Name	Oxford Street
Location	Westminster, London
Road	A40
Svg	true
Direction	East-West
Start	Marble Arch
End	Tottenham Court Road
Length	1.5
Length-unit	mi
Landmarks	Selfridges, Marble Arch, Oxford Circus
Notability	Shopping
Areas	Central London }}

Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate, City of London, when it was known as Oxford Road. Today the road forms part of the A40, although, like many roads in central London which are not now intended as through traffic routes, it is not signposted with the road number.

Oxford Street runs for approximately one and a half miles (two and a half kilometres) from Marble Arch at the north east corner of Hyde Park, through Oxford Circus to St Giles Circus, at the intersection with Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road. Eastwards, the road then becomes New Oxford Street until it runs into High Holborn. Oxford Street intersects with other London roads including Park Lane, New Bond Street and Regent Street. West of Marble Arch, Oxford Street becomes Bayswater Road, then Notting Hill Gate and Holland Park Avenue until it becomes the Uxbridge Road at Shepherd's Bush Roundabout. At Uxbridge it becomes the Oxford Road again, all the way to Oxford, save for some short sections where it has been given a local name.

At Oxford Circus is the notable diagonal crossing, which opened in 2009 and is the only one of its kind in central London.

History

Oxford Street follows the route of a Roman road, the via Trinobantina, which linked Hampshire with Colchester and became one of the major routes in and out of the city.

Between the 12th century and 1782 it was variously known as Tyburn Road (after the River Tyburn that ran just to the south of it, and now flows underneath it), Uxbridge Road, Worcester Road and Oxford Road. ''Note: Today the name Uxbridge Road is still used for the portion of the London—Oxford Road between Shepherds Bush and Uxbridge itself''. It became notorious as the route taken by prisoners on their final journey from Newgate Prison to the gallows at Tyburn near Marble Arch. By about 1729, the road had become known as Oxford Street.

In the late 18th century, many of the surrounding fields were purchased by the Earl of Oxford, and the area was developed. It became popular with entertainers including bear-baiters and masquerades, and for entertainment buildings such as the Pantheon. During the 19th century, the area became known for its shops.

Oxford Street is a square on the British Monopoly board. It is part of the green set together with Regent Street and Bond Street.

Shopping

Oxford Street is home to a number of major department stores and numerous flagship stores, as well as hundreds of smaller shops. It is the biggest shopping street in central London, though not the most expensive or fashionable, and forms part of a larger shopping district with Regent Street, Bond Street and a number of other smaller nearby streets.

For many British retail chains their Oxford Street branch is regarded as their 'flagship' store. Major stores on the street include:

Selfridges, the second-largest department store in the UK and flagship of the Selfridges chain, it has been on this site for over a century

John Lewis, the third-largest department store in the UK and flagship of the John Lewis chain, opened in 1864

Marks & Spencer, the famous retailer's flagship store of , at the junction of Oxford Street and Orchard Street, is known as Marks & Spencer Marble Arch and is the company's largest store. A second branch is located between Regent Street and Tottenham Court Road and stands on the site of the famous Pantheon building. Its fine polished black granite frontage completed in 1938 was awarded Grade II Listed Building status in September 2009.

Debenhams, the flagship of the national department store chain. Originally known as Marshall & Snelgrove, the store took the name of its parent company in 1973 after the store was rebuilt. The original Debenham & Freebody store was located in nearby Wigmore Street

House of Fraser, the London flagship of the national department store chain. The store traded as D H Evans until 2000. It is located in an art-deco building completed in 1935; the first department store in the UK to include escalators serving every floor

HMV, the music retailer has three stores on the street including a concession within Selfridges and its shop at 150 Oxford Street, which is Europe's largest music shop at

New Look, features the largest shoe department and both women's and men's clothing ranges of the entire chain in the country.

Schuh, the largest shoe store on Oxford Street, with the biggest range of branded footwear in London

Topshop, claimed to be "the largest fashion store in the world"

Primark, London flagship store

Zara, London flagship store

Gap, London flagship store

Niketown, London flagship store

Common sights on Oxford Street include preachers (such as Philip Howard who was at Oxford Circus), political demonstrations (such as the 2001 May Day protests and small scale protests) and Hare Krishnas.

Transport

Oxford Street is served by the Central (which runs parallel beneath it), Jubilee, Bakerloo, Northern and Victoria London Underground lines, as well as many major bus routes.

Tube stations along Oxford Street, starting at Marble Arch (western-most):

Marble Arch

Bond Street

Oxford Circus

Tottenham Court Road

Crossrail will have two stations serving Oxford Street, at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road. Each station will be "double-ended", with exits through the existing tube station and also some distance away: to the east of Bond Street, in Hanover Square near Oxford Circus; to the west of Tottenham Court Road, in Dean Street.

Heavy congestion due to the number of stopping bus routes along Oxford Street, plus traffic crossing Oxford Street between Marylebone to the north and Mayfair and Soho to the south, led to proposals in 2006-08 from the New West End Company, the Mayor of London's office and several of the Mayoral candidates to pedestrianise Oxford Street with a tram service running end to end. However the new Mayor, Boris Johnson, elected in May 2008, announced on 6 November 2008 that the Oxford Street Tram/Transit scheme would not be progressed within the TfL Business Plan 2009/10 – 2017/18 as the scheme was unaffordable and the disruption during construction would be very substantial. In response to a request from the Mayor, Transport for London undertook to reduce the bus flow in Oxford Street by 10% in each of 2009 and 2010. In January 2009 the New West End Company had called for a 33% reduction in bus movements in Oxford Street.

Oxford Street can become congested both on the footpath, due to the high number of shoppers and tourists, and on the road as a result of the many buses routed along the street. Largely because of the diesel-engined traffic in the street (buses and taxis), annual average NO₂ concentrations on Oxford Street are around 180 micrograms per cubic metre. This is four and a half times the EU target of 40 micrograms per cubic metre (Council Directive 1999/30/EC).

Since 2004 Oxford Street has been made traffic-free on a Saturday before Christmas. In 2009 this was on Saturday 5 December, from 12 noon. It was promoted as "VIP Day", where VIP stands for Very Important Pedestrian. The promoters were the New West End Company, which represents retailers and property owners in Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street. Oxford Street was also made traffic-free on Saturday 23 May 2009, from 12 noon until 5 pm. This was the first time Oxford Street had been made traffic-free on a day in May. However the May traffic-free day was not repeated in 2010. The VIP Day before Christmas in 2010 was Saturday 27 November.

Christmas lights

Each Christmas the street is decorated with festive lights. The use of Christmas lights began in 1959, five years after its neighbour Regent Street had begun the tradition. In 1967, as the recession hit London, the lights were stopped and only returned in 1978 when Oxford Street organised a laser display.

