Winchester or Oxford?

[soonmamatobe]

Our family consists of me (SAHM), DH (remote worker) and a baby. We are looking to relocate to either Winchester or Oxford. Our budget is up to 800k for at least 3 beds. Priorities for us are: good state schools, walkability, future friends and access to London (not a mega priority as for socialising and culture, not work).

Winchester has the major benefit of being close (15 minute drive) to a set of grandparents. We also have friends in the area (although not super close friends so we'd still want to be somewhere we can meet new people!). Fulflood and Hyde keep coming up and we like what we've seen but I'm a bit worried we'll be bored and we won't find our people because it's so small.

Oxford I think is more interesting, more for us to do, generally more going on. Possibly less affordable? And would we be foolish to move further from family support? I have one very close friend in the area but we know no one else.

My head says Winchester but my heart says Oxford (or Cambridge or SW London but both less realistic)

Any advice please?

The problem with Oxford is schools, unless you go private. Cherwell/The Swan are good secondaries but the others in Oxford city less so. I live in (North) Oxfordshire and would recommend the towns and villages around Eynsham/Woodstock (or Didcot/Wantage in South Oxfordshire).

Do your research into areas/towns/villages/transport/schools. It’s a lovely bit of the country to live in.

Winchester gets you closer to the coast, if that’s likely a priority for you (as I grow older, the ability to escape to walk and hear waves is getting more important, and my children have spent quite a bit of their lives on the beaches of Hampshire, so I might be biased).

I used to live in a town west of Oxford and now live in Winchester. You’ve summed up the differences pretty well so it depends on what your priorities are. The state schools in Winchester are excellent, Oxford much more variable.
there is more going on in Oxford because it is much bigger, but Winchester has plenty to do and good transport links via M3/M27 to Southampton and the coast and you can get to London Waterloo in an hour.

What age are your children?

Sorry, just seen you have a baby.

I'd suggest having a look at Winchester schools on their open days and going from there?

Popular city centre primary schools are Westgate, St Bedes, St Faiths, and Barton Farm academy. (Westgate is an 'all through' school and recently awarded '9th best state school in the UK' I think. www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/24113711.winchester-school-wins-ninth-place-top-state-schools-list/

Plenty of other good schools too such as Weeke, and Sparsholt.

I think if you're looking at Hyde and Fulflood, you're likely to be in catchment for Westgate, western and St Bedes.
Avoid St Peter's and Stanmore schools like the plague.

There's plenty to do with a baby/toddler and if you're on Facebook I'd recommend following this page to see what's on for preschoolers - www.facebook.com/booandmummy

As @ProfessorPeppy said. We found the issue with Oxford was schools! We make the difficult decision to move away from Oxford a couple of years ago largely due to the schools. Our nearest state schools weren’t great, everywhere near us was hugely oversubscribed and we couldn’t afford private! That aside, we loved living in Oxford and really miss it!

Thanks all. @cpphelp I’ve got one who is under one and we plan to have more. State schools are a massive priority to us so Winchester perhaps sounding better. I really want to love Winchester but always so worried we’ll be bored and lonely..! How did you find the move @SarahMused?

I moved to Winchester 7 years ago, and now have more friends here than I do in my previous city.
Admittedly, I made all friends through the children, but I'd say at LEAST three of them are friends for life now. We do stuff with the kids, but more often than not do drinks and dinners without them

You'll find your tribe!

I’d choose Oxford, and live with the schools — I wouldn’t live somewhere as dull as Winchester just for the sake of that.

We live in Oxford, and it's really lovely. We live a short walk from the very centre, and I can say hand on heart, that I feel lucky to live here every time I see the Radcliffe Camera.

That having been said, we live in a VERY small house, and I'm not crazy about our catchment secondaries. The Cherwell is an oustanding school, but the catchment is small and expensive. The adjacent Swan is also a good school, if a bit intense, but it has started very well.

800k doesn't get you as much as you might hope for here, if you want to be near a good secondary. The nicest houses in that price bracket, for example around Divinity Road etc. (I mean, you'd buy there just for the pretty name of the street!) put you in the catchment for less amazing schools, unfortunately. That might be shifting as house prices get so high that people can't afford North Oxford for getting over 900 sq ft any more though. Maybe? That would be the Cheney School.

