What is the Oxford Green Estate (OGE)?

It’s a major initiative, launched in 2025, that brings together 23 of Oxford University’s green spaces around the city under a consistent long-term vision. It works to make our land  better managed, more biodiverse and with a bigger role in supporting teaching, research and public engagement.

Initially the OGE team in Estates Services are focusing on just a few locations. As well as continuing to run Wytham Woods, they are responsible for Park Farm along the banks of the Cherwell, Northfield Farm at Wytham and the woodland at Court Place Gardens. You can already see positive changes happening at all three, including pond restoration to enhance biodiversity at Park Farm and the installation of five Chronolog posts at Park Farm to create a historical record over years and decades.

Before OGE, these green spaces were managed piecemeal, so they didn’t always do as much good as they could have – whether in academic, conservation or wellbeing terms.

We want to make more of our land accessible to everyone, and there are already wonderful opportunities for staff, students and the public to get out and enjoy the mental and physical health benefits that experiencing nature can bring.

Everyone is welcome to apply for a free visitor permit for Wytham Woods – 1,000 acres of beautiful ancient seminatural woodland just outside the ring road. Closer to town, the riverside meadows at Park Farm are a short stroll away – a hidden gem between Marston and central Oxford.

We’ll be collaborating with more schools, charities and other organisations to make greater use of our sites in education and public engagement.