In mid to late November a celebrity turns on the lights and they remain on until 6 January (Twelfth Night). The following celebrities have turned on the lights:

2010 — Children from Kids Company 2009 — Jim Carrey 2008 — Sugababes 2007 — Leona Lewis 2006 — All Saints 2005 — Westlife 2004 — Emma Watson, Il Divo, Steve Redgrave 2003 — Enrique Inglesias 2002 — Blue 2001 — S Club 7 2000 — Charlotte Church 1999 — Ronan Keating 1998 — Zoë Ball 1997 — Peter André 1996 — Spice Girls 1995 — Coronation Street Cast 1994 — Lenny Henry 1993 — Richard Branson 1992 — Linford Christie 1991 — Westminster Children's Hospital 1990 — Cliff Richard 1989 — Gorden Kaye 1988 — Terry Wogan 1987 — Derek Jameson 1986 — Leslie Grantham, Anita Dobson 1985 — Bob Geldof 1984 — Esther Rantzen 1983 — Pat Phoenix 1982 — Daley Thompson 1981 — Pilin Leon (Miss World, Venezuela)

See also

List of eponymous roads in London

Stanley Green

Somerset House, on the corner of Oxford Street and Park Lane

References

External links

Oxford Street's official website

Oxford Street - Mobile Shops & Restaurants Directory - Shop & Restaurant Locations on Oxford Street

Love Oxford Street Shopping Directory - Lists businesses on or near Oxford Street including bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants and shops

Oxford Street panorama

Oxford Street landscape architecture

Free Oxford Street Virtual Simulation

Oxford Street Live Webcam

London Shop Oxford St Shops

Oxford Street Website Shops and info about Oxford Street

Category:Shopping streets in London Category:Streets in Westminster

ca:Oxford Street cs:Oxford Street da:Oxford Street de:Oxford Street es:Oxford Street fa:خیابان آکسفورد fr:Oxford Street ga:Sráid Oxford gl:Oxford Street is:Oxford Street it:Oxford Street he:רחוב אוקספורד ms:Jalan Oxford nl:Oxford Street ja:オックスフォード・ストリート no:Oxford Street nn:Oxford Street pl:Oxford Street pt:Oxford Street ru:Оксфорд-стрит sk:Oxford Street fi:Oxford Street sv:Oxford Street tr:Oxford Caddesi zh:牛津街

Official name	Oxford
Native name
Nickname	"The City of Dreaming Spires"
Settlement type	City
Motto	"Fortis est veritas" ''"Truth is strength"''
Blank emblem type	Coat of arms of Oxford City Council
Map caption	Shown within Oxfordshire
Map caption1
Coordinates region	GB
Subdivision type	Sovereign state
Subdivision name	United Kingdom
Subdivision type1	Constituent country
Subdivision name1	England
Subdivision type2	Region
Subdivision name2	South East England
Subdivision type3	Ceremonial county
Subdivision name3	Oxfordshire
Subdivision type4	Admin HQ
Subdivision name4	Oxford City Centre
Government type	City
Leader title	Governing body
Leader name	Oxford City Council
Leader title1	Lord Mayor – Deputy Lord Mayor
Leader name1	Cllr John Goddard (2009–2010)
Leader title2	Sheriff of Oxford
Leader title3	Executive – Council Leader
Leader name3	Labour Cllr Bob Price
Leader title4	MPs
Leader name4	Nicola Blackwood (C)Andrew Smith (L)
Established title	Founded
Established date	8th century
Established title2	Town charter
Established title3	City status
Established date3	1542
Unit pref
Area total km2	45.59
Area land km2
Area blank1 sq mi
Population as of
Population total	(Ranked of )
Population density km2	3270
Population blank2 title	Ethnicity(2005 Estimates
Population blank2	73.0% White British9.1% Other White 5.7% South Asian3.0% Black2.9% Chinese2.7% Mixed Race1.9% Other 1.8% White Irish
Population demonym	Oxonian
Timezone	GMT
Utc offset	0
Timezone dst	BST
Utc offset dst	+1
Elevation footnotes
Elevation ft
Postal code type	Postcode
Postal code	OX
Area code	01865
Blank name	ISO 3166-2
Blank info	GB-OXF
Blank1 name	ONS code
Blank1 info	38UC
Blank2 name	OS grid reference
Blank2 info
Blank3 name	NUTS 3
Website	www.oxford.gov.uk
Footnotes	}}

Oxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre. For a distance of some along the river, in the vicinity of Oxford, the Thames is known as the Isis.

Buildings in Oxford demonstrate an example of every English architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the iconic, mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university buildings. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

History

Oxford was first settled in Saxon times, and was initially known as "Oxenaforda", meaning "Ford of the Oxen"; fords were more common than bridges at that time. It began with the foundation of an oxen crossing in the early 900 AD period. In the 10th century Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes.

Oxford was heavily damaged during the Norman Invasion of 1066. Following the conquest, the town was assigned a governor, Robert D'Oyly, who ordered the construction of Oxford Castle to confirm Norman authority over the area. The castle has never been used for military purposes and its remains survive to this day. D'Oyly set up a monastic community in the castle consisting of a chapel and living quarters for monks (''St George in the Castle''). The community never grew large but it earned its place in history as one of the oldest places of formal education in Oxford. It is there that in 1139 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his ''History of the Kings of Britain'', a compilation of Arthurian legends.

In 1191, a city charter stated in Latin,

Oxford's prestige was enhanced by its charter granted by King Henry II, granting its citizens the same privileges and exemptions as those enjoyed by the capital of the kingdom; and various important religious houses were founded in or near the city. A grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey for the Cistercian Order; and friars of various orders (Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Augustinians, and Trinitarians), all had houses at Oxford of varying importance. Parliaments were often held in the city during the 13th century. The Provisions of Oxford were instigated by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort; these documents are often regarded as England's first written constitution.

The University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. As the University took shape, friction between the hundreds of students living where and how they pleased led to a decree that all undergraduates would have to reside in approved halls. Of the hundreds of Aularian houses that sprang up across the city, only St Edmund Hall (c 1225) remains. What put an end to the halls was the emergence of colleges. Oxford's earliest colleges were University College (1249), Balliol (1263) and Merton (1264). These colleges were established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers. These writings challenged European ideology – inspiring scientific discoveries and advancements in the arts – as society began to see itself in a new way. These colleges at Oxford were supported by the Church in the hope of reconciling Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology. The relationship between "town and gown" has often been uneasy – as many as 93 students and townspeople were killed in the St Scholastica Day Riot of 1355.

The sweating sickness epidemic in 1517 was particularly devastating to Oxford and Cambridge where it killed half of both cities' populations, including many students and dons.

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford is unique in combining a college chapel and a cathedral in one foundation. Originally the Priory Church of St Frideswide, the building was extended and incorporated into the structure of the Cardinal's College shortly before its refounding as Christ Church in 1546, since when it has functioned as the cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford.

The Oxford Martyrs were tried for heresy in 1555 and subsequently burnt at the stake, on what is now Broad Street, for their religious beliefs and teachings. The three martyrs were the bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, and the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. The Martyrs' Memorial stands nearby, round the corner to the North on St. Giles.

During the English Civil War, Oxford housed the court of Charles I in 1642, after the king was expelled from London, although there was strong support in the town for the Parliamentarian cause. The town yielded to Parliamentarian forces under General Fairfax in the Siege of Oxford of 1646. It later housed the court of Charles II during the Great Plague of London in 1665–66. Although reluctant to do so, he was forced to evacuate when the plague got too close. The city suffered two serious fires in 1644 and 1671.

In 1790, the Oxford Canal connected the city with Coventry. The Duke's Cut was completed by the Duke of Marlborough in 1789 to link the new canal with the River Thames; and in 1796 the Oxford Canal company built its own link to the Thames, at Isis Lock. In 1844, the Great Western Railway linked Oxford with London via Didcot and Reading, and other rail routes soon followed.

In the 19th century, the controversy surrounding the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church drew attention to the city as a focus of theological thought.

Oxford Town Hall was built by Henry T. Hare; the foundation stone was laid on 6 July 1893 and opened by the future King Edward VII on 12 May 1897. The site has been the seat of local government since the Guild Hall of 1292 and though Oxford is a city and a Lord Mayoralty, the building is still called by its traditional name of "Town Hall".

By the early 20th century, Oxford was experiencing rapid industrial and population growth, with the printing and publishing industries becoming well established by the 1920s. Also during that decade, the economy and society of Oxford underwent a huge transformation as William Morris established the Morris Motor Company to mass produce cars in Cowley, on the south-eastern edge of the city. By the early 1970s over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the huge Morris Motors and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. By this time Oxford was a city of two halves: the university city to the west of Magdalen Bridge and the car town to the east. This led to the witticism that "Oxford is the left bank of Cowley". Cowley suffered major job losses in the 1980s and 1990s during the decline of British Leyland, but is now producing the successful New MINI for BMW on a smaller site. A large area of the original car manufacturing facility at Cowley was demolished in the 1990s and is now the site of the Oxford Business Park.

