was opened on the island two years later. In 1851 the Buckinghamshire Railway opened its line from the north across Sheepwash Channel to its Rewley Road station next to the GWR station. To house railway workers Osney Town was laid out in 1851 by George P. Hester, on an island west of Osney leased by Hester from Christ Church. In the 1860s New Osney was developed around Mill Street, south of Botley Road between the railway and the river. The Cripley estate, north of Botley Road, was laid out in 1878. Osney Cemetery was opened in 1848 in the south of the island. Modern Osney The name Osney is today usually applied to Osney Town. Most of Osney's two hundred-odd households live in 19th-century terraced cottages built on Hester's original grid. A minority of buildings are less than 50 years old, all on Bridge and West Streets, as well as a few significantly larger houses scattered throughout. The island presently has two public houses, The Punter and The Holly Bush. A Working Men's Club and Institute Union affiliate, the West Oxford Democrats Club has premises. Osney is part of the Oxfordshire County Council ward of Jericho and Osney (as currently named, wards being periodically redefined to avoid malapportionment). New Osney The name Osney is no longer applied to the island which historically bore the name. The part of the island east of the railway is now usually called St Thomas. The name survives on the island in New Osney, Osney Lane, Osney Cemetery, Osney Mill and Osney Marina. Osney Bridge carries the Botley Road (A420) west from the historic Osney island. Osney Lock was constructed in the river in 1790, between the island then known as Osney and the island now known as Osney. Osney Mead From 1961 an industrial estate, named Osney Mead in 1966, was developed on meadowland between Osney and Bulstake Stream, to the east of Ferry Hinksey Road. The estate was initially intended to relocate badly sited existing local businesses. Organisations based there include publishers Alden Mowbray, Holywell Press, and Oxford Community Church, the last occupying a building on the estate formerly used by Oxford Instruments. Bodleian Libraries and the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford occupy buildings at the southeastern end of Osney Mead. Newspaper House was designed by Arup Associates with mostly open plan Bürolandschaft offices and built 1970–72. It is the Oxfordshire