13 April. Oxey mead and Pixey mead are flood-meadows divided by the stream that leaves the Thames opposite King's weir. Along with adjacent Yarnton mead, they have never been ploughed or inclosed. The second photograph above is at one end of Duke's Cut, a link constructed in 1789 between the Thames near Oxey mead to the Oxford canal (meeting the latter at Duke's lock). The drawing of lots by proprietors of Yarnton and Begbroke for 'shots' of hay-making land ended in 1978. Parts of the land were sold for Oxford's northern and western bypass roads, and any hay is now sold in one lot and the proceeds divided amongst the owners. Oxey Mead is now a nature reserve and usually water-laden.
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