View source for Ruscote

{{Short description|Estate in Oxfordshire, England}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
[[File:Ruscote-arcade 1a.jpg|thumb|right|The Ruscote arcade, [[Banbury]], in 2010. The view is from the park near the [[Aldi]] store, facing the local [[The Co-operative brand|Co-Op]] store.<ref name="storelocate.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.storelocate.co.uk/co-op-food/ruscote.html|title = Co Op Food in Banbury Rustcote Arcade - Store Address and Opening Times - StoreLocate.co.uk}}</ref>]]
[[File:Hillveiw park in 2010.jpg|thumb|right|One of the entrances to [[Banbury]]'s Hillview park in 2010]]
The '''Ruscote''', Hardwick and Hanwell Fields estates are three interconnecting [[Banbury]] estates that were built between the 1930s and 2000s in [[Oxfordshire]], [[England]].
==History==
[[File:Beaumont estate Banbury2.jpg|thumb|right|The Lockheed Drive retail estate/Banbury Cross Retail Park in [[Banbury]] has been a major employer since the 1980s.]]
[[File:Ruscote in 2009 (2).jpg|thumb|right|Ruscote in 2009, with the Hillview arcade shopping complex in the far distance]]
During excavations for the building of an office in Hennef Way in 2002, the remains of a [[British Iron Age]] settlement with circular buildings dating back to 200 BC were found. The site contained around 150 pieces of pottery and stone. Later there was a [[Roman villa]] at nearby Wykham Park.<ref name="information-britain.co.uk">{{cite web | url=http://www.information-britain.co.uk/history/town/Banbury11/ | title=The history of Banbury, Oxfordshire }}</ref><ref name="hist">[http://www.banbury-cross.co.uk/banhistory.htm A history of Banbury and the Banbury Cross explained]</ref> A small drinking-water reservoir lies to the north of Hennef way. The major road was named after [[Hennef]] in Germany.
Ruscote was a local village, that dated back to the 15th century, but did not develop until the late 19th century. It was formally incorporated into the [[borough]] of Banbury in 1889.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63793|title=Banbury: Local government &#124; British History Online}}</ref><ref name="british-history.ac.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63792|title=Banbury: Economic history &#124; British History Online}}</ref>
The [[1919 Housing Act]] was followed by the building of the Easington housing estate of 361 council houses in what was one of the first [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] schemes in the country. By 1930 the medical officer reported 131 Banbury town centre houses unfit for habitation. So in 1933 Banbury council opened the Ruscote housing estate of 160 houses.  The heavy increase in population between 1931 and 1949 was accommodated by the expansion of the town in three main areas, in each of which houses were built both by the town corporation and by housing private companies. The three areas were between the Oxford and Bloxham roads, where about 500 houses were built before 1939 to form the bulk suburb of Easington; in the area of the older village and suburb of Neithrop, where before 1939 some 500 houses were built both around the earlier houses and further west in new streets on either side of the Warwick road, a development which was extended to the south-west after 1945.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> In 1933 Banbury council opened the Ruscote housing estate of 160 houses, for working-class families.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/>
The estate, which now has a notable South Asian community, was expanded in the 1950s because of the growth of the town due to the [[London overspill]] and further grew in the mid-1960s.
==Industry and commerce==
The [[Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway]] (OIR) was opened between 1917 and 1919,<ref name="geograph.org.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/199178|title = Geograph:: Oxfordshire Ironstone Quarries... © David Stowell cc-by-sa/2.0}}</ref> was closed in 1967<ref name="geograph.org.uk"/> and the line was lifted between 1967 and 1968. It was a major employer in Banbury for many of those years.
