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How did our roads get their names

Posted - October 04, 1983

The following information is taken from Councillor Ann Spokes’ own research

BLOMFIELD PLACE
Named in 1968, the road commemorates Reginald Blomfield, the architect of
St. Barnabas Church. Mr. Blomfield explained the architectual purpose of the Church as follows:- “Not a penny was to be thrown away on external appearance or decoration”.  He believed decorations such as marbltnj, mosaic or painting could be added from time to time in the interior but a secure and long-lasting building was of the greatest importance.

COMBE ROAD.
This road, named in l%8,was formerly Ferry Lane, St. Barnabas. William Combe,Printer to the University in the mid 1830s, did much for Jericho. He ran classes for boys in Jericho.Both St. Barnabas Church and St. Luke’s Chapel at the Radcliffe Infirmary were built at his own expense. The Church cost about £ 6,500.

Combe was a well-known patron of the Pre-Raphaelite School of painters and a friend of Holman Hunt. Hunt’s famous picture “The Light of the World” was painted in the Press quadrangle during a visit to Combe who lived in the Press precincts. Combe’s collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings were presented to the Ashmolean Museum. Holman Hunt described Mr. and Mrs. Combe as “The most unpretending servants of goodness and nobility that their generation knew” and “the salt of the earth”. Mrs. Combe, though young, was the “foster-mother of the whole parish”. In 1849 Millais stayed with the Combes at the Press and painted their portraits