Hinksey
Hinksey is a place name associated with Oxford and Oxfordshire. In 1974, many of the places associated with the name were transferred from the county of Berkshire in the county boundary changes.
History
[edit]The place-name is of Old English origin. It is first mentioned in the 10th century in the form Hengestesige, and probably means "stallion island".[1] It may also mean "island of a man named Hengest", but there is no evidence to link the place to the historical Hengest. Place names ending in “-ey” (“island”, commonly used of higher ground in a marshy area) are of early formation, probably names bestowed by the first English farmers who tackled the area.[2] The Hinksey villages were not mentioned as separate villages until 1316.[3]
Hinxey Hall was located in Oxford during the 14th to 16th centuries.[4]
The Carfax Conduit from Hinksey Hill to Carfax in the centre of Oxford was completed in 1617.[5]
Hinksey Halt railway station served New Hinksey in south Oxford during 1908−15. In 1934, Hinksey Park was laid out in New Hinksey.[6]
Geography
[edit]There are now two villages, North Hinksey to the west of the city of Oxford and South Hinksey to the southwest.[3] Hinksey Stream runs past the west of Oxford, a branch of the River Thames. Hinksey Hill Farm lies on Hinksey Hill, close to South Hinksey. Ferry Hinksey Road is a road in west Oxford. There is also a suburb called New Hinksey to the south of the town centre, which contains the Oxford City Council ward Hinksey Park. Here, Hinksey Park itself is an 11-acre park, including an open-air swimming pool, off Abingdon Road.[7]
Culture
[edit]The watercolour painter William Turner (1789–1862) painted Oxford from above Hinksey.[8]
The art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) used to walk between Abingdon, where he stayed at the Crown and Thistle, and Oxford.[9] He found the path muddy and organized a party of undergraduates to improve the roadway in the Hinksey area.[10]
Laurence Binyon (1869–1943) wrote a poem entitled Ferry Hinksey.[11]
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) mentions Hinksey in his poems Thyrsis and The Scholar Gipsy.
Sport
[edit]Hinksey Pool was the original home of Hinksey Sculling School, a community rowing club.
References
[edit]- ^ Mills, A. D.; Room, A. (1998). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Gelling, M. (1988). "Towards a Chronology for Early English Place Names". In Hooke, D. (ed.). Anglo-Saxon Settlements. pp. 71, 73.
- ^ a b Lethbridge, Richard (1988). "Hinkseys, The". Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The New Shell Guides. London: Michael Joseph. p. 108. ISBN 0-7181-2908-3.
- ^ Steane, John (1996). Oxfordshire. London: Pimlico, Random House. p. 197. ISBN 0-7126-6199-9.
- ^ Jessup, Mary (1975). A History of Oxfordshire. The Darwen County History Series. London and Chichester: Phillimore. p. 114. ISBN 0-85033-206-0.
- ^ Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). "Hinksey Park". The Encyclopaedia of Oxford. Macmillan. p. 185. ISBN 0-333-39917-X.
- ^ "Parks in Oxford – Hinksey Park". Oxford City Council. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Stevenson, Geoffrey (1977). Oxfordshire. Barracuda Guide to County History. Vol. II. Chesham: Barracuda Books. p. 73. ISBN 0-86023-026-0.
- ^ Batchelor, John (2000). John Ruskin: No Wealth But Life. London: Chatto & Windus. p. 290. ISBN 1-856-19580-5.
- ^ Wilde, Oscar (1908). "Art and the Handicraftsman". In Ross, Robert (ed.). Essays and Lectures. Methuen and Co.
- ^ Binyon, Laurence (1982). "Ferry Hinksey". In Fraser, Antonia (ed.). Oxford and Oxfordshire in Verse. Penguin Books. p. 30.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Hinksey at Wikimedia Commons
51°44′N 1°16′W / 51.733°N 1.267°W