper Wolvercote. The western edge of Upper Wolvercote parallels the canal at Wolvercote Green and fades into North Oxford suburbia to the east. Lower Wolvercote borders the River Thames at Godstow to the west, and Port Meadow and the canal to the east. The paper mill in Lower Wolvercote, former supplier of paper to the Oxford University Press, was once a major local employer. It was in existence by 1720, when it was bought by the 1st Duke of Marlborough. From 1782 the mill was leased to Oxford printer and publisher William Jackson, proprietor of the local newspaper ''Jackson's Oxford Journal'' which was published until 1928. The mill was entirely water-powered until 1811, when a steam engine was installed to power the paper-making process. The engine consumed 100 tons of coal ''per'' week, which was brought by narrowboat down the Oxford Canal, along Duke's Cut, and then down the mill stream which at the time was navigable as far as a wharf at the mill. Two of the narrowboats belonged to the mill, having been bought in 1856 and plying between there and the Midlands for 60 years until the mill sold them in 1916. Narrowboats continued to serve Wolvercote until at least the 1950s, by which time the mill used mechanical equipment to unload them. The mill was rebuilt in 1955, ceased paper-making in 1998 and was demolished in 2004. The University of Oxford plans to develop the site as housing for its staff, but rising cost estimates and local objections have led the University to reduce the scale of its plans significantly. The mill stream takes its water from the nearby River Thames, and is crossed in Wolvercote at a former toll-bridge. The bridge bears a plaque in memory of two airmen of the Royal Flying Corps who were killed nearby in a flying accident in 1912. Part of Port Meadow was used as a military airfield in the First World War; the Royal Artillery also had a base there. In 1940, a camp was set up on the meadow for evacuees from Dunkirk. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wolvercote」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|