Since the mid 19th century the University Parks has been an important part of the recreational life of members of the University, residents of Oxford and visitors from around the world. However, the site between the city centre and the Cherwell River has been used for informal recreation for much longer.
The site has been settled at least from the Bronze Age, and there is archaeological evidence that it was used for ritual and funerary purposes as well as agriculture. By the Middle Ages the function of the land was primarily agricultural. It was owned by Merton College from the 13th century.
By the 17th century the land was being used for recreation. The University historian, Brian Twine, reportedly used the term ‘Newe Parkes’ for the site in 1642, and maps and drawings dating from the 18th century show both farming and recreation happening side by side.
Negotiations with the University to purchase the fields from Merton College began in 1853. Twenty acres (8 hectares) were purchased by the University in 1854 with four of these acres being designated as the site for the University Museum, which was built between 1855 and 1860.
The University soon realised that it had a significant amenity for sport and recreation, leading to the purchase of further parcels of land to enlarge the Parks.
Over the following five years a further 72 acres (29 hectares) towards the River Cherwell were bought together with the four-acre (1.5-hectare) spur towards King's Mill, on which Mesopotamia Walk was laid out in 1865.
The landscape in the 1800s looked very different from today. The meadow land adjacent to the river provided grazing for sheep and cattle (this continued until 1937) and farmland surrounded the Museum. It is possible that the only trees growing here when the land was purchased were the 190 willows, 59 elms and the one oak and one poplar which are recorded in the surveyor's report. The University Parks now has over 1,600 trees.
Gradually over the forty years from 1864 to 1902, University cricket, rugby, tennis, croquet, hockey and lacrosse clubs were given space to play in the Parks. Citizens continued to use the Parks for informal recreation.
It had been expected that the University Museum would provide sufficient teaching and laboratory space for science at the University, but the rapid expansion of the science disciplines meant that the building of new facilities was necessary. The Clarendon laboratory was built in 1868, and the new astronomical observatory, on Parks land, in 1873-75.
Encroachment into the Parks continued, with further buildings for scientific teaching and research being constructed along South Parks Road in the early 20th Century. After World War I there was even more pressure for expansion as Britain was seen to be lagging Germany in scientific development.
Building on the University Parks stopped towards the end of the 20th Century, and the boundary of the Parks is probably now fixed. It remains an important recreational open space close to the Oxford city centre, valued by both the University community and local residents.