The mid-1950s the council established the [[Southam Road Industrial Estate]] which was successful in bringing a wide range of industries to the town. The most important newcomer was [[General Foods Ltd]], formerly [[Alfred Bird & Sons]] (now [[Kraft Foods]]),<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/><ref name="kraftfoods.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kraftfoods.co.uk/kraft/page?siteid=kraft-prd&locale=uken1&PagecRef=2297&Mid=2297|title = Europe}}</ref> which produced convenience foods. The plant was built between 1964 and 1965 and the company moved to Banbury from Birmingham in 1965. [[General Foods]] received active political and fiscal co-operation from the council to partly help find jobs for the local [[London overspill]] population. Kraft Foods Banbury is the [[Kraft Foods|Kraft]] centre of manufacturing in Britain, with the Kraft UK headquarters located at [[Cheltenham]]. A new factory with an {{convert|80000|sqft|m2}} floor space was being constructed in 1969 for [[Encase Ltd]]<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> and a factory was being built for [[Demag Hoists and Cranes Ltd.]], a subsidiary of [[Demag Zug]], one of the world's largest manufacturers of lifting equipment.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> The industrial estate had become one of the 'economic epicentres' of the [[Banburyshire]] region by the early 1970s.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/>
[[File:Kraft Banbutry.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Kraft Foods]] factory in [[Banbury]] has been a major employer in the town since the mid-1960s.]]
[[File:The Kraft Factory - geograph.org.uk - 327633.jpg|thumb|right|The Kraft Factory – a familiar sight on the skyline of Banbury.]]
The local [[Kraft Foods Banbury]] plant,<ref name="kraftfoods.co.uk"/> which is sometimes known as [[General Foods]] after the original owner the building, and the Beaumont industrial estate and Lockheed Drive retail estate would become the leading employers for Ruscote and Hardwick estates. During October 2006, a warehouse block that was being prepared for demolition, belonging to Kraft Foods, caught fire and burned most of the day. There was a notable fire at the coffee plant on Tuesday 7 December 2010.<ref name="foodmanufacture">{{Cite web|url=http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Manufacturing/Kraft-coffee-production-relatively-unaffected-by-Banbury-factory-fire|title = Kraft: Coffee production 'relatively unaffected' by Banbury factory fire}}</ref><ref name="oxfordmail">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/general_election_2010/banbury/8724452.Fire_at_Kraft_factory/|title=Fire at Kraft factory}}</ref> In Spring 2010, a lorry load of [[Kenco|Kenco Coffee]] was stolen by a driver who conned his way into the plant.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/local/trailer_full_of_coffee_stolen_from_kraft_1_599132 |title=Trailer full of coffee stolen from Kraft - Local - Banbury Guardian |website=www.banburyguardian.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719133557/http://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/local/trailer_full_of_coffee_stolen_from_kraft_1_599132 |archive-date=2011-07-19}}</ref>
The Ruscote Arcade<ref name="storelocate.co.uk"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bigreddirectory.com/ruscote_arcade_post_office-banbury|title = Ruscote Arcade post office Banbury Shop opening times and reviews}}</ref><ref name="postofficeopeninghours.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.postofficeopeninghours.co.uk/Banbury_Ruscote-Arcade-Post-Office.htm|title=Branch Finder &#124; Post Office}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scoot.co.uk/England/Oxfordshire/Banbury/Ruscote-Fishbar-CHTF705.html|title = Ruscote Fishbar, Fish and Chip Shops in Banbury}}</ref> and the Hillview Arcade are another two shopping facilities on the estate.
==Schools==
The estate is served by one school
*[[Hill View Primary School]], Hill View Crescent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.schools.org.uk/16194|title = Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting & Domain Names from Heart Internet}}</ref><ref>[[Primary schools in Banbury]]</ref>
==Recreational areas and parks==
* Both '''Hillview Park''' and '''Ruscote Park''' are 2 large, co-joined, parks situated in the middle of the estate, and connecting to a children's play park that leads down between the local shopping complexes at the Ruscote Arcade and the Hillveiw Arcade.
*A small extension, known locally as the '''Aldi Park''' and/or the '''Co-Op Park''', is set across the road by the town's [[Aldi]] store. Both parks have many facilities, including monkey bars, swings, football pitches and basketball courts. Together the three parks measure approx. 45,000m<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="wicksteed.co.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/playground-projects-banbury-oxfordshire-pp5.html |title=Brightening up a little bit of Banbury |website=www.wicksteed.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809030436/http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/playground-projects-banbury-oxfordshire-pp5.html |archive-date=2007-08-09}}</ref><ref name="banbury.gov.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.banbury.gov.uk/infopage.asp?infoid=1524 |title=BanburyTown Council |website=www.banbury.gov.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021055024/http://banbury.gov.uk/infopage.asp?infoid=1524 |archive-date=2007-10-21}}</ref>
There is one other minor children's play park elsewhere.
There were some concerns over anti-social behaviour and heavier than average litter levels in Princess Diana Park and Hillview Park and that [[fly-tipping]] in [[Banbury]] also affects some streets and footpaths such as on the Ironstones' paths.<ref name="thamesvalley.police.uk">http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/yournh/yournh-tvp-pol-area/yournh-tvp-pol-area-n348{{dead link|date=September 2022}}</ref>
== Hardwick ==
===History===
[[File:Banbury1993.jpg|thumb|right|The Hardwick estate in 1993.]]
[[File:Banbury31.jpg|thumb|right|The Hardwick estate in the early 2000s (decade).]]
[[File:Hardwick in 2011.jpg|thumb|right|Images of Hardwick, Banbury in 2011.]]
[[File:Hardwick Archade, Banbury 2011.jpg|thumb|right|The Hardwick Arcade shopping mall in 2011.]]
One of the first records of the hamlet of Hardwick was in the year 1279 when 'Laurence of Hardwick' was paying rent for a local mill to the [[Bishop of Lincoln]].<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/>
In 1247 The hundred of Banbury was valued at £5 a year and in 1441 '[[certainty money]]' (a form of rent) due from the northern part of the hundred was 89s. 8d. It was made up of payments from [[Shutford]], [[Claydon, Oxfordshire|Claydon]], [[Swalcliffe]], [[Great Bouton]] and [[Little Bourton]], [[Prescote]], Hardwick, [[Calthorpe, Oxfordshire|Calthorpe]] and [[Neithrop]], [[Wickham, Banbury|Wickham]], [[Wardington]], [[Williamscot]], [[Swalcliffe Lea]], and the former  'prebend' of [[Banbury]]. By 1568 these, except the rent from Wardington and amounted to 69s. 4d. in 1652, when the total profits of court were valued at 103s. 4d. a year in 'certainty money'. In 1875 payments were made only by Williamscot, Swalcliffe, Prescote, Great and Little Bourton, Neithrop, Claydon, and Shutford since the rest were freed from their rent obligations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63787|title=The hundred of Banbury &#124; British History Online}}</ref>
Hardwick was a [[Medieval]] hamlet that did not expand much until the late 19th century and was formally incorporated into the [[borough]] of Banbury in 1889. It became a minor village in the late 1930s and finally a housing estate in the late 1950s.
===Industry and commerce===
The presence of local industry was recorded as far back as the year 1279, when 'Laurence of Hardwick' was paying 3 Marks in rent to the [[Bishop of Lincoln]] annually for a mill in Hardwick hamlet.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/>
The Northern Aluminium Co. Ltd. or [[Alcan|Alcan Industries Ltd.]] pig and rolled Aluminium factory was opened in 1931 on land the firm had bought in 1929 on the east of the Southam road, in the then hamlet of Hardwick. Output had reached such an extent that in the early 1950s that Banbury's economy had become dependent on the plant's prosperity, with 24%, of the town's workers being employed there. At this time 13% were employed in distribution, 7% in clothing and 5% in agriculture.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> The former Alcan factory that helped build parts for Spitfire fighters aircraft during the [[Second World War]].<ref name="oxfordmail.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/banbury/4533488.End_of.../|title = End of the line for Banbury's Alcan factory}}</ref> The [[Alcan Laboratories Club]] was founded in 1948 by the lab technicians to promote the wellbeing of the workforce in general.<ref>http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24966494746 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> As a result, the village began to grow.
The various Alcan facilities on the {{convert|53|acre|adj=on}} site closed between 2006 and 2007. The factory was demolished between 2008 sand 2009. The laboratory was also demolished in 2009.<ref name="oxfordmail.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF97RE8oZDE | title=Alcan 1931 - 2008 | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/37166458@N06/3977254123/ | title=Alcan, Banbury | date=3 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/former_alcan_site_sold_1_1102777 |title=Former Alcan site sold - Local - Banbury Guardian |access-date=1 January 2011 |archive-date=21 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721173915/http://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/former_alcan_site_sold_1_1102777 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Most of the estate built in the 1970s because of the growth of the town due to the [[Birmingham overspill]] and a slum clearance scheme in [[Smethwick]]. Some Welsh families have moved in since. It was expanded further in the mid-1980s. The main shopping facility is the Hardwick arcade.
===Schools===
The estate is served by four schools.
*[[Hardwick Community School]] Ferriston Rd., Banbury.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hardwick.oxon.sch.uk/ |title=Home |website=hardwick.oxon.sch.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.banbury-cross.co.uk/leclmartial.htm |title=Clubs & Societies - Martial Arts |access-date=31 December 2010 |archive-date=19 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719115144/http://www.banbury-cross.co.uk/leclmartial.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Hardwick Primary School]] Ferriston Rd., Banbury<ref>http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/hardwick-primary-school-3.html {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>
*[[Hardwick And Arden Pre-school]]<ref>http://www.banburysound.co.uk/school-closures/88/ {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>
*[[Hardwick School]].<ref>[http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=122999 Ofsted report]</ref>
===Private health clinic===
[[Hardwick Surgery]] is a privately run health centre in Ferriston Rd., Banbury.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.whatclinic.com/doctors/uk/oxfordshire/banbury/hardwick-surgery|title = General Practices in Banbury • Check Prices & Reviews}}</ref>
===Recreational areas and parks===
* The '''Ironstones Play Area ''', near Ferriston Rd. was recently upgraded at a cost of a budget of £70,000. it is situated in the large '''Ironstones Park'''.<ref name="wicksteed.co.uk"/><ref name="banbury.gov.uk"/> The [[Engineered Wood Fiber (EWF)]] floor surface was removed during the 2007 renovation work, in favour of a safer [[ATP Rubberized Unitary Surface]] due to kids throwing the wood chips at each other, leading to a serious eye injury occurring in 2005.
* The '''Ironstone Park''' is a [[urban park|park]] in the [[Hardwick, Cherwell|Hardwick]] ward of [[Banbury]] in the English county of [[Oxfordshire]]. It is an average size park that it situated off ironstones (street). There is a medium size children's play area and a Large field measuring approx 18,000m<sup>2</sup>. It is adjacent to [[Hardwick School]].
*The ''' Hereford Way Play Park''' is a small play park.
*The ''' Sussex Drive Play Park''' is a small play park.
*The ''' Magnolias Park''' is a major park and contains the ''' Magnolias Play Park'''.
There were some concerns over anti-social behaviour and heavier than average litter levels in Princess Diana Park and Hillview Park and that [[fly-tipping]] in Banbury also affects some streets and footpaths such as on the Ironstones' paths.<ref name="thamesvalley.police.uk"/>
== Hanwell Fields ==
[[File:Hanwell fields1.JPG|thumb|right|An image of the Hanwell Fields estate, Banbury in 2004.]]
[[File:Winter Gardens Way Children's Play Park.jpg|thumb|right|The Winter Gardens Way Children's Play Park, [[Banbury]], UK, during 2010.]]
[[File:Hanwell_fields_2011_Mk2.JPG|thumb|right|A picture of the Hanwell Fields estate, Banbury in early 2011.]]
===History===
Hanwell Field has been farmland since at least [[Normans|Norman]] times.<ref name=Lobel>Lobel & Crosley, 1969, pages 112–123</ref> Local villagers farmed the parish of [[Hanwell, Oxfordshire]] and its related lands on a two-field [[open field system]] until 1768, when [[Cope baronets#Cope of Bruern .281714.29|Sir Charles Cope, 2nd Baronet]] bought out the rights of [[copyhold]]ers, life and [[lease]]holders and [[Enclosure|enclosed]] the common lands.<ref name=Lobel/>
In 1645 during the English Civil War, [[Roundhead|Parliamentary]] troops were billeted in nearby [[Hanwell, Oxfordshire|Hanwell village]]<ref name="Lobel"/> for nine weeks. Villagers petitioned the Warwickshire Committee of Accounts to pay for feeding them.<ref name=Lobel/>
The estate lies between [[Banbury]] and [[Hanwell, Oxfordshire|Hanwell]], built in-between 2001 and 2006, with a minor extension occurring in 2008 on the grounds of the former [[Hanwell Farm]]. This has become one of the constituent houses due to the natural growth of the town's commuter population.
