Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-east of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre – designated as a conservation area – has a local market and numerous independent shops and restaurants. Bicester also has a town council and a mayor.

The town has long had good transport links, being at the intersection of two Roman roads (Akeman Street and a north–south route between Dorchester and Towcester). It has direct rail connections to Oxford, London and Birmingham, and is on the route of under-construction East West Rail which will link it directly to Milton Keynes and Cambridge. The A41 primary road runs through the town, connecting it to Aylesbury, the M40 and the A34.

Bicester experienced significant growth in the 20th century due to its strategic military role, with RAF Bicester established in 1917 and a major ordnance depot built in 1942 to support World War II operations. These installations spurred post-war urban development. RAF Bicester closed and has since been repurposed for civilian use as a heritage centre.

Bicester is one of the fastest-growing towns in Oxfordshire.. It lies within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, a nationally designated area for growth and development, and has expanded rapidly in recent generations, and more residential development is planned to bring the population up to around 50,000. The town was awarded Garden Town status by the government in 2014, although the designation has been criticised for not having a substantive effect on the way development is carried out in the town. Nonetheless, high-quality and environmentally friendly housing stock has been constructed. Examples of new development include Elmsbrook the North West Bicester eco-town and the self-built homes at Graven Hill.

Toponymy

There are several theories about the origin of the name Bicester. One theory is that it may be derived from a personal name Beorna, meaning the 'Fort of the Warriors'. It may also be derived from the Latin for Bi-cester, meaning 'two forts'—Alchester is southwest of the town, and Chesterton village is on the course of Akeman Street, the Roman road between Watling Street and Cirencester, about northwest of Alchester. Bicester has been inhabited since the mid-7th century and derives from earlier forms including Berncestre, Burencestre, Burcester, Biciter and Bissiter; the John Speed map of 1610 shows four different spellings, and historian G. H. Dannatt found 45 variants in wills from the 17th and 18th centuries.

History

Early history

alt=Row of colourful town houses on Queen's Avenue, Bicester|thumb|Townhouses on Queen's Avenue, Bicester

Bicester lies close to the junction of two Roman roads – Akeman Street, an east–west route between St Albans and Cirencester, and a north–south route between Dorchester and Towcester, which lies under Queen's Avenue. A Roman fort at Alchester lies southwest of the town.]]

Edward Hemins was running a bell-foundry in Bicester by 1728 and remained in business until at least 1743. At least 19 of his church bells are known to survive,

The Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s largest ordnance depot at MoD Bicester is just outside the town. The depot has its own internal railway system, the Bicester Military Railway.

Geography

Bicester is in north Oxfordshire, east-northeast of Oxford, near the Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire boundaries.

Areas and suburbs

There are 5 electoral wards, North, East, South, West, and Town as defined by the town council. The areas of Bicester include:

Climate

Bicester experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.

Architecture

alt=A series of vernacular buildings either side of a narrow street|thumb|Vernacular buildings on the Causeway, Bicester

The vernacular buildings of the town have features of both the Cotswold dip slope to the northwest and the Thames Valley to the southeast. The earliest surviving buildings of the town are the medieval church of St Edburg; the vicarage of 1500 and two post Dissolution houses in the former Priory Precinct constructed from reused medieval material. These buildings are mainly grey oolitic limestone, from the Priory Quarry at Kirtlington, west on Akeman Street, some ginger lias (ironstone), from the area around Banbury, and white and bluish grey cornbrash limestone that was quarried in Crockwell and at Caversfield to the north.

Early secular buildings were box framed structures, using timber from the Bernwood Forest. Infilling of frames was of stud and lath with lime render and limewash. Others were of brick or local rubble stonework. The river valleys to the south and east of the town were the source of clay for widespread local production of brick and tile. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Page-Turners had brick fields at Wretchwick and Blackthorn which operated alongside smaller producers such as farmer George Coppock who produced bricks as a sideline.

alt=Thatched stone building in quiet, tree-lined, street|left|thumb|Thatched Building in King's End, Bicester

Local roofing materials included longstraw thatch, which persisted on older and lower status areas on houses and terraced cottages. Thatch had to be laid at pitches in excess of 50 degrees. This generated narrow and steep gables which also suited heavy limestone roofs made with Stonesfield slate or other roofing slabs from the Cotswolds. The other widespread roofing material was local red clay plain tiles. 19th century bulk transport innovations associated with canal and railway infrastructure allowed imports of blue slate from north Wales. These could be laid at much more shallow pitches on fashionable high status houses.

thumb|Bicester Library

Apart from imported slate, a striking characteristic of all of the new buildings of the early 19th century is the continued use of local vernacular materials, albeit in buildings of non-vernacular design. The new buildings were constructed alongside older wholly vernacular survivals and sometimes superficially updated with fashionable applied facades, fenestration or upper floors and roofs.

