F. The Seven Roads
General overview
The 7 Roads are located to the North of Summertown centre and to the East of Banbury Road. They stretch from Lonsdale Road to Victoria Road.
Four roads lead off the east side of Banbury Rd: Lonsdale, Portland, Hamilton and Victoria. At right angles to these lie: Kings Cross, commencing at Lonsdale, spanning the bottom of Portland, crossing Hamilton, and terminating at Victoria; Lucerne, running southwards from Victoria, parallel with the Cherwell River. Slight bends in Lonsdale, Portland and Victoria Rd prevent the viewer seeing bus and other traffic on Banbury Rd. Portland and Hamilton Rd have leafy hedges, bushes and shrubs.
Lonsdale and Portland Roads, those nearest to Summertown, have some Victorian, but mainly Edwardian and interwar houses, with a few later infill houses (Figure 3). Hamilton and Victoria Roads have a mixture of Edwardian and interwar houses, with some later building interspersed throughout. Lucerne and Kings Cross Roads have more modern houses
Lonsdale and Portland share the two heritage buildings near Banbury Road – the church, and its separate church hall building, with surrounding gardens and a war memorial. Here are solid Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached houses. Some detached, more recently built, houses on the ‘private road’ eastern end of Lonsdale Rd are spacious and distinguished.
Hamilton, Kings Cross and Victoria are more diverse, with a few Edwardian houses, many interwar semis, and some interesting modern building. In all these roads the roofscape varies according to the date of construction.
Hawkswell Gardens is a separate estate dating from the 1960s containing bungalows, freestanding houses and a block of flats.
To the East is the Cherwell valley but, disappointingly, there is no direct public route to this attractive green area.
History
In 1896 the tram route reached South Parade in Summertown, precipitating Francis Twining’s purchase of the Hawkeswell Farm land in September 1900. Twining wanted homes for himself and his family, and customers for his shop next to the chapel on Banbury Rd, so he bought fields to the north from a charitable trust (Mr Stone’s Hospital) in September 1902, and sold them on to the Oxford Industrial and Provident Land and Building Society. Hamilton, Victoria and Lucerne Roads were laid out here. The Trust gradually sold the plots to individuals wanting to build their own homes and perhaps another as an investment. Much of the intervening land was orchards. William Bridges, a founding director of the Building Society, built and lived in ‘Hamilton House’.
Francis Twining facilitated the planning and construction of the houses in Lonsdale and Portland Rd. The builders used gravel from the pit near the river on the Hawkeswell Farm land. When this was worked out the area was turned into tennis courts, which in the 1960s became Hawkswell Gardens. A footpath used to run from Islip (via Cutteslowe), along what is now Lucerne Rd and down some disused steps to Lonsdale Road.
Issues
– Roadside parking in the relatively narrow streets create a claustrophobic environment.
– Use of various short cuts during peak hours
– Cluttered streetscape, yellow lines, telegraph poles and mixed design street lighting (trip hazard)
– In some cases visually intrusive solar panels
– Lack of front garden greenery in some recently developed houses
– Change from owner-occupied to buy-to-let rentals risks loss of community spirit
– Constant building activity
Assets
– Overall leafy atmosphere
– Houses set well back from the road allowing for attractive gardens (but also for paved parking)
– St Michael and All Angels’ Church and surrounding garden
– Lychgate garden and King George’s Walk
– St Michael’s Church Hall with War Memorial
– Cycle track from Kings Cross Road to Marston Ferry Road
– Postbox on Portland/Kings Cross Road corner
– Hawkswell Community Garden
Guidance for new development
– Resist replacing older spacious family homes with higher density housing
– Be aware that “more of the same” pastiche Edwardian semi-detached houses is unwelcome
– Retain all existing trees and increase greenery where possible, including ‘green’ drive ways in front gardens
– Explore possibilities for public access to the Cherwell valley
Download this Character Assessment as a pdf
Download the original volunteer written character assessment as a pdf: Seven Roads
