Oxford, Oxfordshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Oxford. You may be able to find further references to Oxford in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Oxford parliamentary and municipal borough Bartholomew
OXFORD a liberty Imperial
OXFORD a city and a university Imperial
OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLVERHAMPTON RAILWAY a railway Imperial
St Aldate parish Bartholomew
St Mary the Virgin parish Bartholomew

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Oxford.

Place Type of entry Source
Osney, New Bartholomew
Summertown ecclesiastical district Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Oxford within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire 36
Karl Moritz Chapter 10: Windsor to Oxford 23
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 2: Oxford, Bristol and Gloucester 18
John Wesley 1737-8: Troubles in Georgia; Return to England 11
Karl Moritz Chapter 11: Oxford to Derbyshire 9
Celia Fiennes Buckinghamshire, Oxford and Chichester 8
Charles Wesley 1738: Around London, and Oxfordshire 7
Charles Wesley 1750: Bristol and London 7
Henry Broadhurst Blacksmith's Forge and Stonemason's Bench 6
William Cobbett Nov. 9th to 21st, 1821: Gloucester to Berghclere 6
Charles Wesley Jan. 3 - Aug. 31, 1737: Devon, and around London 6
William Camden Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincoln 5
Charles Wesley Jan. 2 - Apr. 30, 1739: London and Oxford 5
Karl Moritz Chapter 9: Richmond to Windsor 5
George Borrow Upon Plynlimmon 4
William Camden Northumberland 4
Charles Wesley Sept. 9 - Dec. 31, 1737: Oxfordshire, and down to Devon 4
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 31, 1739: Gloucestershire and Bristol 4
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 3: Berkshire and Buckinghamshire 4
Robert Gammage Chelmsford, Oxford and Nottinghamshire 4
William Gilpin London to Ross 4
Paul Hentzner A tour to Cambridge, Oxford and Windsor 4
Thomas Pennant Part II: Daventry to Northampton 4
Arthur Young 1791 Tour from Cambridgeshire to Birmingham 4
James Boswell August 14th to 17th, 1773: In Edinburgh 3
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 6, 1740: London,and then to Bristol 3
Charles Wesley 1749: Marriage to Sally Gwynne 3
John Wesley 1740-2: Preaching Incidents; Wesley's Labor Colony; Dispute with Whitefield 3
John Wesley 1751-3: Wesley's Marriage; Cornwall Smugglers; Illness and Recovery 3
Thomas Pennant Combe Abbey to Stow Nine Churches 3
Thomas Pennant Gorhambury and Verulamium 3
George Borrow Llandovery 2
James Boswell August 21st to 23rd, 1773: Montrose to Aberdeen 2
James Boswell August 27th to 31st, 1773: Forres to Glen Moriston via Inverness 2
James Boswell September 25th to October 2nd, 1773: South east Skye 2
James Boswell October 23rd to 26th, 1773: Inveraray 2
William Camden The Division of Britaine 2
William Camden Wiltshire and Hampshire 2
William Camden Berkshire, Surrey and Sussex 2
William Camden Huntingdon and Northampton 2
William Cobbett Sept. 29th to Oct. 2nd, 1826: Ryall to Burghclere 2
Charles Wesley Sept. 4 - Dec. 30, 1736: Massachusetts, and back to England 2
Charles Wesley May 17 - Aug. 28, 1743: Bristol to Newcastle, then Cornwall 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 1: London to Winchester 2
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: London to Yorkshire 2
Paul Hentzner Arrival and London 2
John Wesley 1744-5: First Methodist Conference; Pressgangs and Mobs 2
John Wesley 1771-3: Windsor Park; Wesley as Art Critic; Glasgow and Perth; Preaches to 30,000 People 2
John Wesley 1781-4: An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland; Scotland 2
Thomas Pennant Tamworth to Meriden 2
Thomas Pennant Tyringham to Woburn 2
George Borrow Around Llangollen 1
George Borrow Conversations in Llangollen 1
George Borrow Around Anglesey (1) 1
James Boswell Introduction 1
James Boswell August 18th to 20th, 1773: From Edinburgh to Montrose 1
Henry Broadhurst Introduction, by August Birrell, K.C. 1
Henry Broadhurst In Journeyings Often 1
Gerald of Wales Introduction 1
William Camden Ireland (3) 1
William Cobbett Oct. 30th to Nov. 8th, 1821: London to Berghcleere 1
Charles Wesley Mar. 9 - Aug. 30, 1736: Georgia 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 1 - Nov. 6, 1739: Preaching around Bristol and Bath 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 2 - Dec. 31, 1743: The Midlands 1
Charles Wesley May 2 - Aug. 31, 1744: Cornwall 1
Charles Wesley May 3 - Dec. 28, 1747: Wales and Ireland 1
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 31, 1748: London, Wales and Ireland 1
Charles Wesley Jan. 1 - Aug. 26, 1751: London to Bristol and the north 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 17 - Nov. 5, 1756: Midlands, Yorkshire and Manchester 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 3: From Exeter to Land's End 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 1: North Cornwall and Devon 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 3: The Court and Westminster 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 1: Middlesex, Hertford and Buckinghamshire 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 1
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 1
Celia Fiennes To Herefordshire 1
Celia Fiennes Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 1
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Exeter to London 1
Celia Fiennes Another tour of the Midlands 1
Celia Fiennes Bedfordshire 1
Paul Hentzner Westminster and Whitehall 1
John Wesley 1729-36: Wesley as a Missionary to Georgia 1
John Wesley 1739: Field-Preaching; "All the World my Parish"; Whitefield; Wales 1
John Wesley 1760-2: Letter to an Editor; Impositions and Declarations; Speaking Statue; Pentecost 1
Karl Moritz Introduction 1
Thomas Pennant Nantwich 1
Thomas Pennant Colwich to Beaudesert 1
Thomas Pennant Coventry 1
Thomas Pennant Towcester to Redborn 1
Thomas Pennant Northampton to Gothurst 1
Thomas Pennant September 5-17: Inveraray to Edinburgh 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Holywell 0 1
St Clement 0 1
Marston 0 2
Osney 6 3
Medley 0 2
Summertown 0 2
Headington 1 2
South Hinksey 0 2
North Hinksey 0 2
Binsey 0 2
Headington Quarry 0 2
Cowley 3 2
Seacourt 0 2
Iffley 0 2
Elsfield 0 2
Wolvercott 0 3
Cutteslowe 0 2
Kennington 0 2
Littlemore 3 2
Godstow 1 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Oxford. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
CAER VEMBER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAER VORTIGERN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
OXENFORD William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
OXFFORD Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
OXFORD John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
OXFORD WORCESTER AND WOLVERHAMPTON RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
OXONIUM Paul Hentzner Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (London: Cassell, 1892).
RHYD YCHEN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
SHILLINGFORD William Gilpin Observations of the River Wye, and several parts of South Wales (London: Cadell Junior and W. Davies, 1800).
ST ALDATE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
ST MARY THE VIRGIN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.