Changes to Headington Street Names

When the three villages of Headington were absorbed into the City of Oxford in 1929, the consequent duplication of street names proved a problem. For instance, the name Church Street existed not only in Old and in New Headington, but also in other attached villages such as Cowley, Iffley, Marston, New Hinksey, and Summertown, as well as St Ebbe’s in central Oxford.

It was not until 1942, however, that anything was done to remedy the situation. In that year the three village high streets of Old Headington, New Headington, and Quarry were respectively renamed Old High Street, New High Street, and Quarry High Street: this prevented them from being confused with each other and with the High Streets in St Thomas, St Clement’s, and central Oxford. The other duplications between Headington and Oxford were not dealt with until 1959 (with the Headington name being changed in every single case, even when it had been around longer!).

In order to trace the history of a house through directories, maps, and old documents, it is of course vital to know the original name of the street.

Present Name	Former Name	To avoid confusion with
Bateman Street	East Street, New Headington	East Street, Osney
Dunstan Road	Cemetery Road, Old Headington	[Unappealing name]
Gardiner Street	South Street, New Headington	South Street, Osney
Gathorne Road	Alexandra Road, New Headington	Alexandra Road, Osney
Gladstone Road	Elms Road, Headington Quarry	Elms Road, Botley
Holyoake Road	Western Road, New Headington	Western Road, Grandpont
Kennett Road	New Road, New Headington	New Road, Central Oxford
Larkin’s Lane	Originally both St Andrew's Lane and Larkin's Lane were known as Church Lane. In the 1920s	Numerous Church Streets/Lanes
New High Street	High Street, New Headington	Numerous High Streets
Old High Street	High Street, Old Headington	Numerous High Streets
Osler Road	Manor Road, Old Headington*	Manor Road, Central Oxford
Perrin Street	Church Street, New Headington	Numerous Church Streets/Lanes
Piper Street	Cross Street, New Headington	Cross Street, St Clement’s
Quarry High Street	High Street, Headington Quarry	Numerous High Streets
Quarry Hollow	St Mary’s Road, Headington Quarry	St Mary’s Road, East Oxford
St Andrew’s Lane	Church Lane, Old Headington	Numerous Church Streets/Lanes
St Andrew’s Road	Church Street, Old Headington	Numerous Church Streets/Lanes
St Leonard’s Road	Southern Road, New Headington	[Vague name]
Wilberforce Street	William Street, New Headington	William Street, New Marston

* Before the Lords of the Manor moved to a new Manor House in Headington in 1801, Osler Road was known as Sandy Lane. (And to confuse matters, In the early 1930s the name Osler Road was given to a different street, but by 1935 that was renamed Woodlands Road)

Origins of Headington street-names

Headington history: Miscellaneous

Changes to Headington Street Names