This house would get you into the Cherwell though - https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144769001#/?channel=RES_BUY - and you're practically in Summertown, which is very nice.

I've never been to Winchester. But Oxford is really lovely. We moved here from London, as have many people we know, and started our family here, and we've been very happy. If I had known about schools, I would have bought in a different area though - it just wasn't on my radar before the kids were born, unfortunately.

We've made loads of friends here too - I don't know ANYBODY who was born here, everyone is a blow-in from elsewhere!

@EmilyinOxford that sounds like the dream. We currently live somewhere equally iconic and I know the feeling of walking around and feeling so lucky!

Oxford is great but Im
surprised no one has mentioned transport issues. If you need/want to travel by car traffic across the city and in/out can be dire. The city council is bringing in bus gates and trialling a 15min city scheme where residents won’t be able to travel across the city unless they have a permit, 100 or so for each household a year if I remember correctly. Someone a know was looking for a new job as could no longer get to work (as a teacher) and her kid to school because of this scheme.

If you are considering Oxford look at this carefully and how it might affect you.

That's true - traffic is intolerable here, but it depends on how you use a car. We don't have a car at all, so it's fine! Most people we know locally who own cars just use them for leaving the city to visit family etc./day trips/garden centre/dump etc. Others work outside the city in other towns, and are driving out of the city rather than through it, which is easier.

The worst is that there is an enormous shopping centre slap bang in the middle of the city with 1000 parking spaces and several hundred more adjacent, both privately and council owned, and the traffic at the weekends with people coming in is appalling. It's nice having a John Lewis, but I think the Westgate has caused more harm to Oxford than good.

It really does seem like every idea the council has to improve it just makes it worse.

But if you lived in, say, the house I mentioned above, and your kids went to school locally, you might never notice the traffic, because you'd walk/bus/cycle 90% of the time, and you're close to Oxford Parkway for the train out of Oxford etc. If you lived on Magdalen Road or Botley Road (if it ever reopens) you'd have a very different experience.

Sigh. Just to be clear, the 15-minute city and the bus gates are two entirely separate concepts. It is true that car traffic in Oxford has always been pretty bad, as the centre of the city pre- dates cars by some centuries. But the bus gates and LTNs are trying to improve the situation by discouraging unnecessary car journeys across the centre of the city. Unfortunately, many people still think that their own car journeys are absolutely necessary. Hopefully, however, that will improve.

I lived in Oxford for about 10years and now in Winchester for going on 7 years, with a family. I really love Oxford but would have to say that I think Winchester has the edge, especially with kids. It's smaller, but friendlier and much easier to get around. Lots of family housing walkable from the centre, whereas I think in Oxford you'd have to be further out so bike, bus or cab to most places. We can walk 20 mins to the centre in one direction and be in the countryside in 10mins in the other. Hubs commutes to London a day or two a week and can walk to the station. The schools are great and there are loads of things to do with the kids. I love it, just finished a complete house renovation and never moving!

Was about to say Winchester is so boring and vanilla. Both are ludicrously overpriced.
The whole bus gates and 15min pilot for Oxford would be ringing alarm bells for me.
What is going on with this country. Not very well rounded or interesting.

Interesting to hear of a few who have moved from Oxford to Winchester.

@NewFriendlyLadybird we like to avoid car journeys where we can so any traffic calming measures are a big plus for us!

Our update is we are still very unsure - any more advice from anyone would be much appreciated.

I think you would be mad to choose to be further from family (unless you don’t get on!). Winchester is beautiful and iconic and near some lovely coast and countryside. Schools great, plenty to do and quick to get to London if you want proper culture. Oxford is beautiful too, but although it’s bigger it’s still not a major city. If you want theatre or art you’ll still be going to London.

Tbh though if I were you I would do a test drive of each place. Rent an Airbnb for as long as you can afford to (weeks, ideally) and practice life there. Do the walk to school, to the shops, drive out to the countryside, see friends and family. I find when you’re uncertain about a decision like This you need more information.