The Co-op in Central Headington (both sites), 1892–2026
© Picture Oxon (Oxfordshire History Centre) and reproduced with their permission
Central Headington’s first Co-op of 1892 (above) was situated at the junction of Windmill Road and London Road, and the building still survives, now numbered 121 and 121A London Road. (The part facing Windmill Road with the main entrance on the corner are currently occupied by Finders Keepers, and the much smaller section facing straight on to the London Road by Tina's Nails).
The Oxford Co-operative and Industrial Society Ltd (founded in 1872) purchased this corner site (then occupied by the disused toll-house) in 1889. At this time each of the three villages of Old Headington, Headington Quarry, and New Headington had its own high street and small shops, and London Road was residential. The idea of a large store (the word used in 1892) on the London Road to serve all three villages was a new one.
This was the Oxford Co-op's seventh branch and was built in 1891/2 by W. Rose of Hurst Street, Oxford. It opened on Bank Holiday Monday 19 April 1892 “with a great fanfare of trumpets and much beating of big drums”. The following article appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal four days later:
Thomas Spencer was the Co-op manager for two years, and then George Church from 1895 to 1922. In the early years, the manager was accommodated over the shop: the 1901 census shows George (aged 39 and born in Watlington) living upstairs with his wife Sarah and their 16-year-old daughter Eveline (a post office telegraphist). By 1909 George Church had moved into a private house, Foxbury, on the London Road (the house now split between the Savers chemist and the former Cancer Research charity shop), and in 1919 he was elected on to Headington Parish Council.
In 1907 the Co-op built Holyoake Terrace, shown below, for the use of Co-op employees. It was named after George Jacob Holyoake, an important man in the Co-op movement, who had died the previous year.
The postcard above shows the
Co-op shortly after Holyoake Terrace was built in 1907.
This detail (left), taken from that postcard, shows that the horse-drawn cart delivered bread. On the back it reads:
CO-OPERATIVE
SOCIETY LTD
BAKERS
The entry for the shop in Bennett’s Business Directory for 1913 reads:
Oxford Co-operative and
Industrial Society, Ltd. London rd.
Grocery, provisions,
bread, corn, meal, coal,
boots, drapery, hardware,
glass, china, etc.
G. Church
The postcard extract below shows the Headington Co-op in the mid-1930s. The sign immediately over the door reads O.C.S. [Oxford Co-operative Society] and 1872 (the year of the society's foundation) over the corner. The notice under the clock reads: THE CO-OP / WAY SAVE / AS YOU PAY.
The detail below from a 1937 postcard showing the Windmill Road side of the Co-op suggests that many customers came by bicycle to shop at the Headington Co-op:
In 1938 Holyoake Terrace was demolished and replaced by Holyoake Hall, with shops downstairs and a dance hall upstairs. From 1958 to 1979 all these shops as well as the original building on the corner of Windmill Road and Nos. 1–3 Windmill Road were part of the Oxford & District Co-operative Society:
- Photograph of the Co-op at 1–3 Windmill Road in 1957
- Photograph of the Co-op shops on the ground floor of Holyoake Hall in 1957
In 1959 Western Road was renamed Holyoake Road.
In 1979 the Co-op moved to a new building on the eastern corner of Stile Road and its old shop on the corner of Windmill Road became Buckell & Ballard (then Taylor's Estate Agents in May 2011, Hampton's Estate Agents in September 2015, and Finders Keepers in July 2019). A smaller part facing the London Road was split off and was occupied by Oxford Design until 22 October 2012, and Tina's Nails from July 2013.
The Co-op on the corner of Stile Road
In 1979 the Co-op moved to a new supermarket at 152 London Road, on the corner of Stile Road. The site was that of the former Eyles & Coxeter garage, which distributed Triumph, Rover, and Jaguar cars. The petrol station remained facing the London Road.
The petrol station closed in the late 1990s, and the above photograph shows the petrol capped off. In July 2003 work started on converting this area into a new entrance for the store. The ground-floor area of the shop, including “back of house”, was 14,752 sq. ft.
In February 2016 when Headington Post Office closed down it reopened in this shop.
In 2020 Midcounties Co-op sold this Co-op building to developers Cantay Estates. A planning application to replace it with a block with floorspace for research & development and offices was approved on 7 October 2025 (25/00799/FUL). Headington Post Office closed on 26 February 2026 and the Co-op itself on 3 January 2026. No demolition has yet taken place.
