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Walton Street, OXFORD, OX2 6AE

On the corner of Walton Street and Jericho Street. Phoenix Picture House http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4090184 is on the right.

Walton Street is the main thoroughfare through Oxford's Jericho district and is lined with a variety of pubs and eateries as well as the Phoenix Picture House (the blue building seen here). The Jericho Tavern, to quote its website, is 'the very definition of urban cool, mixing a stylish contemporary bar, classic pub features and a handful of quirky touches' - entirely appropriate for this trendy area inhabited by many young professionals.

The Jericho Tavern and The Phoenix Picture House occupy most of this section of Walton Street (the A4144 road) as it leaves Oxford in a northerly direction. The pub has had a number of names in the past. Built in 1818, it was originally known as The Jericho House but more recently it has also been as The Jericho, The Philanderer and The Firkin. In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was an important part of the local and national music scene that spawned Ride, Radiohead and Supergrass. As for the cinema, it opened in 1913 showing 'accompanied' silent films under a “North Oxford Kinema” banner. It was renamed “The Scala” in 1920 under the ownership of the Gloucester-based entertainment firm, Pooles. In 1923 it was bought by Walker & Shaw Enterprises who introduced locally filmed newsreels. However, by 1925 it was being managed a Cockney showman called Ben Jay who renamed it “The New Scala” and who introduced musically accompanied community singing during the interval, with the words projected onto the screen. In 1930, once the cinema had been taken over by the Poyntz family it started to build its reputation as an art-house cinema. The Scala showed both classics and the latest foreign films whilst allocating Sundays to the Oxford Film Society. In 1970, after it had been taken over by Leeds-based Star Associated Holdings Ltd the cinema was 'twinned' and became Studios 1 and 2. In 1977 the cinema was revived yet again when it was taken over by the Contemporary Entertainments Company of London. It was then that it acquired its current name, the Phoenix. The management started showing more first-run films and although the cinema became more successful, with the possibility in the mid-1980s that it might be sold to one of the major chains, a “Friends of the Phoenix” scheme was started. In 1990 the cinema was taken over by its current owners City Screen and in 1998 the front of the building was extensively remodelled. Its lease is owned by St. John's College.

The Jericho Tavern is a live music pub. They have helped to showcase starting bands including Ride, Supergrass, Radiohead and Stornoway.

The cinema was originally called the North Oxford Kinema and later the Scala.

On the left hand side of the road are the Jude The Obscure pub, Loch Fyne restaurant, Jericho Tavern and the Phoenix Picturehouse

This cinema on Walton Street dates from 1913 when it opened as the North Oxford Kinema; it later became the Scala. By the 1970s it had been divided into two screens with adult films forming a major part of the programme. However, it experienced a renaissance in 1977 becoming the Phoenix showing art house and foreign language films. In the 1980s it became part of the Picturehouse Cinemas group which passed to Cineworld in 2012 although the brand has been retained. At the time of this photograph, cinemas across the country had not yet reopened following the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

A historic traditional cinema on Walton Road in the Jericho area of Oxford. Originally the North Oxford Kinema, it was designed by local architect Gilbert T Gardner. It opened on 15 March 1913. It doesn't appear to be listed.

The Jericho Tavern and the Phoenix Picture House are on the right hand side of Walton Street.

A view of the northeast end of this street that takes its name from the Jericho area of the city of Oxford - or perhaps gave its name? The large building is the Jericho Tavern and the road at the end is Walton Street.