Coordinates: 51°43′08″N 1°17′49″W / 51.719°N 1.297°W / 51.719; -1.297

Boars Hill
Boars Hill  Boars Hill shown within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SP485025
District	Vale of White Horse
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Oxford
Postcode district	OX1
Dialling code	01865
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Oxford West and Abingdon
List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire

Boars Hill is a hill hamlet 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Oxford, straddling the boundariy between the civil parishes of Sunningwell and Wootton. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.

History[link]

The earliest known record of Boars Hill (or Boreshill) is from the 12th century. The greater part of Boars Hill was historically a manor of the parish of Cumnor^[1] until the 19th century when the parish of Wootton was formed.

Until the late 19th century the hill was almost bare and had fine views - northwards to the city of Oxford, southwards to the Downs and westwards to the upper Thames valley. At that time many houses were built on Boars Hill, and the new residents planted trees and erected fences and walls; within a few decades they had hidden the celebrated views from all but a few places.

Churches[link]

Church of England[link]

Boars Hill does not have its own Church of England parish church. As it straddles two parishes the respective parts of Boars Hill are served by St. Peters, Wootton and St. Leonard's, Sunningwell.

Roman Catholic[link]

St. Thomas More Roman Catholic chapel in Boars Hill^[2] is part of the Roman Catholic parish of North Hinksey.^[3]

Notable residents[link]

Poets[link]

The first poet to leave a record of a visit to the hill was Arthur Hugh Clough. In his diary for 1841, edited by Anthony Kenny, he describes how a walk across the hill inspired the ninth of his 'Blank misgivings of a creature moving about in worlds not realized'; however, he was concerned over his family's financial straits and his impending final exams, and he found the barrenness of the scene under a grey February sky depressing.

When Matthew Arnold came up to Oxford later in 1841, Clough introduced him to Boars Hill, which later provided the inspiration and setting for two of his best-known poems, The Scholar Gipsy (1853) and Thyrsis (1866), the latter written in memory of Clough. The famous phrase in the latter "the dreaming spires" encouraged people to visit the hill and settle there.

Three prominent poets lived on the hill, the first being Margaret Louisa Woods in the 1880s. She was followed by Robert Bridges and John Masefield, successive Poets Laureate. For a couple of years after World War I, they were joined by three of the war poets: Robert Graves - Masefield's tenant - and Edmund Blunden, both future Oxford Professors of Poetry (as Arnold had been) and (for a few months) Robert Nichols. Bridges' daughter, the poet Elizabeth Daryush, continued to live on the hill until her death in 1977.

Other notable residents[link]

The hill was also the home of Gilbert Murray, famous for his verse translations of classical Greek drama.

Other notable residents were the sculptor Oscar Nemon who fled from Nazi rule in Vienna in 1938 and the archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who lived on Boars Hill from 1894 until his death in 1941. His house, 'Youlbury', notable for its Minoan decoration, has since been burnt down (as were those of Margaret Woods, Robert Bridges and Gilbert Murray).

Jonny Greenwood, of British band Radiohead, also lives on Boars Hill.

Sites[link]

Arthur Evans had Jarn Mound built (by hand), built to create a viewpoint from which to see the famous vistas that had been hidden by development. The surrounding trees have continued to grow taller, and the views are again obscured. Evans left most of his estate to the Boy Scouts and Youlbury Camp is still available for their use.

Several sites on Boars Hill, including Jarn Mound, Matthew Arnold Field and land on the north side of the hill with views of the "dreaming spires" of Oxford, are now owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust.^[4]

From 1933 to 1975 Boars Hill was the home of Ripon Hall. The site is now known as Foxcombe Hall, and is the regional headquarters of the Open University.

From 1955 to the mid-1970s, Boar's Hill was home to Plater College.^[5][6]

From 1976 to 1996, Warnborough College, occupied the former Plater College facilities, the Bishop's palace of the Diocese of Oxford, and Yatscombe Hall. The college attracted controversy due to alleged links to Oxford University^[7] and was eventually sued with the site repossessed.^[8]

Soon after the repossession squatters moved in and the site of the former Bishops Palace and Yatscombe Hall has been subject to numerous planning disputes ever since^[9]. Yatscombe Hall was destroyed by Fire in December 2003^[10] and all the buildings on the site were demolished and a retirement village was planned^[11]. However eventually a development of a four large country homes was built on the site by Millgate homes.^[12]

Brideshead Revisited[link]

Boars Hill is twice mentioned in the 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966).