Hanwell Fields was heavy flooded for a few days in 2007 due to heavy rainfall.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73gjLk9Klxg | title=Hanwell Fields/ Banbury Floods - 20th July 2007 | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref> The estate has a small group of shops and one pub. Many residents are part of London's [[commuter]] population.
===Schools===
[[Hanwell Fields Community School]], Rotary Way.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.schoolsnet.com/uk-schools/school-details-reviews/oxfordshire/hanwell-fields-community-school/16180339/0/220691.html |title=Hanwell Fields Community School Oxfordshire: Read Parent Reviews & Rankings |website=www.schoolsnet.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712160846/http://www.schoolsnet.com/uk-schools/school-details-reviews/oxfordshire/hanwell-fields-community-school/16180339/0/220691.html |archive-date=2010-07-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hanwellfieldscommunityschool.org.uk/contact.asp |title=Contact us - Hanwell Fields Community School |access-date=31 December 2010 |archive-date=13 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213211818/http://www.hanwellfieldscommunityschool.org.uk/contact.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Recreational areas and parks===
* '''Winter Gardens Way Children's Play Park''' is well maintained and has 1 bench, 1 [[playground slide]] and a [[Spring rider]]. It is one of the smallest parks in the area, measuring roughly {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}} X 12&nbsp;ft.
*'''Ashmead Close Play Park''' is a small children's play park.
*'''Usher Drive Park''' is a small park on the edge of town and contains the '''Usher Drive Play Park'''.
*'''Sage Close Play Park''' is a small play park.
*'''Pitmaston Road Play Park''' is a small [[play ground|play park]].
*'''Meadowsweet Close Park''' and children's play park is roughly ⅔ the size of Princess Diana Park and contains the '''Meadowsweet Close Play Park''' .
*'''Rosedale Green''' is a small picnic site and park.
There is a large green space made up of grassy fields and seating to the north, which may be partly built on if planning permission is granted.
===Planned expansion===
A nearby field to the north has recently been developed following a formal application for the building of another 20 houses and a Sainsbury’s Local corner shop.
==Transport==
[[File:Banbury Bus firms.png|thumb|right|A former [[Cheney Coaches]] bus, a Heyfordian bus, a Stagecoach bus and a [[Banburyshire Community Transport Association]] (B.C.T.A). bus in Banbury. The Stagecoach busses ran every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes at weekends {{as of|2008|lc=y}} and the Heyfordian bus runs every 30 minutes, except on Sundays as of 2009.]]
The local bus services to Banbury town centre and the [[Hardwick (Banbury)|Hardwick]] and Ruscote estate are run by the [[Stagecoach Oxfordshire]] bus company. [[Heyfordian Travel]] also run a service to the [[Hardwick (Banbury)|Hardwick]] estate and [[Hanwell Fields]] via the local [[Tesco]] and the [[Barley Mow pub]]. [[Cheney Coaches]] also ran a service that ran parallel to most of the Stagecoach route between 1996 and 2004.
==Local politics==
The Ruscote and Hardwick wards were traditionally a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] ward but for the first time, during the 2006 local elections for [[Cherwell District Council]], the Ruscote ward changed to one [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] councillor and one [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] councillor. The traditionally present [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green party]] candidate lost in 2006.
The Conservatives held the ward for the Banbury Town Council and Oxfordshire County Council out right as of 2010.
The [[UKIP]] or [[British National Party]] fielded no candidates in the ward during 2006. A lone Liberal Democrat ran and lost in the [[Hardwick (Banbury)|Hardwick estate]] during 2006.
Following the local elections of 2012, the Conservatives retain all District and Town council seats in Hardwick while Labour holds all District and Town council seats in Ruscote.
==See also==
*[[History of Banbury, Oxfordshire]]
*[[Kraft Foods]]
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{oscoor gbx|SP438404}}
{{Banbury Estates}}
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[[Category:Banbury]]
[[Category:Housing estates in Oxfordshire]]