Louie Memorial Playing Fields and Pavilion are located on Arnolds Way, Botley and are a parish-owned space for recreation The land was given to the Parish Council in 1939 by housebuilder Henry Stephen Kingerlee in memory of his late wife Louie Emma Kingerlee. (Read the original Deed)

The area consists of an upper playing field including football pitch, pavilion, play equipment and games court, a lower playing field with younger children’s play park, and adjacent woodland and fen. There are currently two major projects to provide a new pavilion and skatepark for the community. Details below.

To hire the pavilion or football pitch or find out more about activities including the summer pop-up cafe visit the Louie Memorial Facebook page.

The New Louie Memorial Pavilion

Planning permission for the revised plans was granted on 26th July 2023. The new application details are here. Jessop and Cook are the appointed architects for the new Louie Memorial Pavilion. This new permission follows the previous permission granted on 31st July 2019 but which, owing to delays since COVID19, was not able to be actioned within the timeframe. A fresh consultation was done in May 2022. Read the consultation results here.

You can view the decision notice and all submission documentation for the 2019 decision on the Vale website and read the background here.

Skatepark project

The plans to build a skatepark in the Upper Louie Memorial Field were approved in August 2023 You can find all the plans online on the Vale’s planning website on this link. The next stage is fundraising. To get involved watch this space or contact a member of the Skatepark working group.

Play equipment in the Upper Field

In January 2019, new play equipment for older children and teenagers was installed in the upper Louie Memorial Playing Field near the MUGA. Coverage in Oxford Mail article here.

Agreement with Matthew Arnold School

In late 2017 a public consultation was held asking for views on a proposal by Matthew Arnold school to use the football pitch and hard-surface games area (MUGA) at the Louie Memorial Upper Field for PE lessons and afterschool football fixtures. 100 people took part, 93 from North Hinksey parish. The full results are available to download here. The proposal was discussed again at the September Council meeting focusing mainly on how much MAS would be charged for after school football pitch hire and details of the football pitch maintenance schedule). The proposal was passed at the  October 2017 meeting and the trial period began in January 2018.

• Photo gallery of the fields and facilities

All these facilities are managed by the NHPC Recreation & Amenities Committee including ROSPA safety checks. For any questions please contact the Parish Clerk or a member of the Recreation & Amenities Committee.

Copse/Fen – Projects and Management