Blackbird Leys

There was a Bronze Age or Iron Age settlement on the site. Evidence has been found suggesting pits and roundhouses, with remains of pottery and a cylindrical loom weight of a kind previously known only from East Anglia.[3] The area was originally called Blackford Leys; blackford after the dark-coloured ford which crossed the southern branch of Northfield Brook at the entrance to Blackbird Leys farm.[4] The ford would be located where Windale Avenue crosses Northfield Brook.[lower-alpha 1] The farm was also called Blackford Leys farm.[5] The Middle English leys meaning pasture or meadow.[6]

Evenlode Tower, with Windrush Tower in the background

The Blackbird Leys Estate was built mainly in the 1950s and 1960s to meet the then pressing need for housing.[7] It was part of a plan to re-house people from the dilapidated inner city. This included large-scale clearance of a site near to where the Oxford Ice Rink was built (The Oxpens). Many of the families that moved onto the estate originally came from this area. It was also a convenient site for factory workers at the Morris Motors Limited plant in nearby Cowley.

The area has traditionally been staunchly Labour. The Independent Working Class Association performed strongly in the mid-2000s, holding three of the four council seats on Oxford City Council between 2006 and 2008. The local MP from 1987 to 2017 Andrew Smith lives on the estate. His late wife, Valerie Smith, was also one of the city councillors and county councillors for the area and a former Lord Mayor of Oxford.[8]

In stark contrast to Oxford as a whole, which had a Remain result of 71% in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership, Blackbird Leys and neighbouring estates voted narrowly to leave the European Union.[9]

Around this time, Blackbird Leys suffered from joy riding. Young men from the estate would steal cars and 'display' them (with a variety of high-speed stunts) to an audience gathered outside the estate shops (known locally as the 'top shops').[10] Following a crackdown by police on joyriding in September 1991, some 150 youths stoned police officers. Two women suffered stab wounds and two men suffered other injuries during the riots.[11] Local MP, Andrew Smith, stated in 1991 that the extensive national media coverage of confrontations with the police in August and September left many of the wider public with a distorted picture of the problem.[12] Some say journalists visiting helped encourage some of the action for filming.[10]

Crime levels have decreased consistently since 2004, a change thought to be due to a higher police presence on the estate though both recorded crime and rates found in the British Crime Survey have fallen across England and Wales.[13]

The Kassam Stadium, home to Oxford United Football Club

The Kassam Stadium is the home of Oxford United Football Club and is just within the greater boundary of Blackbird Leys in an area known as Minchery Farm. Initial construction begun in 1996 and the first football match took place on 4 August 2001.

In 2006, residents from the estate took part in The Singing Estate, a Channel Five reality TV show following their progress from amateur singers to classical choir.[14] The Blackbird Leys Choir emerged from the original choir and continues today.