Oxford Street is one of Southampton's main evening destination areas, with an attractive pedestrianised section of pubs, bars, restaurants and eateries which spill out onto the pavement, giving the place a Continental feel, particularly on warm summer evenings.
The immediate area started being developed piecemeal in the early 1800s on agricultural fields belonging to Queens College, Oxford, from where it gets its name. Development stepped up when the railway arrived in 1840, and the port expanded, and by the turn of the century the street had been fully developed with the buildings we know today, and it was a prosperous area associated with shipping and transport, containing a number of fine hotels. With the closure of the station, and the shift of shipping to other parts of Southampton, the area's fortunes declined, and a number of hotels closed. Bomb damage, traffic management, and some redevelopment of the area, particularly in the west of Oxford Street and surrounding streets, changed the character slightly, but the closing off of Oxford Street and Latimer Street to through traffic created an attractive area for restaurants and bars to put out tables on the pavement.
 |
| Flying Dutchman |
* OxfordStreetSouthampton
History
* Step back in time / Daily Echo
* Sotonopedia
* BHO - Queens College
* Conservation Area Report
* Queens College - History
* Historic England - Southampton
* Heritage
***
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment