Barton, Oxford
Barton was built by Oxford City Council as a result of a housing shortage in the 1930's. 35.4% of Barton houses are still socially rented and 354 of 865 new houses being built west of Barton are also socially rented.
Wick Farm is northwest of Barton, Barton Park is west and Bayswater Farm Mobile Home Park and Sandhills are east.
History
Early History
The course of a Roman road between Dorchester on Thames and Alchester passes through Barton. There was a Roman villa northwest of Barton in the 3rd and 4th centuries. In the 1940s sixteen Roman coins were found near Barton and in 1953 three Romano-British pots were recovered from Bayswater Brook.
Barton is Old English for barley farm. In 1246 it was known as Aldebarton, Oldebarton in 1276 and by 1326 Oldbarton. Wick Farm is Old English for dairy farm. In 1298 the Bayswater Brook was named Edenebroke and Hedena's Brook.
Wick Farm was in existence by the thirteenth century and is now home to various listed buildings. In Bayswater Road is Bayswater Mill, an 18th century limestone watermill and windmill, which has been converted into a house. Barton Manor is a 17th century listed building built of ashlar-faced Cotswold stone. Next to Barton Manor is the Prince's Castle Court - which was a pub from the 1860s and 1980s.
Oxford Crematorium is off Bayswater Road just north of Barton. It was opened in 1939 by the Oxford Crematorium Company and is where William Morris is buried. St. Mary's Church was built in 1958 and replaced St. Andrew's Church in Headington as the local parish church.
Development
The land Barton was later built on was north facing and on an incline, hence it was considered to be unsuitable for housing development. However, in the 1930's a housing shortage prompted Oxford City Council to buy the land from Magdalen College. In 1937 there were 54 council houses, in 1977 there were 1,600 and the last council houses were built in the late 1980s.
The original community centre - built in 1949 - was pulled down and replaced with the Barton Neighbourhood Centre, which provides a focal point for community activities, with a café, youth club and a library. It is run by the Barton Community Association, which was founded in 1946.
The Bayswater Brook runs west from Forest Hill and joins the River Cherwell in Cutteslowe. Since 1975, it has been the boundary between the City of Oxford and Oxford Green Belt.
Barton Park and Bayswater
Nearly 900 homes are being built at Barton Park, and are expected to be completed in 2027. Christ Church has submitted planning applications for a further estate north of the Bayswater Brook with 1,450 homes and a new primary school and nursery - stretching from Elsfield to Bayswater Road.
Barton Park Pavilion is home to Headington Amateurs F.C. and Barton United F.C. It also has a bar and playground.
Politics and Crime Rate
In 2021, the crime rate in Barton was 128 crimes per 1,000 people, ranking 12th out of the 86 MSOAs in Oxfordshire. 8% (20.6 crimes per 1,000 people) were anti-social behaviour crimes, ranking 4th in Oxfordshire's MSOA's.
Barton is in the constituency of Oxford East, except Wick Farm and Bayswater Mill which are in Henley and Thame. Anneliese Dodds has been MP for Oxford East since 2017 and Freddie Van Mierlo for Henley and Thame since 2024. Barton is also in the ward of Barton and Sandhills.
Amenities
Barton Leisure Centre, which includes a swimming pool and gym, is on Waynflete Road. Barton has four schools: Bayards Hill Primary School, Barton Park Primary School and Sandhills Community Primary School - which are part of the River Learning Trust - and Endeavour Academy, a special needs school.
Rectory Farm was opened in 1980 and is a pick your own farm north of Barton, next to Stanton St. John. It has various berries in the summer, then sweetcorn and pumpkins in the autumn.
In the centre of the estate, Underhill Circus, there is a community centre, chippy, corner shop, graffiti wall and pharmacy. Elsewhere there are two small nature reserves, an allotments and a pond.
Buses
The Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach route 8 connects Barton to Oxford via Headington. The Oxford Bus Company route X3 links Barton to Abingdon via the John Radcliffe Hospital and route 108 to Bicester via Beckley. Stagecoach route H5 links Barton to Bicester via Islip.