Oxford boundary markers: Near Woodlands Road (1892)
[City coat of arms showing
ox crossing ford]
1 8 9 2
F. W. A N S E L L
M A Y O R
W. S. C A R V E R
S H E R I F F
This stone is on Cuckoo Lane, near Woodlands Road, Headington. It is not a listed structure.
The boundary between Oxford and Headington from 1889 to 1929 made a sudden right-angled turn to the south at this point to align with the Moors Brook (known as the Boundary Brook from 1889), which probably explains the positioning of the stone.
It belongs to the following series of boundary stones that were set up at the time of the Mayor's perambulation of 1892 (the first such inspection to take place after the 1889 Oxford boundary change):
- Opposite Headley Way
- Godstow Road bridge
- Sunnymead
- Canal towpath
- Woodstock Road
- Hogacre Ditch
- Iffley Meadows
- Port Meadow (probably)
Frederick Ansell was Mayor of Oxford in 1891/2, and there was a special perambulation that year.
William Stevens Carver (1859–1917), the Sheriff of Oxford who is also named on this stone, was at the time of the 1891 census a 32-year-old accountant & auditor who lived at 7 Longworth Road with his wife Eliza and their three young daughters. He was the City Accountant from 1894 until his death (obituary in the Oxford Journal Illustrated of 26 December 1917, p. 9).
This map shows the new 1889 boundary of the city marked in blue.