The Current situation
Oxford Preservation Trust gave South Park to the City Council in 1952 for the use of the people of Oxford and with covenants to protect this (see below). OPT is fully aware of its responsibilities and has been working with the City Council’s conservation team to secure a Heritage Asset Management Statement extracts from which are reproduced, with permission, below.
We are currently in negotiation with Oxford City Council to develop a Memorandum of Understanding which will allow their officers, across their various departments, to be fully aware of the restrictions and obligations under the Covenant, with the intention that both parties can work in partnership to continue to secure the management of South Park for the people of the City.
We are aware of current changes to City Council policy where they have sought to sell off unwanted property. Where such property is covered by these covenants OPT is in active discussion with the City Council to ensure that they are aware of their obligations in this matter.
The Covenant
The land known as South Park was conveyed by way of gift from the Trust to the Council by conveyance dated 28 May 1951. Covenants were imposed by the Trust in that conveyance as terms of the gift. The relevant covenant by the Council in favour of the Trust contained in the conveyance reads:
a) Not to carry on or permit on the property hereby conveyed nor in any buildings or structures now or hereafter erected thereon the manufacture sale or distribution of intoxicating liquors other than such sale or distribution as would be permitted under the grant by the magistrates of an occasional licence nor to use the same for the purpose of any noisy noxious or offensive trade manufacture or business
b) At all times hereafter to use and preserve the property hereby conveyed as an open space or park in its natural state to which the public may be allowed access except that (in addition to use as aforesaid) —
1) the portion of the property hereby conveyed coloured pink on the said plan may be used as playing fields or sports grounds and
(2) the property hereby conveyed may be used for the purposes of occasional fetes fairs and other public entertainments and in connection therewith marquees and tents may be temporarily erected
AND not to use the property hereby conveyed for any purposes whatsoever other than such as are permitted by this clause 2 PROVIDED that user for the purposes of agriculture shall not be deemed to be a breach of the provisions of this clause 2.
c) Not at any time to erect any buildings or structures of any kind upon the portion of the property hereby conveyed coloured violet on the said plan and not to erect any new buildings or structures on the remainder of the property hereby conveyed and coloured pink and green on the said plan except such pavilions shelters and kiosks (which may be used (except as restricted by paragraph (a) of this Clause) for the sale of tobacco sweets cakes ices and similar goods and the provision of meals and refreshments) and lavatories toolsheds and similar structures as may from time to time be required for the convenience of persons using the property hereby conveyed for any of the purposes permitted by this Clause 2 or in connection with the care and management of the property hereby conveyed.
History
The Trust acquired South Park, formerly owned by the Morrell family, in 1932. In 1951 the Trust conveyed the land to the City of Oxford with covenants as to its use as an open space in a natural state to which the public has access. In making the gift Lord Halifax, speaking as a Trustee of Oxford Preservation Trust, said
‘With this deed of conveyance, the grassy slopes, the wooded land, the view of the City towers from the ridge of the hill, are given on behalf of the members of Oxford Preservation Trust to the City and its Corporation for safe keeping in perpetuity’.
The Trust’s gift is recorded in a carved stone, by sculptor Eric Gill, at the foot of the Park:
'This park was acquired by the Oxford Preservation Trust
through the liberarality of the Pilgrim Trust and David and Joanna Randall-McIver 1932'
Background
Until the late 19th century the area of the current South Park was enclosed farmland within the parish of St Clements. The date at which the medieval open fields in the area of the later ‘South Park’ were given over to pasture is not known. In the Middle Ages common rights in the pastures of the Cherwell valley were enjoyed by several parishes. In 1565 Sir Christopher Brome bought out the grazing rights of landowners in various parishes as well as those of Magdalen and Corpus Christi College’s, and secured their agreement to the inclosure of pastures on either side of Headington Hill, now the grounds of Headington Hill Hall and South Park (VCH. 1957, 258-266).
The Oxford brewer James Morrell senior (1773–1855) bought some grazing land near the top of Headington Hill from the Savage family in 1817 in order to build a house for his family. By 1858 this small country house had become a 51-room mansion and gardens, now Headington Hill Hall and Park. When Emily Morrell (1854–1938) was left an orphan, the Morrell Trustees took over responsibility for the Hall and in 1876 purchased the farmland at the Rise in Cheney, to prevent the land being developed for housing and to preserve their seclusion, doubling the size of the estate. An enlarged park and garden was created including the present South Park.
In the 1920s under pressure to house Oxford’s growing population the City Council sought to acquire land at South Park to build new housing. A southern strip of 25 acres was developed in 1929-31 when Morrell Avenue and associated council housing were constructed. The Oxford Preservation Trust bought the remaining South Park from the Morrell family in 1939 and in 1951 it gave the land to the city of Oxford to be kept free of building and maintained as public open space.
Archaeology
The park contains the extant remains of medieval ridge and furrow which has not been subject to a detailed survey however they are clearly visible on the ground and from recent aerial photographs. Well preserved ridges survive in the middle and lower park. There are now very few places in the English Midlands where extensive open field landscapes can still be seen, though it is still visible on Trust land at Swinford, and Old Marston.
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Cheney Lane was the original medieval route to London via High Wycombe and Uxbridge, leading over Shotover Hill. The bypassing of the lane by the construction of Headington Road in 1775has resulted in the hollow way profile up the hill, including boundary banks, which still survives.
The line of the Parliamentary siege works can be projected through the upper part of the park and are recorded on the Historic Environment Record (County No 6008). No detailed survey of the earthworks has been undertaken to-date. The siege works took the form of an entrenchment on the top of Headington Hill allowing the bombardment of Royalist positions located below in St Clements, and were ordered to be built by a council of war in 1646. A defensive line was drawn from the fortifications straight to St Bartholomew’s Common Road and onto to ‘Campus Pit’. It is possible that a bank in the South Park is associated with this line.
Traces of the 19th century formal parkland planting and earlier enclosure field boundaries survive within the park and are recorded on 19th century maps.
Background and History extracted from the Oxford City Council Heritage Management Statement, with thanks
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