Oxford Civic Society

Oxford Civic Society is dedicated to the continuous improvement of Oxford as a wonderful city in which to live, work, study and relax. Appreciating our past, enjoying the present and pursuing a vision for the future are at the heart of what we do.

We are a registered charity. We are a friendly organisation and welcome new members. If you would like to know more about the city and help us make a difference – join us. Better still you could volunteer to join one of our working groups and help shape the city’s future.

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Consultations and Analyses

OCS's long-form responses and analysis of recent major issues

Walks in Oxford Calendar 2026

Our beautiful appointments calendar features stunning photos of walks in Oxford and a different walk for each month. A lovely addition to any home and a great Christmas gift for family and friends! We hope the calendar will encourage people to enjoy our wonderful city on foot – and use our Walks in Oxford website for further suggestions.

You can buy copies of the calendar at our talks (see the Programme page). The Gulp Fiction bookshop in the Covered Market and Pen to Paper in the Summertown shops hold stocks.

The calendar costs £10 (plus P & P if bought online).

What's New - February 2026

Behind the scenes

Our technical groups are hard at work as usual. The communications group has started to draft the next edition of our Visions newsletter and the programme group is lining up some walks and visits for the spring and summer. The pace of development in Oxford means that our planning and transport groups are never short of proposals to consider. And plans are afoot for some seminars relating to local government reorganization.

In the year 2045

The Oxford City Council Local Plan 2045 is now open for comment. This document lays out how the Council believes the city should develop over the next 20 years. You have until mid March to have your say.

St Paul’s Church

This announcement passed us by in December, but it’s such a good news story we still wanted to mention it. The Society was delighted to hear that St Paul’s Church in Jericho (which has hosted Freud’s café-bar since 1988) has been acquired by the University of Oxford’s School of Government, funded by the School’s founding donor, Sir Leonard Blavatnik. We look forward to learning what plans there are – first for renovation and then for some community use of this landmark building.