Transport

Road

The town's nearest motorway is the M40 motorway, which is served by junction 9 to the south, an interchange with the A34 towards Oxford and the A41 for Bicester and Aylesbury. Bicester has a ring road which is made up of the A41, A4095, A4421, and the newly completed Vendee Drive which forms part of the B4030.

Its flat topography and compact sizing make it well-suited to walking and cycling. Coupled with an active cycle campaign, this attracted significant focus on further developing the active travel infrastructure as part of a £14 million central government grant to Oxfordshire County Council through the 'Active Travel Fund'.

Rail

alt=Bicester North railway station showing buildings, platform, and gardens|thumb|Bicester North Railway Station, opened 1905, on the Birmingham - London line

alt=Photo of Bicester Village station, featuring a blue tiled atrium.|thumb|[[Bicester Village railway station, previously called Bicester Town railway station, re-opened on 26 October 2015 as part of the Oxford - Bicester - London Marylebone line. ]]

Bicester benefited from the Railway Mania of the 1840s. The Buckinghamshire Railway was fully opened between and on 20 May 1851, running through the eastern side of Bicester, with "a neat station at the bottom of the London road" being opened on 1 October 1850 to serve the town. Bicester's first fatal railway accident occurred at this station on 6 September 1851. Six people were killed and 18 injured. The station was renamed Bicester London Road station in March 1954 and Bicester Town station in May 1987.

The Great Western Railway sought to shorten its mainline route from London Paddington to Birmingham Snow Hill and, in 1910, opened the Bicester cut-off line through the north of the town, to complete a new fast route between the two cities and a large railway station on Buckingham Road named , which was opened on 1 July 1910. The final slip coach on the British Railways network was "slipped" at Bicester North on 10 September 1960.

The Bletchley - Oxford line was closed on 1 January 1968, but partly reopened on 11 May 1987, when a shuttle service was instituted between Bicester Town and Oxford. The line towards Bletchley remains closed. In 2011, funding for East West Rail was approved, with a plan to restore passenger services between Oxford and Bletchley via Bicester in 2017, then continuing to or . A further proposal was to extend the route through as far as and , but that did not materialise. At the end of 2017, the Department for Transport announced further government funding and a private company to build and operate the line by 2025.

Bicester has also benefited from the Chiltern Evergreen 3 project, which created a new mainline allowing trains to run from London Marylebone to Oxford via Bicester. The station was completely rebuilt and, despite objection by some local residents, renamed Bicester Village, after the large retail centre nearby. The station opened in October 2015.

The London to Birmingham line was run down in the 1970s. With the threat of partial closure, stretches of the line singled and trains rerouted into London, Marylebone. Following privatisation, Chiltern Railways was awarded the franchise. It reinstated the double track and considerably boosted the number of services, resulting in a substantial increase in patronage.

Bus

Stagecoach East route X5 links Bicester with Bedford, Milton Keynes and Oxford. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire buses link Bicester with Oxford, Banbury, Brackley, Headington, HM Prison Bullingdon and some local villages. Grayline and Diamond South East (previously Hallmark Connections) provide some local bus services, and Langston & Tasker runs a limited service between Bicester and Buckingham. In late 2022, Diamond announced that service 250 which connected Bicester with Oxford via a number of villages would cease operating on Saturday 11 February 2023. A partial replacement will be provided by new Grayline service 24 from Monday 13 February 2023.

Air

Bicester is within an hour's drive of three major airports and from Oxford Airport. Luton Airport is the nearest major airport, by road, taking around 1 hour 5 minutes. Due to the town's location beside the M40 motorway, it is a slightly shorter journey time of 51 minutes to Heathrow Airport which is away and 54 minutes to Birmingham Airport which is away. Bicester Airfield, available for private flights, is located adjacent to the town of Bicester to the north.

Governance

alt=A photo of the former hunting lodge at Garth Park in the sunshine with a green lawn in the foreground.|thumb|The Garth, a former hunting lodge, now offices of Bicester Town Council. The surrounding Garth Park is now a public park, playground, skate park, and café

There are three tiers of local government covering Bicester, at civil parish (town), district and county level: Bicester Town Council, Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council. The town council is based at The Garth on Launton Road.