The influx of migrant labour to the car plants and hospitals, recent immigration from south Asia, and a large student population, have given Oxford a notable cosmopolitan character, especially in the Headington and Cowley Road areas with their many bars, cafes, restaurants, clubs, ethnic shops and fast food outlets. Oxford is one of the most diverse small cities in Britain with the most recent population estimates for 2005. showing that 27% of the population were from ethnic minority groups, including 16.2% from non-white ethnic minority ethnic groups (ONS). These figures do not take into account more recent international migration into the city, with over 10,000 people from overseas registering for National Insurance Numbers in Oxford in 2005/06 and 2006/07.

After his failure at the 1952 Olympics, Bannister spent two months deciding whether to give up running. He set himself on a new goal: To be the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. On 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister, a 25 year old medical student, ran the first authenticated four-minute mile at the Iffley Road running track in Oxford. Although he had previously studied at Oxford University, Bannister was studying at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London at the time.

Oxford's second university, Oxford Brookes University, formerly the Oxford School of Art, then Oxford Polytechnic, based at Headington Hill, was given its charter in 1991 and has been voted for the last ten years the best new university in the UK. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Henry Brookes.

Geography

Oxford's latitude and longitude are or (at Carfax Tower, which is usually considered the centre).

Location

Climate

Oxford has a maritime temperate climate ("''Cfb''" by the Köppen system). Precipitation is uniformly distributed throughout the year and is provided mostly by weather systems that arrive from the Atlantic. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Oxford was in January 1982. The highest temperature ever recorded in Oxford is in August 2003 during the 2003 European heat wave.

There is a field of thought that due to climate change, temperatures are increasing in Oxford, precipitation is decreasing in summer and increasing in winter.

The average conditions below are from the Radcliffe Meteorological Station. It boasts the longest series of temperature and rainfall records for one site in Britain. These records are continuous from January, 1815. Irregular observations of rainfall, cloud and temperature exist from 1767.

Economy

The Oxford suburb of Cowley has a long history of carmaking and now produces the BMW MINI.

Brewing

There is a long history of brewing in Oxford. Several of the colleges had private breweries, one of which, at Brasenose, survived until 1889. In the 16th century brewing and malting appear to have been the most popular trades in the city. There were breweries in Brewers Street and Paradise Street, near the Castle Mill Stream.

The development of Oxford's railway links after the 1840s and the rapid expansion of Oxford supported expansion of the brewing trade in Oxford. As well as expanding the market for Oxford's brewers, railways enabled brewers further from the city to compete for a share of its market. By 1874 there were nine breweries in Oxford and 13 brewers' agents in Oxford shipping beer in from elsewhere. The nine breweries were: Flowers & Co in Cowley Road, Hall's St Giles Brewery, Hall's Swan Brewery (see below), Hanley's City Brewery in Queen Street, Le Mills's Brewery in St. Ebbes, Morrell's Lion Brewery in St Thomas Street (see below), Simonds's Brewery in Queen Street, Weaving's Eagle Brewery (by 1869 the Eagle Steam Brewery) in Park End Street and Wootten and Cole's St. Clement's Brewery.

The Swan's Nest Brewery, later the Swan Brewery, was established by the early 18th century in Paradise Street, and in 1795 was acquired by William Hall. The brewery became known as Hall's Oxford Brewery, which acquired other local breweries. Hall's Brewery was acquired by Samuel Allsopp & Sons in 1926, after which it ceased brewing in Oxford.

Morrell's, the Oxford based regional brewery was founded in 1743 by Richard Tawney. He formed a partnership in 1782 with Mark and James Morrell, who eventually became the owners. After an acrimonious family dispute this much-loved brewery was closed in 1998, the beer brand names being taken over by the Thomas Hardy Burtonwood brewery, while the 132 tied pubs were bought by Michael Cannon, owner of the American hamburger chain Fuddruckers, through a new company, Morrells of Oxford. The new owners sold most of the pubs on to Greene King in 2002. The Lion Brewery was converted into luxury apartments in 2002.

Bellfounding

The Taylor family of Loughborough had a bell-foundry in Oxford between 1786 and 1854.

Shopping

Broad Street

Clarendon Shopping Centre

Cornmarket Street

George Street

Golden Cross

The High Street

Little Clarendon Street

Queen Street, Oxford

The Covered Market

Turl Street

Westgate Shopping Centre

Oxford Castle

Gloucester Green

Outside the City Centre:

Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford

Botley Road, Oxford

Cowley Retail Park, Cowley, Oxford

Cowley Road, Oxford

Iffley Road, Oxford

London Road, Headington, Oxford

North Parade, Oxford

St Clement's, Oxford

Templars Square shopping centre, Cowley, Oxford

Walton Street, Jericho, Oxford

New Botley

Theatres and cinemas

Burton Taylor Theatre, Worcester Street

New Theatre, George Street

Odeon Cinema, George Street

Odeon Cinema, Magdalen Street

Old Fire Station Theatre, George Street

Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street

Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road

O'Reilly Theatre, Blackhall Road

Phoenix Picturehouse, Walton Street

Ultimate Picture Palace, Cowley Road

Vue Cinema, Grenoble Road

Landmarks

Oxford has numerous major tourist attractions, many belonging to the university and colleges. As well as several famous institutions, the town centre is home to Carfax Tower and the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, both of which offer views over the spires of the city. Many tourists shop at the historic Covered Market. In the summer punting on the Thames/Isis and the Cherwell is popular.

The University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is one of the most famous universities in the world, and leading academics come to Oxford from all over the world.

The city centre

As well as being a major draw for tourists (9.1 million in 2008, similar in 2009), Oxford city centre has many shops, several theatres, and an ice rink. The historic buildings make this location a popular target for film and TV crews.

The city centre is relatively small, and is centred on Carfax, a cross-roads which forms the junction of Cornmarket Street (pedestrianised), Queen Street (semi-pedestrianised), St Aldate's and The High. Cornmarket Street and Queen Street are home to Oxford's various chain stores, as well as a small number of independent retailers, one of the longest established of which is Boswells, which was founded in 1738. St Aldate's has few shops but has several local government buildings, including the Town Hall, the city police station and local council offices. The High (the word ''street'' is traditionally omitted) is the longest of the four streets and has a number of independent and high-end chain stores, but mostly University and College buildings.

There are two small shopping centres in the city centre: The Clarendon Centre and The Westgate Centre. The Westgate Centre is named for the original West Gate in the city wall, and is located at the west end of Queen Street. It is quite small and contains a number of chain stores and a supermarket. The Westgate Shopping Centre is to undergo a large and controversial refurbishment; the plans involve tripling the size of the centre to , a new 1,335 space underground car park and 90 new shops and bars, including a John Lewis department store. There is to be a new and improved transport system, a complete refurbishment of the existing centre and the surrounding Bonn Square area. The development plans include a number of new homes, and completion is expected in 2011, although this is being delayed due to the current financial climate.

Blackwell's Bookshop is a large bookshop which claims the largest single room devoted to book sales in the whole of Europe, the cavernous Norrington Room (10,000 sq ft).

Other attractions

Ashmolean Museum

Bodleian Library

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

The Headington Shark

Modern Art Oxford

Museum of the History of Science

Oxford Botanic Garden

Pitt Rivers Museum

Sheldonian Theatre

St. Mary The Virgin Church

Parks and nature walks

Oxford is a very green city, with several parks and nature walks within the ring road, as well as several sites just outside the ring road. In total, 28 Nature Reserves exist within or just outside of Oxford ring road, including:

University Parks

Mesopotamia

Rock Edge Nature Reserve

Lye Valley

South Parks

C. S. Lewis Nature Reserve

Shotover Nature Reserve

Port Meadow

Urban redevelopment

The Westgate redevelopment is just part of a wider scheme proposed by the city council. This scheme includes a total redesign of the centre of Oxford to "pedestrianise" the city. The scheme, entitled Transform Oxford, is only a blueprint for public consultation at this stage, but county council officials are confident it will go ahead.