First, Cousin Jasper advises the young Charles Ryder upon his coming up to Oxford to "...Keep clear of Boar's Hill."
In contrast, Sebastian Flyte describes a model student at Oxford as one who "smokes a great pipe and plays hockey and goes out to tea on Boar's Hill and to lectures at Keble..."

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bright Rix, Mary (1941). Boars Hill, Oxford. Oxford: Hall the Printer. 
• Candy, James S (1984). A Tapestry of Life: An Autobiography. Merlin Books. ISBN 0-86303-188-9. 
• Clough, Arthur Hugh (1990). Kenny, Anthony. ed. The Oxford Diaries of Arthur Hugh Clough. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-811739-6. 
• Evans, Arthur (1933). Jarn Mound. With Its Panorama And Wild Garden Of British Plants. Oxford: Joseph Vincent. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Boars Hill

• Boars Hill Association website
• Overlooking Oxford — Boars Hill

v t e The District of the Vale of White Horse Oxfordshire • County Council elections • District Council elections • Wantage County Constituency • Oxford West and Abingdon County Constituency Towns Abingdon (Caldecott) • Faringdon • Wantage (Belmont) Large villages Blewbury • Cumnor (Chilswell, Cumnor Hill, Dean Court, Farmoor, Swinford) • Drayton • East Challow • East Hendred • Grove • Harwell • Kennington • Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor (Kingston Bagpuize, Southmoor) • Marcham (Cothill) • Milton • North Hinksey (Botley, Harcourt Hill) • Radley • St. Helen Without (Dry Sandford, Shippon) • Shrivenham • Stanford in the Vale (Bow) • Steventon • Sunningwell (Bayworth, Boars Hill, Foxcombe Hill) • Sutton Courtenay • Watchfield • Wootton (Boars Hill, Henwood, Lamborough Hill) Other civil parishes (component villages and hamlets) Appleford-on-Thames • Appleton-with-Eaton (Appleton, Eaton) • Ardington and Lockinge (Ardington Wick, East Lockinge, West Ginge, West Lockinge) • Ashbury (Idstone, Kingstone Winslow) • Baulking • Besselsleigh • Bourton • Buckland (Gainfield) • Buscot • Charney Bassett • Childrey • Chilton • Coleshill • Compton Beauchamp (Knighton) • Denchworth • East Hanney • Eaton Hastings • Fernham • Frilford • Fyfield and Tubney (Fyfield, Tubney, Netherton) • Garford • Goosey • Great Coxwell • Hatford (Little Hatford) • Hinton Waldrist (Duxford) • Kingston Lisle • Letcombe Bassett • Letcombe Regis • Little Coxwell • Littleworth • Longcot • Longworth • Lyford • Pusey • Shellingford • South Hinksey (Hinksey Hill)• Sparsholt • Uffington • Upton • West Challow • West Hanney • West Hendred (East Ginge) • Woolstone • Wytham (Seacourt) Former districts and boroughs Municipal Borough of Abingdon • Abingdon Rural District • Faringdon Rural District • Wantage Urban District • Wantage Rural District Former constituencies Oxfordshire County Constituency • Abingdon Borough Constituency • Berkshire North or Abingdon County Constituency • Abingdon County Constituency List of Parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire • List of places in Oxfordshire • List of civil parishes in Oxfordshire

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2009)

For other persons named Thomas Kent, see Thomas Kent

Tom Kent (born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina),is an American radio personality. As the head of the Tom Kent Radio Network, he hosts 105 hours of classic hits programming each week, which, as of February 2011, is distributed through United Stations Radio Networks. ^[1]

Biography[link]

Prior to becoming syndicated, Kent worked on the air and in programming at top 40 radio stations WLS in Chicago where he was not only a high profile air talent on the station but was also programming assistant to John Gehron. Kent also worked on the air at KLIF in Dallas, WIBG Philadelphia, WGCL and WIXY in Cleveland, WMJX in Miami, WAVA in Washington, DC where he was also the Program Director and WBZZ (B-94) Pittsburgh.

In addition, Kent worked in the music industry as a promotion executive for Elektra Entertainment, which was a division of Time-Warner's Warner Music Group. While an executive at Elektra, Kent received many awards including "Promotion Rookie of the Year" and "Promotion Executive of the Year" both separate and individual awards in different years. He helped break and bring to the national music spotlight national music recording super star artists Tracy Chapman, Third Eye Blind, Keith Sweat, Moby, Natalie Merchant, Simply Red, Missy Elliott, Gerald Levert, Metallica, Yolanda Adams, and En Vogue.

