The JCA represents residents on local issues, organizes events, and runs the community centre. Membership is FREE.
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Our popular Saturday morning cafe is running again
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Every Tuesday from 5.30 to 6.30 pm. The main purpose of the Pantry is to make food that would otherwise be thrown away accessible to people who live locally who can make use of it.
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Mount Place used to be rather a sad place. Until recently, it remained used for insalubrious purposes, resulting in needles and cans inhabiting the grubby bushes behind the benches.
Then in 2020 the City Council repaved the area with rather more robust and brighter York Stone and worked closely on new planting with Greening Jericho a group of local residents keen to creating a diverse habitat of plants, wood piles etc. The aim is to encourage more people, well as wildlife such as birds and insects, to inhabit the area.
One problem was that the engraved ‘Welcome to Jericho’ Sign had suffered from graffiti which, combined with with a subsequent clean up, had rendered most of it illegible. The JCA. with support from the City and County Councils, has replaced it with a larger acrylic sign, as below, which is brighter and more vandal proof. While he was installing it, Paul, the community centre handyman also tidied up the other notices to reduce visual clutter. The new sign was designed by Hannah Hirst-Dunton, with production supervised by Michael Barnes.
Already a few snowdrops are poking their heads amid the new 100 plants or so, and a couple of hellebores are flowering as well as a hebe. The over-enthusiastic acanthus bushes have been trimmed back, and the central wildflower border is growing. By the Spring it should look dramatically improved .... Two bird boxes sit discreetly high up on the trees. The bins have been moved against Whitworth Place, and a low fence discourages walking across the border. Barring lockdowns, Greening Jericho meets every Thursday afternoon between 2.30 and 4.30, and is open to anyone who would like to join.
Post and image by Joelle Mann
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Welcome to Jericho You are now in Jericho, Oxford’s first planned suburb. It lies between the canal and Walton Street, bounded to the north by Walton Well Road and to the south by Worcester College. This small, well-defined area encourages a strong community spirit that is strengthened by its intriguing history. The name ‘Jericho’ might be a biblical reference to the walled city of Jericho in Palestine, signifying this area’s location outside Oxford’s old city walls. In the 17th century, people reaching Oxford after the city gates shut could take refuge in what is now the Jericho Tavern on Walton Street. Jericho grew after the construction of the Oxford Canal in 1790, and expanded into the surrounding meadows as industry boomed. In 1812, the Eagle Iron and Brass Works (later known as Lucy’s) was built in the area behind you and, in 1826, the Oxford University Press moved to Walton Street. Terraces of houses were built as needed, largely to house the factories’ workers. Like the corner house to your left, most street corners were originally shops, or pubs – of which Jericho once had almost thirty. Mount Place (where you are standing now) was once part of ‘Little Bear Meadow’. Then, in the 1870s, a tallow factory was built here. Despite the fact that locals said it ‘stank to high heaven’, it remained on this site for around 40 years. In what must have been stark contrast, St Barnabas Church – with its design based on the cathedral of Torcello near Venice – was consecrated in 1869. ‘Barney’s’ is strikingly beautiful inside, and well worth a visit. By the 1950s, Jericho was a run-down area. Most of what had been canal freight was transported by rail, and the 1960s saw plans to demolish the houses. However, a vigorous local campaign saved most of Jericho, which then became a model of urban renewal. The bridge to your right was built in 1972: previously, the only crossing had been by ferry. From the mid-1980s, a growing residential boat community added to the area’s colour and security. In 2007, Lucy’s was replaced by the flats behind you, but ‘the Press’ and Barney’s are still going strong. Jericho is now a thriving and diverse neighbourhood, with a happy balance of peaceful residential roads and vibrant social amenities. In addition to the church, a lively community centre and brewhouse pubs, it has cocktail bars, international restaurants and an arthouse cinema. Close to the city centre and the railway station, as well as Port Meadow, it has been rated one of the UK’s best places to live.
Tue 07 Apr - 6.15 pm