Headington Hill

For the locality in the Toowoomba Region, Australia, see Headington Hill, Queensland.

Headington Hill is a hill in the east of Oxford, England, in the suburb of Headington. The Headington Road goes up the hill leading out of the city. There are good views of the spires of Oxford from the hill, especially from the top of South Park.

Headington Hill
A view down Headington Hill, along Headington Road, from the bridge which now connects two parts of Oxford Brookes campus.
Headington Hill Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SP531063
Civil parish	unparished
District	Oxford
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Oxford
Postcode district	OX3
Dialling code	01865
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Oxford East
Website	Headington, Oxford
List of places UK England Oxfordshire 51.756°N 1.225°W / 51.756; -1.225

Between 1644 and 1646, Headington Hill was used by the Parliamentarian forces while besieging Oxford during the First English Civil War. Headington Hill Hall, built in 1824 for the Morrell family (local brewers), stands on the hill, and is now the home of Oxford Brookes University's School of Law.

Spanish anti-fascist memorial

Headington Hill is the home of the Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial which is dedicated to local residents who travelled to Spain to join the International Brigades to fight against fascist forces backed by Hitler and Mussolini during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. The memorial is located where Headington Road meets

During the Spanish Civil War, 29 British people with connections to Oxfordshire joined the International Brigades, with a further 2 who joined POUM.^[1] Most of the volunteers were communist activists, and many had links to Britain's Jewish communities. Oxford was a hub for anti-fascist activism, homes within the county housed hundreds of Basque refugee children and various physical fights between anti-fascist activists and the Oxford University Fascist Association.^[2]

The memorial was the focus of minor controversy when all plans to have an anti-fascist memorial in the city center were rejected by Oxford city council, until the current site was agreed upon.^[3]

See also

• Cotuit Hall
• Oxford Brookes University

References

1. Farman, Chris; Rose, Valery; Woolley, Liz (2015). No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39. UK: Oxford International Brigade Memorial Committee. p. 1. ISBN 9781-910448-052.
2. Farman, Chris; Rose, Valery; Woolley, Liz (2015). No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39. UK: Oxford International Brigade Memorial Committee. pp. 41–42. ISBN 9781-910448-052.
3. James, Luke (6 November 2016). "Nimbys block nod to heroes of Spain civil war in Oxford: Memorial to anti-fascist fighters 'too triumphalist' for some". The Morning Star. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

External links

A view up Headington Hill along Headington Road, with an Oxford Park&Ride bus.

• Headington Hill section on Headington Community website

Located on Headington Road is the Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial, dedicated to Oxford residents who joined the International Brigades during the Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial and died fighting against fascist forces backed by Hitler and Mussolini.