Administrative history

Bicester was an ancient parish. It was subdivided into two townships, called King's End and Market End. Such townships became civil parishes in 1866. The parish historically also included Stratton Audley, which was a chapelry of Bicester until it was made a separate parish around 1455.

An attempt to establish a local government district covering the whole parish of Bicester was rejected at a public meeting in 1858. Instead, separate local government districts were established for King's End in 1859 and Market End in 1862, with each district having its own local board responsible for providing services including water supply, sewage treatment and street maintenance. The government merged the two districts into a single Bicester district in 1875. Such local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894.

In 1946, Bicester Urban District Council bought The Garth, a large 1840s house, for £6,500. The main building was converted into the council's headquarters, and the grounds were opened to the public as Garth Park. Bicester Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. District-level functions passed to the new Cherwell District Council. A successor parish called Bicester covering the area of the abolished urban district was created as part of the 1974 reforms, with its parish council adopting the name Bicester Town Council.

Schools

Bicester has three secondary schools: The Bicester School, the Cooper School, and Whitelands Academy. There are a number of primary schools including: Langford Village Primary; Glory Farm Primary School; Southwold; Brookside Primary School; St Edburg's; Five Acres; Longfields; St Mary's Primary School; King's Meadow, Bure Park Primary and Gaglebrook Primary School. The new Kingsmere development (south of Bicester) is due to create a two-form primary school.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Oxford TV transmitter.

Bicester's local radio stations are BBC Radio Oxford on 95.2 FM, Heart South on 102.6 FM, Capital Mid-Counties on 107.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South on 106.4 FM, Hits Radio Oxfordshire on 107.9 FM, and community based radio station 3Bs Radio that broadcast to the town as well as Buckingham and Brackley.

The Bicester Advertiser is the town's weekly local newspaper.

Sport and leisure

Bicester and North Oxford Cricket Club play at Akeman Street, Chesterton. It was formed in 1996 from a merger of Bicester Town, (founded in 1871) and the North Oxford Cricket Clubs which until 1929 shared the Oxford Road ground with the town's football club. As of the 2014 season, the senior teams play in the Cherwell League. Bicester Rugby Club was founded in 1947, originally playing on land provided by the King's Head pub. The club is presently based at the Akeman Street Ground. The senior teams play in the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier

Bicester Town Football Club was founded in 1896 and until the 2010–11 season played in the Hellenic League. Bicester Colts F.C. organises teams from ages 5 through to 17 at facilities based at Akeman Street, Chesterton. Bicester Blue Fins Amateur Swimming Club was established in 1950 and has been based at Bicester Leisure Centre since 1971. Bicester Blue Fins is 'SWIM 21' accredited and affiliated to the Oxfordshire & North Buckinghamshire ASA and the ASA South East Region.

The Bicester Leisure Centre, which opened in 1970, comprises a swimming pool, fitness, gym facilities and all-weather pitches. Other popular sports and pastimes include tennis, which is played at the Bicester Tennis Club based at the Garth. It is affiliated to the Oxfordshire and Thames Valleys LTAs. Lawn bowls is organised by the Bicester Bowls Club which was founded in 1862 and since 1951 has been at the Garth. There are two 18-hole golf courses, at the Bicester Hotel and Bicester Country Club. The traditional game of Aunt Sally, widespread in Oxfordshire, is popular in the town and is organised under the auspices of the Bicester and District Aunt Sally League.

Bicester Town Council provides a wide range of sport and leisure facilities for local residents and sports team on sites at Pingle Field and Sunderland Drive.

Bicester is home to the McLaren Formula E Team, and the Technology Centre for the Sauber Formula 1 team (soon to be Audi F1 Team). Racing Bulls also operate a wind tunnel facility in Bicester, however they are in the process of moving to a new facility in Milton Keynes.

Shopping

alt=Photo of historical buildings surrounding a public square|left|thumb|The Market Square, Bicester

The historic shopping streets, particularly Sheep Street and Market Square, have a range of independent and national shops together with cafés, pubs and restaurants. Sheep Street is now pedestrianised, with car parks nearby. There are weekly markets on Fridays in the town centre along with farmers' markets and an occasional French market.

thumb|upright|Part of [[Bicester Village]]

A £70 million redevelopment of the part of the town centre, originally planned to start in 2008, was delayed by the onset of the credit crunch; Sainsbury's developed the project itself, commencing in January 2009. The development, since named Pioneer Square, is now complete and opened on 9 July 2013, offering a Sainsbury's supermarket, 7 screen Vue Cinemas and many smaller retail units and restaurants such as Nando's and Prezzo. In early 2023, Cherwell District Council announced plans to pedestrianise the Market Square to create a continental style plaza.

