13km Oxford West Cycle with Map

This 13km route takes you along the western side of Oxford, following the River Thames, through part of the city and the countryside. Please note that parts of Port Meadow flood in the winter, so it is best to take this route in the summer. However, one can easily start at any point or cut sections out.

You can rent a bike with Bainton Bikes, Brompton Bikes, Byke, or Pony. If you have your own bicycle, you can use Parkopedia to find parking outside of Jericho or use one of the sites below in Jericho:

• Great Clarendon Street – Mon to Sat: 8 am – 6.30 pm day rate charges apply. 6.30 – 10 pm single charge for any length of time. Sundays: 8 am to 10 pm, single charge – any length of time.
• Woodstock Road, next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.
• Observatory Street. 8 am – 6.30 pm up to 2 hours, charges apply. 6.30 – 10 pm: single charge for any length of time.
• Walton Street End of Observatory Street – a handful of free one-hour spaces just outside Branca Deli, Cafe & Garden. 8 am to 6.30 pm. Free parking after 6.30 pm – no time limit.
• Cranham Street – A handful of two-hour spaces. Also free of charge after 6.30 pm.
• Walton Street – metred spaces all along Walton Street from Observatory Street towards Little Clarendon Street. There are half a dozen disabled spaces here, too. See Great Clarendon Street for charges. There are also some free one-hour spaces on Walton Street.
• Walton Well Road Car Park. This is metered car parking adjacent to Port Meadow and a 5-minute walk from the centre of Jericho. There are 28 spaces. The charges are cheaper than Walton Street and Great Clarendon Street.
• Other Parking:
  A few free spaces on the following roads (mostly in the evening or two hours stay before 6.30 pm): Cranham Street (opposite Branca), Canterbury Road, St Margaret’s Road, Winchester Road, Leckford Road, Warnborough Road, Farndon Road.

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Modern Jericho, Oxford’s “coolest neighbourhood”, has a variety of cafes, shops, nightlife, and places of entertainment to keep you busy. In the Bible, Jericho means “remote place” and possibly refers to the area outside Oxford’s city walls. “The Jericho House” was a place of safety for northerners seeking refuge in Oxford after the city gates were closed in the 17th century. This house of safety is now named “The Jericho Tavern” and was restored in 1818 as a three-story structure.

Start your ride down William Lucy Way, following the Castle Mill Stream. Turn left onto Hythe Bridge, then continue straight onto George Street.

Turn right onto New Inn Hall, left onto High Street, then right onto Aldate’s to find Christ Church War Memorial Garden and Christ Church College on your left. You will need to chain your bike up if you want to go into the garden.

Just before Folly Bridge, turn right onto Thames Street. At the curve of Butterwyke Place on your right, turn sharply left towards the River Thames, then turn right to follow the path along the river. Ride under the second bridge, Gasworks Rail Bridge, then turn sharp right and loop around to get onto the bridge towards Grandpont Nature Park. Just after crossing the bridge, turn right to follow the path along the river. Cross over the second bridge, just before the river curves to the left, over the little island, and continue straight onto East Street. Curve with North Street to the left, turn right, then right again onto and over Osney Bridge. Just after the bridge, turn sharply left to join the pathway again along the river.

The beautiful Christ Church War Memorial Garden was established in 1926 to commemorate former students of Christ Church College who died or went missing in the First World War. If you look carefully, the pavement of the garden path has an inscription featuring a passage from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress that reads, “My sword I give to Him. That shall succeed me in my pilgrimage.”

Continue straight along this path for about 3.4km, passing Port Meadow to your right to reach Godstow Abbey on your left. Pass Godstow Abbey to turn right onto and over Godstow Bridge, then straight along Godstow Road for about 1.7km. At the roundabout, take the fifth exit onto Woodstock Road for about 2km.

Riding in Port Meadow during the summer would be best, as it tends to flood in other seasons. Once utilized as grazing ground, Port Meadow is one of Oxford’s largest green spaces. It has, so the tradition goes, not been ploughed for at least 4,000 years. Its preservation has led to the discovery of several well-preserved archaeological artefacts, such as Iron Age settlement remnants, a large number of Bronze Age round barrows, and 17th-century defences from the Parliamentary siege of Oxford during the English Civil War.  The southern end of the meadow sometimes floods in the winter and freezes over into a relatively safe skating area. In late spring, you will see numerous animals and beautiful buttercups.

Godstow Abbey was constructed in 1133 so that Benedictine nuns could reside there. King Henry II’s mistress, Rosamund Clifford, retired here and passed away at 30 in 1177. Her grave is lost somewhere on these grounds. George Owen transformed the abbey into Godstow House, where his family lived until 1645, when the English Civil War caused damage to the structure. Since then, it has been used as a stone supply for the people’s construction and currently only serves as an outline of what once was.

Turn right onto Bainton Road, National Cycle Route 5, following the curve to the left onto Hayfield Road. Turn right onto Aristotle Lane, and just before the road curves to the right, turn left toward Plater Drive, then left onto Plater Drive, passing the green field on your left. Curve to the left with Merrivale Square to reach the start of the route.

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Resources:

If you enjoyed this route, see our 35km Cycle route

Download the GPX file here.