Calthorpe, Oxfordshire

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Location of Calthorpe in Oxfordshire

Calthorpe is a ward in the town of Banbury, Oxfordshire. It contains the Cherwell Heights Estate and the Calthorpe estate..

History

Calthorpe was once a small village outside Banbury. The Horton Hospital dates back to early Victorian times. New housing only began to grow significantly after 1900.

General information

Sainsbury's supermarket in Banbury during 2000. It was enlarged in 2009.

A picture of Banbury's Foscote Private Hospital in 2003.

Calthorpe, Banbury in 2002.

The Horton General Hospital and Foscote Private Hospital are in the ward. The hospital, which dates from early Victorian times, was briefly threatened with closure in 2009, but this threat has now receded due to local pressure. The ward also has Banbury's Sainsbury's supermarket near by. The Calthorpe estate does not have any schools but is served by the Grange school, Cherwell Heights. The estate was gradually developed between 1900 and the 1960s.

Transport

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A Stagecoach bus in Bretch Hill in 2006.

The local bus services to Banbury town the centre via Easington and the Timms estate are run by the Stagecoach Oxfordshire bus company. Hayfordian busses also run a limmited service on weekdays to the Timms estate.

The Cherwell Heights

Cherwell Heights is a housing estate in Banbury, which was built during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is a relatively large estate in Banbury and has many open areas and parks. The A4260 (Oxford Road) runs adjacent to the estate

Planned expansion

Cherwell District Council recently approved a plan to build a new estate of about 1,070 houses on land between Cherwell Heights and Bodicote, thus almost merging the village with the town.

Over the past few years there have been plans to build a new estate on College Fields adjoining both Bodicote and the Cherwell Heights housing estate of Banbury. In February 2006 Cherwell District Council voted to proceed with the plans despite a 20,000 signature petition against it. About 1,070 houses will be built in the estate, which will include local shops, a public house, a church, a restaurant, a school and other local services.

A plan existed in the late 2000s to expand the Bretchill estate westwards into local farmland , but this has has now been suspended due to the credit crunch and local hostility to the plan, like the southern expantion towards Bodicote.

The more popular, and upmarket Hanwell Fields Estate was built in the north during 2008 and 2009. It was meant to bring affordable social housing to the west and south of Banbury, while providing for more upmarket housing in the Hanwell fields area.

Schools

There are two Primary schools in Cherwell Heights:

• Grange Primary School
• St John's Roman Catholic Primary School

Recreational Areas

• Bankside Park
• Chatsworth Drive Play Park
• St Louis Meadow Park