One of the key elements is the pedestrianisation of Queen Street, with bus stops removed next summer to make way for the eventual complete removal of buses from the street.

Pedestrianisation schemes in George Street and Magdalen Street should follow in the summer of 2010, with the removal of traffic from Broad Street the same year a possibility.

In 2011, highways engineers plan to remodel the Frideswide Square junctions near the railway station, removing traffic lights and introducing roundabouts to improve the traffic flow.

Transport

Air

In addition to the larger airports in the region, Oxford is served by nearby London Oxford Airport, in Kidlington. The airport is also home to Oxford Aviation Academy, an airline pilot flight training centre, and several private jet companies.

Buses

The bus services are mainly provided by the Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach Oxfordshire. Other operators include Thames Travel, Arriva Shires & Essex and several smaller companies.

Oxford has 5 park and ride sites with bus links to the city centre:

Pear Tree (bus 300)

Redbridge (bus 300)

Seacourt (bus 400)

Thornhill (bus 400)

Water Eaton (bus 500)

There are also bus services to the John Radcliffe Hospital (from Thornhill/Water Eaton) and to the Churchill and Nuffield Hospitals (from Thornhill).

Hybrid buses, which use battery power with a small diesel generator, began to be used in Oxford on 15 July 2010, on Stagecoach Oxfordshire's Route 1 (Cowley, Blackbird Leys), followed by other routes.

Coach

The Oxford to London coach route offers a frequent coach service to London. The Oxford Espress [sic] is operated by the Oxford Bus Company. Oxford Tube is operated by Stagecoach Oxfordshire. The Oxford Bus Company also runs the Airline services to Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

There is a bus station at Gloucester Green, used mainly by the London and airport buses, National Express coaches, and other long-distance buses including route X5 to Cambridge.

Rail

In 1844, the Great Western Railway linked Oxford with London (Paddington) via and ; in 1851, the London and North Western Railway opened their own route from Oxford to London (Euston), via Bicester, and Watford; and in 1864 a third route, also to Paddington, running via , and , was provided; this was shortened in 1906 by the opening of a direct route between High Wycombe and London (Paddington) via . The distance from Oxford to London was via Bletchley; via Didcot and Reading; via Thame and Maidenhead; and via Denham. Of these, only the original route via Didcot is still in use for its full length, although portions of each of the others remain.

There were also routes to the north and west. The line to was opened in 1850, and was extended to Birmingham in 1852; a route to Worcester opened in 1853. A branch to Witney was opened in 1862, which was extended to in 1873. The line to Witney and Fairford closed in 1962, but the others remain open.

Oxford has had three main railway stations. The first was opened at Grandpont in 1844, but this was a terminus, inconvenient for routes to the north; it was replaced by the present station on Park End Street in 1852 with the opening of the Birmingham route. Another terminus, at Rewley Road, was opened in 1851 to serve the Bletchley route; this station closed in 1951. There have also been a number of local railway stations, all of which are now closed.

Oxford railway station is half a mile (about 1 km) west of the city centre. The station is served by numerous routes, including CrossCountry services to as far away as Manchester and Edinburgh, First Great Western (who operate the station) services to London and other destinations and occasional Chiltern Railways services to Birmingham. The present station opened in 1852. Oxford is the junction for a short branch line to Bicester, which is being extended to form the East-West Rail Link to Milton Keynes, providing a passenger route avoiding London.

River and canal

Oxford was historically an important port on the River Thames, with this section of the river being called The Isis; the Oxford-Burcot Commission in the 17th century attempted to improve navigation to Oxford. Iffley Lock and Osney Lock lie within the bounds of the city. In the eighteenth century the Oxford Canal was built to connect Oxford with the Midlands.

Commercial traffic has given way to recreational use of the river and canal. Oxford was the original base of Salters Steamers and there is a regular service from Folly Bridge downstream to Abingdon and beyond.

Roads

A roads

The city has a ring road that consists of the A34, the A40, A4142 and the A423. It is mostly dual carriageway and was completed in 1966.

The main roads that lead out of Oxford are: A34 – which leads to Bicester, the M40 north, Birmingham and Manchester to the north (although since the M40's completion it has disappeared north of Oxford and only re-emerged some northwards at Solihull), and Didcot, Newbury and Winchester to the south. Since the completion of the Newbury by-pass in 1998, the A34 has been entirely grade separated dual carriageway all the way from Bicester to Winchester.

A40 – which leads to London and High Wycombe (as well as the M40 motorway south) to the east, and Cheltenham, Gloucester and south Wales to the west.

A44 – which begins in Oxford and leads to Worcester, Hereford and Aberystwyth.

A420 – which also begins in Oxford and leads to Bristol passing Swindon and Chippenham.

Motorway

The city is served by the M40 motorway, which connects London to Birmingham. The M40 approached Oxford in 1974 (the first section through Buckinghamshire opened in 1967) and went from London to Waterstock where the A40 continued to Oxford. When the M40 extension to Birmingham was completed in January 1991, a mile of the old motorway became a spur as the extension curved sharply north. The M40 comes no closer than away from the city centre, curving to the east of Otmoor. The M40 meets the A34 to the north of Oxford, the latter now being in two parts, the A34 restarting near Solihull, while the A41 (which previous passed through Banbury and Warwick) restarts in the same area.

Education

There are two universities in Oxford; the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University as well as Ruskin College.

Oxford is home to wide range of schools many of which receive pupils from around the world. Three are University choral foundations, established to educate the boy choristers of the chapel choirs, and have kept the tradition of single sex education. Examination results in state-run Oxford schools are consistently below the national average and regional average. However, results in the city are improving with 44% of pupils gaining 5 grades A*-C in 2006.

Media

As well as the BBC national radio stations, Oxford and the surrounding area has several local stations, including BBC Oxford, Heart Thames Valley, Glide FM and Jack FM on 106.8 along with Oxide: Oxford Student Radio (which went on terrestrial radio at 87.7 MHz FM in late May 2005). A local TV station, Six TV: The Oxford Channel was also available but closed in April 2009. The city is home to a BBC TV newsroom which produces an opt-out from the main ''South Today'' programme broadcast from Southampton.

Popular local papers include ''The Oxford Times'' (compact; weekly), its sister papers ''The Oxford Mail'' (tabloid; daily) and ''The Oxford Star'' (tabloid; free and delivered), and ''Oxford Journal'' (tabloid; weekly free pick-up). Oxford is also home to several advertising agencies.

''Daily Information'' (known locally as Daily Info) is an events and advertising news sheet which has been published since 1964 and now provides a connected website.

''Nightshift'' is a monthly local free magazine that has covered the Oxford music scene since 1991.

Recently (2003) DIY grassroots non-corporate media has begun to spread. Independent and community newspapers include the ''Jericho Echo'' and ''Oxford Prospect''.

Culture

Literature and film

Well-known Oxford-based authors include:

Oscar Wilde a nineteenth century poet and author who attended Oxford from 1874 to 1878.

John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir attended Brasenose College. Best known for his ''The Thirty-nine Steps'', authored 32 novels and many more volumes of history, poetry and essays.

Susan Cooper who is best known for her The Dark Is Rising Sequence

Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), Student and Mathematical Lecturer of Christ Church.

Colin Dexter who wrote and set his Inspector Morse detective novels in Oxford. Colin Dexter still lives in Oxford.

John Donaldson (d.1989), a poet resident in Oxford in later life.

Siobhan Dowd Oxford resident; who was an undergraduate at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

Kenneth Grahame educated at St. Edward's School, Oxford

Michael Innes (J. I. M. Stewart), of Christ Church.