Founding the TKO Radio Network[link]

On June 29, 2002, Kent, launched the Tom Kent Organization and its radio network, the TKO Radio Network. It was here that Kent launched what was then oldies programming, centered around the decades of 1964 to 1973. Drawing on inspiration from classic Top 40 disc jockeys, Kent's goal was to create a broad-based persona that, while still appealing to the "adult power demo" (persons 25 to 54, many of whom listened to Top 40 radio at a young age), would be enjoyed by all ages. During this time, Kent created and hosted the programs "Into the Seventies," a five-hour weekly program devoted to 1970s music, and "Hall of Fame Coast to Coast", a general six-day-a-week oldies program. The programming was immensely successful and significantly boosted ratings on the stations it aired. In 2006, Kent turned the network into the "Classic Top 40" network, renaming the weeknight show from "Hall of Fame Coast to Coast" to "Classic Top 40 Weeknights." The long term goal was to create a 24-hour network out of this with similar programming.

Exactly five years after Kent launched the network, on June 29, 2007, he resigned as host and sold the company. The company continued operations through at least 2010 without Kent, some of the content is also distributed through USRN.

Departure and founding of Tom Kent Radio Network[link]

On March 16, 2008, Kent launched a new network, the Tom Kent Radio Network. The initial offerings of the new network are featuring Tom Kent's shows which are being offered 24/7. The network is planning on introducing live shows hosted by other personalities in the future. Programs hosted by Kent include a five hour totally live daily show called, "Tom Kent" as well as two different weekend shows: "The Ultimate Party" (a live five hour Saturday evening party show) and "My 70s Show" (a five hour 70s show). The new network has already begun building a lineup of stations across the country, many of whom also carried his previous offerings. Shows on the new network are live and target adults 25-54. The new Tom Kent Radio Network now reports more than 225 new affiliates since its launch on 3/16/08 including CBS owned and operated station WOMC in Detroit, MichiganLincoln Financial owned and operated WMXJ in Miami, Florida.^{[citation needed]}CBS owned and operated KLUV in Dallas, Clear Channel owned and operated WMJI in Cleveland, CBS owned and operated WODS in Boston, CBS owned and operated KOOL in Phoenix, CBS owned and operated KLTH in Portland and CBS owned and operated WRBQ in Tampa, CBS owned and Operated WLIF in Baltimore.

On March 16, 2010, exactly two years after launching the network, Kent launched two new shows. "Your Live Request Show" which is a daily lunch or drive time live request hour that also doubles as a five hour weekend show. The other "show" is a voice-tracking system identified as "C.L.A.S.S." (an acronym for customized linked automatic system solution). This program is a new show that links Tom Kent's personality in with a local station's music opening the door for TKRN programming for all English speaking music formats all over the world.

On October 27, 2010, The Tom Kent Radio Network launched "LOVIN' LIFE LIVIN THE 80's" with 23 new stations including CHICAGO, COLORADO SPRINGS, and ORLANDO. The program is five hours in length and is being delivered via satellite for weekend programming at radio or a one hour daily feature. It celebrates the pop, the rock and the soul hits of the 1980's and his hosted by Tom Kent.

On April 18, 2011, The Tom Kent Radio Network launched a 24 hour Classic Hits network called "24/7 FUN" It's first affiliate is Kirkman Broadcasting's WWIK FM 98.9 in Charleston, SC. At 6a on that day, WWIK switched from a Hot AC called "Chick FM" to "24/7 FUN" using the moniker "FUN 98-9" The network features Bill Shannon in the morning, Steve Kent mid-days and Tom Kent on afternoons and nights. All three personalities are also covering weekend shifts.

Kent entered into a distribution deal with Citadel Media (now Cumulus Media Networks) in February 2009, replacing the departing Dick Bartley. ^[2] Since February of 2012, Kent has since been with United Stations Radio Networks.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Kent lives in suburban Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, three kids and two dogs. Kent and his family moved back to Cleveland in 1988 and have lived there since. His son, Steve Kent, fills in on occasion for him on the air and his wife Karen works behind the scenes at the company and makes occasional on-air appearances.

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.usrn.com/usrnweb/pages/about/press/PressReleases/TOMKENT.asp
2. ^ http://www.citadelmedianetworks.com/Article.asp?id=1095283
3. ^ http://www.usrn.com/usrnweb/pages/about/press/PressReleases/TOMKENT.asp

External links[link]

• Tom Kent's official Web site with daily and weekend shows
• Tom Kent's 70s show Web site
• Tom Kent's The Ultimate Party Show
• The Tom Kent Collection at ReelRadio.com
• Tom Kent at WLS Radio