Bonn Square

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Bonn Square in Oxford, England, is named after the German city of Bonn with which Oxford is twinned. It is close to the original west gate of the city of Oxford, where the Westgate Shopping Centre is now located. To the east is Queen Street, a shopping street. New Inn Hall Street leads north from near here. Oxford Castle and the old Oxford Prison are also nearby, now converted into a hotel and restaurants.

1 History
2 Modern developments
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

For over 700 years, from the twelfth century until 1870, Bonn Square was the graveyard of St Peter-le-Bailey Church.^[1] Although no records exist for the first 400 years of the graveyard's existence, parish records for the period from 1585 to 1870 list around 6,800 burials.^[1] The church stood at the front of the square, overlapping on to the present Queen Street. In 1874 the church was rebuilt further up the road (now St Peter's College chapel), and the old church was demolished to make way for a road widening scheme.^[1] Since that date the churchyard has been a memorial garden, and the Tirah Memorial, the first war memorial erected in Oxford, was appropriately placed there in 1900.^[1]

[edit] Modern developments

The Square has been a site favoured by the homeless in Oxford, and major redevelopment commenced in January 2008, although work was quickly disrupted by protesters who objected to the felling of a sycamore tree in the square. Meanwhile, protests also erupted about development work proposed as part of the Westgate Shopping Centre, with a Green Party county councillor being arrested during an attempt to stop the felling of London Plane trees and eventual demolition of the Westgate multi-storey car park.^[2]