P. D. James who lives part-time in Oxford.

T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia", Oxford resident, undergraduate at Jesus, postgraduate at Magdalen.

C. S. Lewis, Fellow of Magdalen.

Alex Ryan, formerly an Oxford resident for many years.

Iris Murdoch, Fellow of St Anne's.

Iain Pears, undergraduate at Wadham College and Oxford resident, whose novel ''An Instance of the Fingerpost'' is set in the city.

Philip Pullman who was an undergraduate at Exeter.

Dorothy L. Sayers who was an undergraduate at Somerville.

J. R. R. Tolkien, undergraduate at Exeter and later professor of English at Merton

John Wain, undergraduate at St John's and later Professor of Poetry at Oxford University 1973–78

Charles Williams, editor at Oxford University Press.

Brian Aldiss who lives in Oxford.

Oxford appears in the following works:

"The Scarlet Pimpernel"

"Harry Potter" (all the films to date)

''Jude the Obscure'' (1895) by Thomas Hardy (in which Oxford is thinly disguised as "Christminster").

''Zuleika Dobson'' (1911) by Max Beerbohm.

''Gaudy Night'' (1935) by Dorothy L. Sayers.

''Brideshead Revisited'' (1945) by Evelyn Waugh.

''A Question of Upbringing'' (1951 ) by Anthony Powell

''Second Generation (1964 novel)'' by Raymond Williams

''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (1985) by Steven Spielberg

''Where The Rivers Meet'' (1988) trilogy set in Oxford by John Wain

''All Souls'' (1989) by Javier Marías

''The Children of Men'' (1992) by P. D. James.

''Doomsday Book'' (1992) by Connie Willis

''His Dark Materials'' (1995 onwards) by Philip Pullman

"Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997)

"The Saint" (1997)

"102 Dalmatians" (2000)

''Endymion Spring'' (2006) by Matthew Skelton

''Here, There Be Dragons'' (2006) and the rest of the ''The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica'' by James A. Owen

''The Oxford Murders'' (2008)

''The Oxford Virus'' (2010) by Adam Kolczynski

''Mr. Nice'' (2010) The story of Howard Marks

Music

Oxford, and its surrounding towns and villages, have produced many successful bands and musicians. The most notable Oxford act is Radiohead, who hail from nearby Abingdon, though other well known local bands include Supergrass, Ride, Swervedriver, Talulah Gosh and more recently, Young Knives, Foals and Stornoway. These and many other bands from over 30 years of the Oxford music scene's history feature in the documentary film Anyone Can Play Guitar.

In 1997, Oxford played host to Radio 1's Sound City, with acts such as Bentley Rhythm Ace, Embrace, Spiritualized and DJ Shadow playing in various venues around the city.

Sport

Oxford United are currently in League Two, the fourth tier of league football, and have enjoyed great success in the past in the upper reaches of the football league. They were elected to the Football League in 1962, reached the Third Division after three years and the Second Division after six, and most notably reached the First Division in 1985 – a mere 23 years after joining the Football League. They spent three seasons in the top flight, winning the Football League Cup a year after promotion. The next 18 years saw them decline gradually (though a brief respite in 1996 saw them win promotion to the new (post Premier League) Division One in 1996 and stay there for three years. They suffered relegation to the Football Conference in 2006, staying there for four seasons before returning to the Football League in 2010. They play at the Kassam Stadium (named after former chairman Firoz Kassam), which is situated near the Blackbird Leys housing estate and has been their home since relocation from the Manor Ground in 2001.

Oxford City F.C. is a semi-professional football club, separate from Oxford United. It plays in the Southern Football League Premier Division. Oxford Harlequins RFC is the city's main rugby team and plays in the National 3 South West league.

Oxford Cheetahs motorcycle speedway team has raced at Cowley Stadium on and off since 1939. The Cheetahs competed in the Speedway Elite League and then the Speedway Conference League until 2007, when stadium landlords Greyhound Racing Association apparently doubled the rent. Speedway is not currently running in Oxford.

There are several field hockey clubs based in Oxford. The Oxford Hockey Club (formed after a merger of City of Oxford HC and Rover Oxford HC in 2011) plays most of its home games on the pitch at Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, and also uses the pitches at Headington Girls' School and Iffley Road. Oxford Hawks play at Banbury Road North, by Cutteslow Park to the north of the city.

Oxford City Stars is the local Ice Hockey Team which plays at Oxford Ice Rink. There is a senior/adults’ team and a junior/children’s team.

Oxford is also home to the Oxford City Rowing Club which is situated near Donnington Bridge.

International relations

Oxford is twinned with:

	* Bonn, Germany	* Grenoble, France	* Leiden, Netherlands		León, Nicaragua>León, Nicaragua	* Perm, Russia	* Umeå, Sweden	* Saskatoon, Canada

See also

Bishop of Oxford

Earl of Oxford

List of Oxford architects

Oxfam

Oxford bags

Oxford comma

Gallery

References

;Notes

;Bibliography

;Further reading

External links

Oxford – 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article

Oxford City Council official website

Oxford From Above BBC program

Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English) Category:Cities in South East England Category:County towns in England *Oxford Category:Local authorities adjoining the River Thames Category:Local government in Oxfordshire Category:Populated places established in the 8th century *Oxford Category:University towns in the United Kingdom Category:Non-metropolitan districts of Oxfordshire Category:Local government districts of South East England

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honorific-prefix	The Reverend and Honourable
name	Fred Nile
honorific-suffix	MLC
office	Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales
term start	1981
office2	Assistant President of the NSW Legislative Council
term start2	March 2007
predecessor2	New position
birth date	15 September 1934
birth place	Kings Cross,New South Wales
party	Christian Democratic Party
nationality	Australian
spouse	Elaine Nile
children	3 (m); 1 (f)
occupation	Clergyman
religion	Christianity
footnotes	}}

Frederick John "Fred" Nile (born 15 September 1934), is an Australian politician and clergyman. Nile has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1981, except for a period in 2004 when he resigned to contest (unsuccessfully) the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election. Nile was re-elected for another term at the March 2007 state election and is currently Assistant President of the Legislative Council. As the longest-serving member of the New South Wales parliament, he holds the unofficial position of Father of the House and has announced his decision to retire in 2015.

Early life

Nile was born in Kings Cross, New South Wales and was educated at Mascot Public and Cleveland Street High School (1940–1949). In 1952, during the Korean War, he (then only 17) volunteered to join the Australian Army where he served until 1953. He then transferred to the CMF / reserves and reached the rank of Major. OC., D Coy, 4 RNSW Regt, Merrylands before retiring in 1972. Nile attended the Congregational Theological College; the Melbourne College of Divinity; the United Faculty of Theology; the University of Sydney (Adult Matriculation) and the University of New England. He also attended lectures (MA Politics) at Macquarie University but did not complete his degree except for the Theological Tertiary Course (L.Th).

Pre-political career

In 1964 he was ordained as a Congregational minister.

From 1964 to 1967, Nile was National Director of the Australian Christian Endeavour Movement, a Protestant youth leadership training organisation. In 1967-68 he was Assistant Director of the Billy Graham Crusade in Sydney before being employed as Director of the Congregational Board of Evangelism in New South Wales. In 1970-71, he was involved in social work as Director of the Methodist Mission to the People of New South Wales and, from 1971 to 1973, was Director of Outreach and Evangelism, Sydney City Wesley Central Methodist Mission.

In 1974, Nile was elected national co-ordinator and the New South Wales director of the Australian Federation of Festival of Light - Community Standards Organisation (FOL-CSO), an organisation which campaigned "for purity, love and family life".

Nile has been married since 1958 to Elaine Nile, who was a member of the Legislative Council for 14 years. They have three sons and a daughter.

