Historical version 1 of Carfax (view current version)

Carfax is the name of the central crossroads in the centre of Oxford. It is the intersection of two roads which both change their name.

  • North - Cornmarket, Pedestrianised, buses only
  • South - [St. Aldates]?, Open to traffic.
  • East - High Street (also known as [The High]?), Open to traffic.
  • West - [Queen Street]? (also known as [Queens]?), pedestrianised.

The name 'Carfax' is a corruption of the Latin Quadrifurcus, or the French "Quatre faces". What would 17th Century inhabitants make of the modern meaning of car-fax I wonder?

There is a building, referred to as Carfax Tower, on the North West corner of the junction. This is part of what was St. Martin's Church - which was demolished in 1896 for road widening. The building is now a tourist attraction.

OS X co-ord: 451250     OS Y co-ord: 206250     (Latitude: 51.752142 Longitude: -1.257483)
This is version 1 (as of 2003-05-21 00:58:33). View current version.