Hayfield to the Royal Hotel, was purchased by the club in 1976 after famous ex-resident Arthur Lowe helped raise the necessary £5,000. There are several natural springs within Hayfield village, some of which once supplied part of the village's water. These are no longer in active use, although are 'dressed' yearly in well dressing ceremonies. Although classed as being in the East Midlands, Hayfield is at the northern extremity of the region and falls more within the influence of Manchester and Stockport in North West England. Some kind of settlement has been in existence in Hayfield since Roman times, and possibly
Hayfield Road at the southern end of Hayfield Road. This became known as "Dolley’s Hut", after the landlord William Dolley. The Oxford Canal reached the outskirts of Oxford in 1789, when a coal wharf was opened at Heyfield Hutt. The Anchor inn was established in 1796 on the site of Heyfield's Hutt to serve the canal boat trade at what was then the end of the Oxford Canal. Hayfield Road was developed as part of the North Oxford estate of St John's College. It was established during 1886–88. The terraced houses were deliberately designed to be smaller than other houses to the