Career

Nile is National President of the Christian Democratic Party, a conservative party which focuses primarily on what it regards as important moral and social issues. Nile is noted for his controversial comments. He is known for his vocal opposition to drug use, violence against women and children and the "mistreatment of the Aboriginal community" by state and federal governments. He is most often quoted by the media on issues relating to pornography, abortion and homosexuality.

In 2003 Nile resigned from the Uniting Church in Australia when that church "officially decided to part with a literal interpretation of the Judeo-Christian Bible". He is the president of the Fellowship of Congregational Churches, a group of Australian Congregationalists who declined to join the Uniting Church in 1977. In 2007 Nile retired as the New South Wales director of the Australian Federation of Festival of Light.

At the 2007 New South Wales general election, Nile was returned for a further eight year term and was appointed by Labor to the newly created position of Assistant President of the NSW Legislative Council. In 2009, Nile announced that he will not recontest when his seat in the Legislative Council is next up for election in 2015.

Nile is patron of the Australian Christian Nation Association and Vice President of the Australian Christian Endeavour Union, an evangelical youth movement.

Views

On homosexuality

Nile is opposed to homosexuality. Whilst Nile has stated that he did not have a problem with homosexual people only their practices, he contends that homosexuality was a “lifestyle choice” that was “immoral, unnatural and abnormal” to the natural order of life. Nile has also stated that he was “totally opposed to the bashing of homosexuals...totally opposed to any violence or attacks directed against homosexual men or lesbians ... opposed to strong (malicious) verbal attacks.”

Nile has opposed the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which he described as a "public parade of immorality and blasphemy". Nile objected to the supposed "indecency and obscenity in various parts of the Mardi Gras" and stated that it reinforced "the worst stereotypes".

In 2005, Nile called for the repealing of New South Wales anti-vilification law, claiming that the law is discriminatory and should either cover all citizens or be abolished. Nile claimed that the Homosexual Vilification Act was being abused to gag free speech and prevent open non-malicious public discussion.".

Following a 2011 announcement by Penny Wong, a Labor Party federal government minister, that her same-sex partner was pregnant, Nile publicly denounced Wong's actions, saying "I'm totally against a baby being brought up by two mothers," and "She needn't have made it public. It just promotes their lesbian lifestyle and trying to make it natural where it's unnatural."

On the Australian Greens political party

Nile is a frequent critic of the Australian Greens, claiming that they have exploited genuine concern for the environment to garner political influence to "push their agenda of social engineering". Nile has criticised the Greens party for what he calls "duplicite political expediency", citing their push to legalise and fund "illicit drug habits for addicts" such as heroin and cannabis in what he claims is contravention of publicised Green Party policy. Nile has also labelled the Greens as being "anti-family", "anti-Christian" and "pagan", citing what he believes to be pro-pornography and pro-sex industry policies and their opposition to the current practice of opening parliament with daily prayers.

Nile once described the Green Party as the "watermelon party - green on the outside but red on the inside, with a bit of a pink tinge.".

On the Muslim community

Following the Moscow theatre hostage crisis in 2002 Nile asked whether the then state minister of police would consider banning full body coverings like those worn by the Chechen terrorists, from parliament and places of public gathering to prevent the carriage of weapons or explosive devices. On 23 June 2010 Nile introduced a bill into the Legislative Council to criminalise the public wearing of any face covering which prevents the identification of the wearer, including the burqa and niqab.

On 10 March 2007 Nile raised concern that Australian embassy officials posted in Islamic nations were favouring the immigration of Muslim over Christian refugees. Nile called for a moratorium on Muslim immigration to Australia: "Australians deserve a breathing space so the situation can be carefully assessed," he told an audience in North Ryde.

Nile asked for the removal of the then Australian Muslim leader Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly after the sheik placed the blame for sexual assault on the female victims.

In December 2007 Nile raised concerns about the construction of a Muslim school in the Sydney suburb of Camden and was invited to attend many events opposing the school.

As a consequence of Nile's public position on Muslim immigration, he has received widespread condemnation and alleged death threats from individuals within the Islamic community.

On neo-pagans

Nile is openly opposed to Australian neopagans, having said that the Christian Democrats would "do what it can to stop pagan weddings and witchcraft or Wicca activities."

On ethics classes in government schools

Ethics classes were introduced by the Keneally Labor government as an alternative for children who did not want to attend traditional scripture classes. Prior to the 2011 state election, Barry O'Farrell made a pre-election pledge of not scrapping the ethics classes. Following the election, Nile, who was vehmently opposed to the ethics classes, introduced a private members bill proposing the abolition of the classes at the end of the 2011 calendar year. Debate on the bill has been ajourned until 16 September. Meanwhile, in introducing his bill into the Legislative Council, Nile gained headlines by arguing that the ethics course is based on a philosophy linked to Nazism and communism.

Parliament activities

Nile served on the New South Wales' Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Issues (1988–1995), facilitating legislative reforms on adoption laws, drug abuse amongst youth, rape rates and pornography, domestic violence, youth violence, youth rural suicides, compensation for medically acquired AIDS/HIV victims, juvenile justice, births, deaths and marriage records.

Nile has also served on the New South Wales' Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, the New South Wales' Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform, the Parliamentary Select Committee into Firearms, the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee into the Management of Parliament, as Chairman of the Cross City Tunnel Inquiry and Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on the Royal North Shore Hospital.

Nile currently serves as:

Assistant President of the New South Wales' Legislative Council

Chairman of the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 1

Chairman of the Select Committee on Electoral and Political Party Funding

Member of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption

Member of the Committee on the Health Care Complaints Commission

Member of the Legislative Council Procedure Committee

Member of the Committee on Children and Young People

Member of the Standing Committee on State Development

Member of the Privileges Committee

Pornography investigation

On 1 September 2010 Andrew Clennell from ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Nile had personally accessed pornography hundreds of thousands of times over a six month period. Nile denied the allegations but admitted that sites with adult content had been accessed by staff as part of his work.

Clennell cited an unnamed source in claiming that Nile had over 200,000 hits to pornographic websites on his personal computer login. A subsequent parliamentary investigation found that there was no evidence of pornographic material being accessed through Nile's login. Nile restated his position in a press release on 2 September 2010, claiming that he had not accessed adult material but that, "unsurprisingly", his staff had as part of his work, including:

monitoring adult material within computer games, print and film media,

research on the Australian Sex Party, Eros Foundation and affiliates,

assessing the effectiveness of internet filters,

the circumvention of Federal and State law by Australian commercial entities that use international shelf companies and hosting IPs to sell prohibited pornographic material,

research for Nile's private members bill ''Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Amendment (Banning Possession of Restricted Material) Bill 2010''

Amanda Fazio, then President of the New South Wales Legislative Council, issued a statement that raw IT data had been accessed by an unauthorised "rogue employee" who had then spoken directly to media. Fazio stated that the data was inherently flawed as 98% of web hits flagged as "adult material" were due to pop-ups and news sites such as that of the Sydney Morning Herald. Unauthorised access and use of parliamentary data is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.

See also

Christian Democratic Party (Australia)

Fellowship of Congregational Churches

Congregational Federation of Australia

Uniting Church in Australia

References

Bibliography

''Fred Nile: A Biography'' Sydney: Strand: 2001: ISBN 1876825790

External links

Official website

Category:1934 births Category:Australian Army soldiers Category:Living people Category:Christian Democratic Party (Australia) politicians Category:People from Sydney Category:Australian monarchists Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Category:Australian Congregationalist clergy Category:20th-century Congregationalist clergy

name	Kate Moss
birth date	January 16, 1974
birth place	Addiscombe, Croydon, London, England
occupation	Model
height	5 ft 7.5 in (1.72 m)
haircolour	Brown
eyecolour	Hazel
dress size	UK 6 – US 2 – EU 34
shoesize	UK 6.5 – US 9 – EU 39
agency	Storm Model ManagementD'management GroupMarilyn Model AgencyIMG Models
spouse
website	}}

Kate Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model who is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on eating disorders, and her role in size zero fashion. In 2007, she came 2nd on the ''Forbes'' top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $9 million in one year.

