Harcourt Hill

Westminster College, originally the Westminster Training College, was a teacher training college and college of higher education in England. The college was founded in London in 1851 as a training institute for teachers for Wesleyan Methodist schools, but moved to Oxford in 1959. Before the move, it was part of the London Institute for Education. From 1959 to 1981, its qualifications were awarded by Oxford University. From 1981 to 1992, its qualifications were awarded by the CNAA. After 1992, its courses were validated by Oxford University again. In 2000, financial pressures caused the college to close. The Methodist Church subsequently leased the college's site at Harcourt Hill to Oxford Brookes University and it became the home of that university's Westminster Institute of Education.

Raleigh Park is a park of about 27 acres (110,000 m2) in North Hinksey, Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire), just west of Oxford. The land was formerly part of the estates of the Harcourt family. The land was sold in 1924 to Raymond ffennell, then owner of Wytham Abbey, who gave it to the City of Oxford for use as a park. It was named in honour of Professor Sir Walter Raleigh, who lived nearby on Harcourt Hill and died in 1922. Although the park lies in the green belt outside the city boundary, it is managed by Oxford City Council as a nature reserve and recreational park. It is on rising ground, giving expansive views over the city of Oxford.

North Hinksey is a village in the civil parish of Botley and North Hinksey, in the Vale of White Horse district, in Oxfordshire, England, on the west side of the Thames flood plain immediately opposite the city of Oxford. The civil parish includes the large settlement of Botley, effectively an isolated suburb of Oxford, with the Botley Road as the sole highway link across the flood plain. North Hinksey was in all respects part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred administration of the Vale of White Horse district to Oxfordshire County Council; it remains part of the historic county of Berkshire however, since the 1974 act did not change the ancient county boundaries. The village of North Hinksey has a manor house, The Fishes public house, a Church of England primary school and a Church of England parish church, St. Lawrence's, which dates back to at least the 12th century. Four of the older houses have thatched roofs. There was also the administrative offices of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford (Diocesan Church House) in the enlarged former vicarage. This, as of September 2016 is to be converted to housing. Harcourt Hill and Raleigh Park lie to the southwest of the village. All the shopping and other facilities in the parish are now found in Botley. The centre of the old village is now effectively cut off from much of the newer part of Botley by the busy Oxford Ring Road, part of the A34 trunk road, though there are two pedestrian underpasses. The parish has a cemetery which includes 671 identified Commonwealth war graves.

Matthew Arnold School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located just west of Oxford near Cumnor Hill and Botley and is named after 19th-century poet Matthew Arnold.The school contains around 1,300 pupils from years 7 to 13, and circa 80 teaching staff. The school catchment area includes Oxford to the west of the railway station, Botley, Cumnor, Binsey, Wytham, and stretches west towards Appleton, Fyfield and Kingston Bagpuize.Previously a community school founded in 1958 as Matthew Arnold Secondary Modern, it was administered by Oxfordshire County Council. The school was built for a total cost of £125,000 and was opened by Henry Brooke who was then Minister of Housing. In August 2015, following a community consultation, Matthew Arnold School converted to academy status and is now part of the Acer Trust. The school continues to coordinate with Oxfordshire County Council for admissions.

St Lawrence's Church is a Church of England church in North Hinksey, West Oxford, England. The church is dedicated to St Lawrence, a Christian martyr. It is a Grade II* Listed Building. The church has a chancel, nave and tower.

Botley is a village in the civil parish of Botley and North Hinksey, in the Vale of White Horse district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England, just west of the Oxford city boundary. Historically part of Berkshire, it stands on the Seacourt Stream, a stream running off the River Thames. The intersection of the A34 and A420 is to the village's north.

Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat.

Botley Bridge (or Botley Road Bridge) is a road bridge across Seacourt Stream, a branch of the River Thames in Oxford, England. The bridge is on the A420 arterial road at the point where the Botley Road out of Oxford becomes West Way, west of the centre of the city. It forms the boundary of the city limits of Oxford at this point. Further west are Botley and the Oxford Ring Road. Historically, this was the boundary of Berkshire and Oxfordshire before the 1974 county boundary changes. Between Botley and Oxford there are a number of road bridges crossing various branches of the Thames, including Bulstake Bridge over Bulstake Stream and Osney Bridge over the main branch of the Thames, also on Botley Road, as well as Hythe Bridge and Pacey's Bridge over the Castle Mill Stream, next to the end of the Oxford Canal. There is an Ordnance Survey surveying benchmark on one of the piers of the bridge.

Chilswell is a small settlement in the parish of Cumnor, Oxfordshire. It lies between the village of South Hinksey and Boars Hill. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire. The place was first mentioned in 1180 as Chiefleswelle. The name is of Old English origin, and appears to mean 'the stream of a man called Cifel'. An older form of the name is Childsworth, and the place is mentioned by that name in the poem Thyrsis by Matthew Arnold. Arnold's "signal elm" is in a field nearby, bought by the Oxford Preservation Trust from All Souls College, Oxford in 2009.The remains of a Roman villa have been found nearby.Chilswell House, on the edge of Boars Hill, was built in 1907 to be the home of the poet Robert Bridges, the writer Monica Bridges and their three children.Chilswell Valley (also known as Happy Valley), between Chilswell and South Hinksey, is a nature reserve managed by Oxford City Council.

Youlbury Scout Activity Centre is one of a number of The Scout Association's National Scout Activity Centres in the United Kingdom and is the oldest permanent Scout campsite in the world (while Brownsea Island was the site of the first campsite, it was a private island for many years after). The Centre, which is based near Oxford, is open to Scouts from around the world, and offers many activities as well as camping and accommodation in huts.

Oxfordshire in South East England has an area of 2,605 square kilometres and a population of 648,700. In England, the body responsible for designating Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) is Natural England, which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Notification as an SSSI gives legal protection to the best sites for wildlife and geology. As of 2020, there are 111 SSSIs in Oxfordshire, 78 of which have been designated for biological interest, 27 for geological interest, and 6 for both biological and geological interest.

Oxfordshire ( OKS-fahd-shər, -⁠sheer; abbreviated Oxon) is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town. The county is largely rural, with an area of 2,605 km2 (1,006 sq mi) and a population of 691,667. After Oxford (162,100), the largest settlements are Banbury (54,355) and Abingdon-on-Thames (37,931). For local government purposes Oxfordshire is a non-metropolitan county with five districts. The part of the county south of the River Thames, largely corresponding to the Vale of White Horse district, was historically part of Berkshire. The lowlands in the centre of the county are crossed by the River Thames and its tributaries, the valleys of which are separated by low hills. The south contains parts of the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills, and the north-west includes part of the Cotswolds; all three regions are Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The county's highest point is White Horse Hill (261-metre (856 ft)), part of the Berkshire Downs.