South of Bicester, beyond Pingle Field, is discount brand outlet Bicester Village, and beyond that is Bicester Avenue Home & Garden Centre, one of the largest garden centres in the UK.

Churches

left|thumb|upright|Tower of St Edburg's Parish Church

Most churches in Bicester belong to an informal local group Churches in Bicester. This enables them to work together and share responsibilities, for example the Bicester Food Bank and the Bicester Refugee Support Group.

Member churches include: Journey Communities (Pioneers in missional church); St Edburg's Parish Church (Church of England); Emmanuel Church (Church of England, which meets in a modern building at Barberry Place); Bicester Community Church (meeting in the Salvation Army Hall); Bicester Methodist Church; The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Impact Centre; The Church of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic); Elim Lighthouse Church (Pentecostal – meeting in Bicester Methodist Church); Orchard Baptist Church (meeting in Cooper School); and the Salvation Army. Churches independent of Churches in Bicester are: Bicester Baptist Church (meeting in Southwold Community Centre); and Hebron Gospel Hall.

Future developments

alt=Photo of Eco-Houses at Elmsbrook Eco-Town, Bicester|thumb|Elmsbrook Eco Town, Bicester

Bicester is in the midst of several construction projects the most recent of these completed is the new Tesco superstore which replaces the former site in Pingle Drive. The Pingle Drive site will be used to expand the Bicester village outlet centre by an additional quarter in size.

On 1 December 2014, it was announced that Bicester had been chosen as the site for the Coalition government's second new garden city. Up to 13,000 new homes could be built in the town, as part of plans to help deal with the UK's housing shortage. The former Bicester Town railway station was reopened as Bicester Village Station, to serve the expanded population as part of rail plans previously detailed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The station will also serve the planned East West Rail Project, connecting Oxford to Cambridge, via Milton Keynes and Bedford.

alt=A selection of diverse self-build homes with a green in the foreground|thumb|Self-Build Homes, at Graven Hill, Bicester

In accordance with the award of garden town status, the 6,000 home Eco-Town development has been constructed at Elmsbrook, to the northwest of Bicester. These comprise homes constructed with high environmental standards and environmentally friendly technology such as photovoltaic electrical panels, rainwater harvesting, and district heating. The first residents moved into the Eco-Town development in May 2016.

Similarly, 1,585 homes (phase 1) and 709 homes (phase 2) have been built in the southwesterly development named Kingsmere. Cherwell District Council established a self-build neighbourhood at the former Ministry of Defence estate at Graven Hill, to the south of Bicester, delivered through a wholly owned subsidiary company, the Graven Hill Village Development Company. 1,900 homes were due to be built, the majority to be self-build homes with the intention of offering an alternative to the mass build volume units being constructed in the rest of the town. The first ten self-builders were featured on the Channel 4 television show Grand Designs: The Street. However, controversy has arisen through the company's recent decision to pivot to constructing mass build volume units itself, marketed as 'custom build', with residents complaining that the company is now delivering 'volume build, identikit, energy inefficient' units.

Twin towns

Bicester is twinned with:

  • Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, Germany
  • Czernichów, Poland
  • Essarts-en-Bocage, France

Notable residents and natives

  • Albert Freeman Africanus King, (born in a hospital) doctor who took care of Abraham Lincoln when he was shot
  • John Dunkin (1782–1846), topographer and local historian, who wrote comprehensive histories of Bicester and the surrounding villages – The History and Antiquities of Bicester and The History and Antiquities of the Hundreds of Bullingdon and Ploughley
  • Tim Harvey, racing driver and TV-commentator.
  • Jenson Button, racing driver
  • Isla St Clair, singer and broadcaster
  • Andy Gomarsall, played Rugby Union for Bicester until 1993 and for England
  • Freddie Jones, actor, died at Bicester in 2019
  • Ian Paice, drummer with rock group Deep Purple. Brought up in King's End
  • Alun Howkins, born and brought up in the town. Professor of history at Sussex University. Wrote and presented the BBC TV series Fruitful Earth
  • Sam Long, professional footballer for Oxford United
  • Loxy (drum & bass DJ, music producer, and owner of drum & bass record label, Cylon).

Arms

Notes

Sources and further reading

  • Bicester Town Council