Early life

Moss was born in Addiscombe, Croydon, London to Linda Rosina (Shepherd), a barmaid, and Peter Edward Moss, a travel agent. Kate has a younger brother named Nick and a half-sister named Lottie (Charlotte) and half-brother. Moss' parents divorced when she was 13. She attended Ridgeway Primary School and Riddlesdown Collegiate, but most commonly known as Riddlesdown High School, in Purley. She was not noted for her academic success but she did excel at sports.

Career

Moss was discovered in 1988 at the age of 14 by Sarah Doukas, the founder of Storm Model Management, at JFK Airport in New York City, after a holiday in the Bahamas. Moss's career began when Corinne Day shot black-and-white photographs of her, styled by Melanie Ward, for British magazine ''The Face'' when she was 16, in a photo shoot titled "The 3rd Summer of Love". Moss then went on to become the "anti-supermodel" of the 1990s in contrast to the "supermodels" of the moment, such as Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell, who were known for their curvaceous and tall figures.

Moss was voted 9th in ''Maxim'''s "50 Sexiest Women of 1999" and 22nd in ''FHM''s "100 Sexiest Women of 1995". Men's magazine ''Arena'' named her as their Sexiest Woman in their 150th issue. She was presented on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American ''Vogue'' as one of the "Modern Muses". In March 2007, Moss won the ''Sexiest Woman'' NME Award. She made her first appearance in the British women's ''Sunday Times Rich List'' in 2007, where she was estimated to be worth £45 million. She ranked as the 99th richest woman in Britain. In the 2009 Rich List, she was ranked as the 1,348th richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £40 million.

In July 2007, earning an estimated total of $9 million in the past 12 months, ''Forbes'' magazine named her second on the list of the World's 15 top-earning models list.

Style

Moss ushered in the heroin chic look in 1993 (which prompted much speculation over her weight) with a highly publicised campaign for Calvin Klein. Her depiction in photographs also drew criticism from then-President of the United States Bill Clinton, who spoke out against the growing heroin chic trend. When questioned about her weight, Moss commented, "It was just the time. It was a swing from more buxom girls like Cindy Crawford and people were shocked to see what they called a 'waif'. What can you say? How many times can you say 'I'm not anorexic'?"

In addition to being known for her modelling work, Kate Moss is also an international fashion icon. She has garnered many awards for her style, including the Council of Fashion Designers of America's fashion influence award and a place on the ''Vanity Fair'' international best-dressed list. In the early part of the 21st century, she was, together with actress Sienna Miller, one of the main proponents of boho-chic. She appeared on the cover of ''Vanity Fair''s September 2006 style issue. In recent years, she has popularised denim cutoff shorts, Ugg boots, ballet flats, Vivienne Westwood Pirate Boots, skinny jeans, waistcoat, Alexander McQueen's skull scarf, Louis Vuitton's Sprouse Leopard Cashmere Scarf, and the Balenciaga handbag.

In 2008, Moss was added to PETA's 'Worst-Dressed' Celebrities of 2008' because of her frequent use of fur.

Campaigns

Moss has had campaigns with major Italian, French, American, and British designers including Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Rimmel, and Bulgari. She has been featured in fashion spreads in most major fashion magazines including UK, US, and French ''Vogue'' magazines (as well as other international versions of ''Vogue''), ''Another Man'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''the Face'', and ''W''. Moss has appeared on the cover of British ''Vogue'' 30 times, in addition to dozens of other international ''Vogue'' covers, and has been featured on the cover of 17 issues of ''W'', including one issue with nine different covers that featured the model. ''W'' even names Moss its muse (September 2003 issue). She has worked with the most well-known photographers in the fashion industry, such as Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein, Juergen Teller, and Peter Lindbergh, and won the prestigious ''Vogue''/CFDA award from the Fashion Designers of America in July 2005 as Fashion Inspiration.

April 2005 saw the launch of the Rimmel London mascara TV ad featuring a leather-clad Kate Moss riding a motorbike through London to the sound of the rock song "Another Cold Beer" by Steven Crayn, an advertising campaign that is still running.

Twelve months after her cocaine scandal, Moss made a comeback by bagging 18 top modelling contracts for the Autumn/Winter 2006 season including Rimmel, Agent Provocateur, Virgin Mobile, Calvin Klein Jeans and Burberry. Moss designed a collection, in collaboration with Katy England, for Topshop. Moss launched a fragrance and body lotion range bearing her name in association with Coty in 2007.

According to ''Forbes'', Moss has earned more money since her cocaine scandal than ever before: her 2004–2005 earnings were $5 million and her 2005–2006 earnings were $8 million. In 2007, with estimated earnings of $9 million, she was the second highest paid model in the world, behind Gisele Bündchen.

In November 2006, Moss won the Model of the Year prize at the British Fashion Awards, the top accolade in British fashion, but the award divided opinion and stirred fresh controversy.

On 27 September 2007, ''The Sun'' published a story entitled, "Kate Moss dumped by seven brands", describing her "cocaine honeymoon" as fading away. The story continues by stating that in autumn 2006 she had eighteen contracts in comparison to 2007's eleven, and that in 2006 fashion bible ''Vogue'' had six campaigns using Moss including Dior, Louis Vuitton and Burberry, but November 2007's issue has none. The story concludes by saying that an industry source has said "She is still very big but the honeymoon period has ended."

Fashion designer

On 1 May 2007, a collection of clothes designed by Moss exclusively for the Topshop chain were launched across the UK in the chain's 225 stores. A Kate Moss "countdown to launch" board filled a window of the company's flagship Oxford Street store and on 30 April, Moss launched the clothing line at Topshop in Oxford Street, where she briefly appeared in the shop window modelling a red dress from the clothing collection just before the shop was opened, causing a media frenzy. Topshop reportedly paid Moss £3 million for her work. The collection of fifty designs included clothes, bags, shoes and belts, where prices range from £12 for a vest top to £150 for a cropped leather jacket. Clothes in the collection included skinny jeans, one-shoulder minidresses and T-shirts with the letter ''K'' woven into the design. The Topshop range was later released in the United States at the New York chain store Barneys.

In a collaboration with Coty, Moss has released four fragrances. In early 2010, it was revealed that she had designed a range of handbags for luxury goods house Longchamp.

Other endeavours

Moss appeared on Oasis singles "Don't Go Away" (1998) and "Fade Away" (1994), and on the ''Be Here Now'' album (1997), playing tambourine, Johnny Depp playing a guitar.

She has appeared in music videos such as "Kowalski" by Primal Scream, "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" by the White Stripes, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John, "Sex with Strangers" by Marianne Faithfull, "Love Don't Bother Me" by Stage Dolls, and "Delia's Gone" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash.

She has also provided vocals for songs by Primal Scream (the 2003 version of "Some Velvet Morning"), Babyshambles ("La Belle et la Bête") and The Lemonheads ("You're a Dirty Robot"). Prior to breaking up with Pete Doherty, Moss co-wrote four songs on Babyshambles' second album ''Shotter's Nation''—"You Talk", "French Dog Blues", "Baddie's Boogie", and "Deft Left Hand".

In 1999, Moss played a non-musical role in the British screen comedy ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'', appearing both as Maid Marian and as a fictional Queen of England "who looks good naked". Director and writer Richard Curtis said in the making of video, that they wanted "the best looking woman in England" to play the role.

Moss has also been the subject of portraits by contemporary artists such as Lucian Freud and Chuck Close. In 2005, a painting of Moss by Freud sold for £3.93 million at a Christie's auction. Close has taken a series of daguerreotypes of Moss, which he has also translated into Jacquard tapestry.

In September 2010, she appears as a mythological goddess in a 3D film created by ''AnOther Magazine''.

