Inscribed stones on Headington Hill
This boundary stone used to stand at the top of Headington Hill, but is now embedded in its retaining wall. It reads: HERE ENDETH HEDINGTON HYWAY, followed by the initials of the senior bailiff and mayor of Oxford in 1728/9. It marked the boundary of St Andrew’s and St Clement’s parishes, and thereby the end of the section of road for which Headington reckoned it was responsible. The Headington Road had not been built, so the road in question was the short stub leading from Cuckoo Lane around the corner to the top of the hill.
The new road to London was built from the top of Headington Hill to Wheatley in the 1780s. This milestone at the top of Headington Hill must date from about 1795, when an Act was passed forcing Turnpike Trusts to mark distances on their roads in this way. It reads: LII Miles From London / I Mile To OXFORD
By 1889, the Headington and London Roads were of crucial importance. Thus when the boundary of the City of Oxford was extended to the Boundary Brook that year, two stones were set up quite near each other to mark the event. One is on Cuckoo Lane, the ancient thoroughfare through Headington, and the other on the Headington Road. The name of the Mayor when the stones were set up in 1892, F. W. Axtell, is almost illegible.
