ST EBBE'S CHURCH. 1880

The Church is named after Ebba, the daughter of Aethelfrith, King of Northumbrian and sister of the Northumbrian kings, Oswald and Oswy. Her Father was killed in battle in 617, and she and her brothers lived in exile. She became a nun and founded a religious house at Ebchester on the Derwent, becoming Abbess of Coldingham in Berwickshire. Ebba died in 683.

There is a reference in 1005 to 'ancient St Ebbe's' and it is thus the earliest mentioned Parish Church in the City of Oxford. The Church has been rebuilt and enlarged many times, being demolished in 1813 with the exception of the tower and South-west corner. A new church was built on the enlarged site, which took in the site of the rectory which had stood on the corner of St Ebbe's Street and Church Street.

After demolition a short length of road remained, but the Cul-de-sac was renamed Pennyfarthing Place. The Pennyfarthing public house was opened in 1974. The name was originally a medieval street, now Pembroke Street, and was derived from an old family who resided in this area, one of whom was William Penyverthing, Provost of Oxfordshire during the reign of Henry III, about 1240.

The lane off Pennyfarthing Place was to be called Penny Lane, but was changed to Roger Bacon Lane, to commemorate the famous friar, Inventor and educationalist, who is buried in the parish, having died in 1294.

The City of Oxford Technical Day School started in 1894 as an off-shoot of the adult evening technical schools established by the corporation in the Church Street premises formerly used by the Blue Coat School. Day classes were held for thirteen to sixteen year olds in science, mathematics, English, drawing, shorthand, book-keeping, carpentry, dress-making, and cookery. Fees were £1.00 a term.

Discussions started in 1904 to provide new premises, but decisions were delayed until 1913 and then had to be postponed indefinitely.

After the First World War numbers increased by 1920 157 children were attending. In 1921 the school was reconstituted as the Municipal Secondary school for boys only, although girls already in the school were allowed to remain for two more years. An extra house in Church Street was taken over and a hut provided as an assembly hall. J H Brookes, became head of school in the 1940s, and is now immortalized in Brookes University, named after him.

"Mid-17th century and 18th century gabled stone houses (formerly Nos 8, 8a, 9 and 10) remain in a area dominated by the Westgate Centre, having been saved in 1971 by the perseverance of a few Individuals and the Oxford Preservation Trust's willingness to buy them. The Trust's offices are now in number 10. Since the street is once again a cul-de-sac, it has reverted to its original name, Turnagain Lane.”
The Erosion of Oxford, by James Stevens Curl, published Oxford Illustrated Press, 1977.

The Franciscans arrived in Oxford in 1224 and settled right by the Church, outside the City wall, where they built an enormous friary - Greyfriars - which completely overshadowed the little church. Permission was given for them to breach the city wall and make a little gate to give them access to the city; this is preserved in the name of Littlegate Street.

A deed of 1737 shows Charles Street, known as Turn Again Lane. Wood Street ran off the lane to the south, ending in a blank wall at Trill Mill Stream, where a flight of Steps led down to the water. During the nineteenth century vehicular access was made possible to penson's Gardens. Before that, pedestrians could walk through the inner Friary gate, but other traffic had to turn back. No 9 Charles Street was occupied for many years by the Robinson family.

A Victorian drinking fountain dating from 1859, donated by Oxford Member of Parliament James Langston, was installed in the south wall of Littlegate House, the vicarage for nearby Holy Trinity Parish, to provide pure water in an area of polluted wells. The fountain was lost in the 1960s when a garage was incorporated into the wall.