In October 2010, she appeared on the cover of Bryan Ferry's album ''Olympia''.

Charity work

Moss has been a supporter of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, and in the 1990s featured in one of their target T-shirt campaigns. She also supported War Child. Moss also designed a charm in a necklace for Wallis in 2007 in aid of Cancer Research UK and said "I am happy to give my support to help fund crucial research, as so many lives are affected by this terrible disease".

She has also helped to launch the SamandRuby charity in March 2006. The charity was started to provide funding for the education and shelter of Thai children. The SamandRuby organisation is named after a friend of Moss's, Samantha Archer Fayet, and her 6-month-old daughter Ruby Rose who were killed by the Tsunami while visiting Thailand. Moss also supports the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Hoping Foundation, the Lucie Blackman Trust, Make Poverty History, Comic Relief and Homes of Hope.

On 22 November 2006, Moss recorded an appearance in a ''Little Britain'' sketch for Comic Relief at the Hammersmith Apollo as a character called Katie Pollard, sister of Vicky Pollard played by Matt Lucas.

Moss made a short film with Misery Bear for the March 2011 Comic Relief event entitled "Misery Bear's Comic Relief Starring Kate Moss".

Personal life

Kate Moss has a daughter, Lila Grace Moss, born on 29 September 2002, with ''Dazed & Confused'' editor Jefferson Hack.

Moss had a relationship with former Libertines member Pete Doherty, first meeting him at her 31st birthday party in January 2005. On 11 April 2007, Doherty announced Moss as his fiancée during one of his concerts in London, at which Moss also performed. In July 2007, Moss and Doherty split. She was due to model on the catwalk for John Galliano, but was too distraught with her break-up to participate.

Moss dated Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills. ''The Sun'' reported on 26 March 2008, that Moss and Hince became engaged during a trip to Amsterdam. Hince proposed to her in bed with a vintage 1920s ring worth more than £10,000. Moss married Hince on 1 July 2011 at St Peter's Church, Southrop in Gloucestershire; she wore a dress by John Galliano.

Cocaine scandal

On 15 September 2005, the ''Daily Mirror'' ran front page and inside photos that seemed to show Moss snorting several lines of a white powder that was presumed to be cocaine at a Babyshambles recording session. It was also reported that Moss snorted five lines in 40 minutes. It has been alleged by Babyshambles' singer Pete Doherty that James Mullord, his former manager, sold the photos to the newspaper for more than £150,000 and spent the money on heroin.

On 20 September 2005, the Swedish fashion retailer H&M;, which had intended to feature her in a campaign of their autumn clothes range designed by Stella McCartney, announced it was dropping Moss after the drug allegations. The contract was reportedly worth £4 million a year. A day later, Chanel announced that it would not be renewing its contract with Moss, which was set to expire that October, although the company said that its decision had nothing to do with the drug scandal. Burberry also decided to drop Moss's campaign with them. Moss quickly issued an apology, though she stopped short of admitting drug use.

Moss continued to appear in major ad campaigns during this period for Dior. She was on the cover of the November 2005 ''W'' and also appeared inside in a multi-page fashion shoot. She was also defended by designer Alexander McQueen, who, during his walk-out after a fashion show, wore a t-shirt saying "We love you Kate". Artist Stella Vine also publicly supported Moss, and paintings by Vine of the model, painted during the scandal, were exhibited and reproduced in the press.

In November 2005, Moss ended her relationship with Doherty soon after he checked himself out of Meadows Clinic in Arizona, failing to complete a programme for drug rehabilitation. Moss herself underwent successful treatment there in October and had urged Doherty to seek the same treatment himself. Doherty claims that their separation involved other issues, telling ''The Sun'' that Moss left him because, "I can’t buy her diamonds." On 5 January 2006, the Metropolitan Police asked Moss to return from the US to Britain to answer questions about the September 2005 cocaine scandal. The following day, the ''Daily Mirror'' reported that Moss would return to Britain and face arrest for allegations of cocaine usage. She was interviewed by police in London on 31 January 2006, with her solicitor present, but reportedly made no admissions, and she was not arrested (photographs of alleged drug-taking are not admissible evidence in English courts). On 16 June 2006, British police finally dropped the charges for lack of evidence. Ultimately, Moss was cleared of all charges and resumed her modelling career. Criticism of Moss has continued, and her career revival has been viewed as a sign of moral and cultural decline by critics such as Peter Hitchens.

Gold statue

A £1.5m ($2.8m) 100% gold statue was made of Moss in 2008 as part of a British Museum exhibition. Entitled Siren, the hollow statue was made by Marc Quinn, who described Moss as "the ideal beauty of the moment". The statue is said to be the largest gold statue to be created since the era of Ancient Egypt.

Quinn had previously unveiled a painted-bronze, life-size sculpture of Moss in a contorted yoga pose, titled ''Sphinx''.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Buttolph, Angela. ''Kate Moss: Style''. London: Century, 2008. ISBN 1-84605-429-X.

Collins, Laura. ''Kate Moss: The Complete Picture''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, 2008. ISBN 0-283-07063-3.

Kendall, Katherine. ''Kate Moss: Model of Imperfection''. New York: Penguin Group, 2005. ISBN 1-59609-033-2.

Moss, Kate. ''Kate: The Kate Moss Book''. New York: Universe, 1997. ISBN 0-7893-0101-6.

Vermorel, Fred. ''Addicted To Love: Kate Moss'' London: Omnibus Press, 2006. ISBN 1-84609-158-6, second (updated) edition, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84609-755-3.

External links

Full Vogue 8 Aug Article

Extract from Kate Moss: The Complete Picture by Laura Collins

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:English female models Category:People from Croydon Category:People from Addiscombe

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Leslie A. Davis (1876 - 1960) was an American diplomat and wartime US consul to Harput, Ottoman Empire from 1914 to 1917, who witnessed the Armenian Genocide.

Biography

In 1909-1911 Davis worked in New York as a lawyer. He started his diplomatic career in Batumi, then traveled through Uzbekistan and Caucasus. From 1914 to 1917 he was the US consul to Harput, Ottoman Turkey. In May, 1918 he was appointed as the US representative in Arkhangelsk, Russia, then moved to Helsinki.

Witnessing the Armenian Genocide

While working as US consul to Harput, Leslie Davis personally witnessed how huge clusters of Armenian populations, who were being deported from provinces outside Harput to Der Zor desert in Syria, were rerouted in Harput "only to be butchered in this province". Some of his observations concerned the condition of Armenian deportees arriving from further north. He noted that there were no men in these convoys, and the remaining surviving members were much abused, starved and exhausted.

Leslie Davis was among the mixed party of Americans who examined the mass graves of Armenians killed near Harput. Davis subsequently wrote a vivid account to the Department of State where he described the tens of thousands of Armenian corpses in and around Lake Geoljuk (present-day Lake Hazar), during his trips to lake.

The mass deportations ordered by the Turks, in which hundreds of thousands of Armenians were crammed into freight cars and shipped hundreds of miles to die in the desert or at the hands of killing squads, were far worse than a straightforward massacre, he wrote. "In a massacre many escape, but a wholesale deportation of this kind in this country means a longer and perhaps even more dreadful death for nearly everyone."

Leslie Davis aided some Armenians by allowing some 80 of them to live in his consulate and organizing an underground railroad to get other Armenians to cross the Euphrates River and into Russia. He acted even though there were warnings by the Turkish government to not aid any Armenians.

While carrying out his rescue work, Davis kept up with his diplomatic work and periodically met with Harput governor Sabit Bey, who was one of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.

Books

Davis L. A., ''The Slaughterhouse Province''. An American Diplomat's Report on the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1917, ed. by Susan X. Bleair, N.Y., 1989

See also

Henry Morgenthau Sr.

References

Category:Witnesses of the Armenian Genocide Category:American diplomats Category:1876 births Category:1960 deaths

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