Place Name
Takes its name from Bridgford in Nottinghamshire, now known as West Bridgford. Originally a small agricultural village, its name derives from Brycg ford, meaning a ford near a bridge (over the River Trent). This road was developed over land which was part of Brentwood Farm (previously Garratt Farm) that was in the manor of All Farthing. A least a part of the manor was owned by Thomas Sheppard (1728 – 1814) a Doctor of Divinity from Magdalen College in 1747, and then a Fellow in 1749. When he died his fortune was left to his wife Sophia Sheppard, who became a generous benefactor to her husband’s former college, leaving them extensive land in Earlsfield. This the college began to develop for housing from the early 1930s, naming it after Bridgford, another of their holdings following an endowment from Sir Thomas Chaworth, a wealthy landowner. The college, one of the wealthiest in Oxford, managed much of the agricultural land in Bridgford for centuries, and their influence helped shape the town’s development.
