The Lighthouse in Oxford the railway station at Frideswide Square gradually eroded away much of the canal trade. In 1913 William Morris (later Lord Nuffield), without licence, started his own bus service to compete with the city's cumbersome tram network. In 1951, Lord Nuffield further forced change when he acquired the Oxford Canal Basin and proceeded to fill it. Nuffield College and Worcester Street car park now stand where once lay the Basin. This was the death knell of the canal system as a competitive mode of transport in Oxford as technology replaced human labour. An apt example can be found in the reconstruction
Cowley, Oxfordshire sides of the Oxford Road. Although Morris started his original work on the outskirts of the city the Cowley site quickly became the production site for high volume production. It was the original base of Morris cars when the marque was founded in 1912, and production continued at the factory until 1982, with models including the Morris Minor, Morris Oxford, Riley and Wolsely cars. The Morris marque was not abandoned until 1984 when production of the Longbridge-built Morris Ital and development of the Marina finished. The factory then became the production facility for the Maestro, Montego and the Princess Range.