South Oxheya history you can walk
Map

Walk4.5 km · 2.8 miles · about 2 h 30 min

Schools, churches and shops

The places that turned a building site into a community: the first school, the churches of the 1950s, the parades of shops, the library and the old pubs.

Start: Oxhey Library, Bridlington Road. Route: a loop with 9 stops. Underfoot: Pavements all the way.

Directions in Google Maps Route file for walking apps (GPX) Printable leaflet (PDF) Big map →

Google Maps shows every stop in its app or on a computer. In a phone's web browser it can leave stops out, so follow the map on this page or use the GPX file.

The route follows paths and pavements where they exist, and goes straight across open grass where they don't. Paths are drawn from OpenStreetMap, so check the ground as you go.

  1. 1

    Oxhey Library

    A van brought books round at first. The first library opened in 1951 in an old farmhouse on Little Oxhey Lane, and this one in 1962. Read more →

  2. 2

    Warren Dell School

    The estate's first school took its first pupils in May 1949. That summer only about 500 of the estate's 820 primary-age children had full-time places. Read more →

  3. 3

    All Saints

    The first tenants worshipped in the old chapel next door from 1948. The first All Saints closed in 1993 when asbestos was found, and a new building replaced it in 2000. Read more →

  4. 4

    St Joseph's

    The Catholic church on Oxhey Drive was built in 1960, eight years after the parish was formed. Read more →

  5. 5

    Health centre and police station

    The estate's police station opened on Oxhey Drive in January 1953, and the doctors moved to a surgery here after leaving Oxhey Place. Read more →

  6. 6

    Clitheroe Gardens

    The Clitheroe Club for older people began in Clitheroe Gardens in 1950, and the Methodist church opened on Prestwick Road in 1953. Both were rebuilt a few yards away, and the new church opened in January 2014. Read more →

  7. 7

    The Dick Whittington

    The estate's first pub, opened in 1957, and the only one of its five pubs still trading. Read more →

  8. 8

    Little Oxhey Lane shops

    The first three shops on the estate opened in Little Oxhey Lane in April 1949, and a post office followed in July 1950. Read more →

  9. 9

    Site of the old precinct

    The main shopping centre was photographed new in 1954, and St Andrew's Road became the county's first traffic-free precinct in 1966. It was rebuilt as South Oxhey Central from 2018. Read more →