Jericho

History

Originally an industrial area, Jericho grew because of its proximity to the Oxford Canal, which arrived in 1790. The Eagle Ironworks (now redeveloped into apartments), wharves, and the Oxford University Press were based there and its residential streets are mostly 'two-up, two-down' Victorian workers' houses. With back streets of 19th-century terraced housing and many restaurants, it has become a popular area for student and London commuter accommodation.

Reports from the 1870s suggest that early homes in Jericho were built with very poor drainage. Low-lying land and a lack of basic drainage in these homes would result in flooding. Flooding, open sewers, and overcrowding resulted in deaths from diseases such as typhoid and dysentery, with five out of eleven typhoid deaths in 1873 originating from Jericho. Jericho residents also accounted for twenty two cases of cholera during the 1832 epidemic.

In the 1950s, Jericho was briefly a red light area, and in the early 1960s, there were plans to demolish it and replace it with light industrial units and new housing. However, many people objected and campaigned to save this historic area, rallied by local city councillor Olive Gibbs and the Jericho Residents Association. As a result, the plans were changed. Houses beyond repair were demolished, but many others were upgraded in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the help of council grants. This encouraged many young professionals and families to move in; subsequently, Jericho became one of Oxford's most sought-after areas. Large council and social housing developments were built in the 1970s and 1980s.

Community

Jericho retains a strong community spirit. The Jericho Community Association runs the Jericho Community Centre in Canal Street, maintains the community website, Jericho Online, and organises the annual Jericho Street Fair which is held in mid-June each year, around the feast day of the patron saint Barnabas (11 June). It is also the focus for other community activities and has been very active in campaigning for responsible development of the canal-side land, which is the site of the former Jericho Wharf. Successive owners or developers have failed to provide any viable plans, and therefore the site remains derelict to this day

Jericho is served by a Church of England primary school, St Barnabas Primary School, a large primary school where over 50% speak English as a second language. Since 2011, parents and teaching staff from the parent-teacher association (PTA) at the school have organised a multi-terrain run called Run Jericho, which takes place in June every year. Run Jericho features a 1-mile children's fun run, 5-km and 10-km runs through Worcester College, the streets of Jericho, Port Meadow, Wolvercote, and along the Thames River path. This is the largest fundraising event for St Barnabas Primary School, with a message of inclusivity, encouraging healthy living, and strengthening community ties. Since 2023, St Barnabas Primary School, St Barnabas Church, and the Jericho Community Association have joined efforts to create Jericho Fest with the Jericho Street Fair, Run Jericho, and St Barnabas Day Mass all occurring in the same weekend in June.

Appropriately for its biblical name, Jericho is also known for its places of worship. The Church of England parish church is the Anglo-Catholic St Barnabas Church, next to the Oxford Canal. St Sepulchre's Cemetery lies off Walton Street, which has no associated church and has lost its chapel. The Albert Street Chapel (Reformed Baptist) is also in the neighbourhood. The Oxford Synagogue (one of the few in England with more than one denomination of Judaism worshipping in the same house) and the Oxford Jewish Centre are in Jericho.

Castlemill Boatyard was established as a coal wharf by the 1840s on the canal in Jericho. It was previously owned by British Waterways and ceased trading in 1992. After its closure, boaters continued to use the site, the remainder of which were evicted in 2006. British Waterways sold the site to a company that subsequently went into administration in 2009. The Jericho Wharf Trust was formed in 2012 to attempt to purchase the land. However, they were outbid by a private company in 2013, which subsequently failed to develop the site. In 2024, the Trust petitioned Oxford City Council to forcibly purchase the land from the current landowner after 25 years of dereliction.

In popular culture

Thomas Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure has a scene set in St Barnabas Church, and it is likely that the suburb named 'Beersheba' in the novel is based on Jericho. As an homage to Hardy, in 1996, one of Jericho's pubs was renamed Jude the Obscure.

The first episode of the long-running ITV drama series Inspector Morse, starring British actor John Thaw, called "The Dead of Jericho", was partially filmed in the streets of Jericho, notably Combe Road ('Canal Reach' in the drama). It also featured the exterior of the Bookbinders Arms public house on the corner of Victor Street. The spin-off show Lewis also has stories based around the same area.

Philip Pullman set parts of his novels Northern Lights and Lyra's Oxford in Jericho. In the books, Jericho is home to the water-dwelling "Gyptians". He has been a vocal advocate of the residential boaters' fight to save the Castlemill Boatyard.

London-born Australian author Pip Williams' second book, The Bookbinder of Jericho (2023) is set in the then working-class suburb of Jericho. The two main characters – twin sisters Peggy and Maude Jones – work in the bindery at Oxford University Press and live in a narrowboat on Oxford Canal during the period when WW1 was breaking out, and the Oxford English Dictionary was being collated and printed.