105, Banbury Road Oxford, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

612/0/10140 BANBURY ROAD 07-OCT-08 105

II House. 1886. Architect - William Wilkinson and Harry Wilkinson Moore. Builder - Kingerlee

MATERIALS: Red brick with scalloped tile-hanging to gables and upper storey of service end; stone strings, decorative carvings and window dressings; plain tile roofs with wooden bargeboards; red brick chimneys with offset caps.

PLAN: Irregular rectangle, with main long façade to street.

FAÇADE: Domestic Revival in style, with asymmetrical gables and stone mullion and transom windows to family quarters, and wooden windows to simpler service end. 2 storeys and an attic; 3 bays. Front: advanced bay to left has gable on stone corbels overhanging 3-light attic window, and 2-storey canted bay with carved stone coping to parapet and segmental brick arches over upper windows. Centre also gabled over 2-tier stair window with carved stone panels and elaborate leaded glazing. Projecting porch below has stone doorcase with carved stops, keyblock and oak-leaf frieze, and scrolled stone pediment with carved swag on elongated corbels. To right is service bay with lower floor levels and glazing bars to windows: triple sashes to ground floor; Ipswich window to first floor; tile-hung gabled dormer. Lower 2-storey extension to far right in matching style. Rear has overhanging gables to advanced centre and right, added rectangular bay window to centre, and conservatory to right rebuilt c.1990. South side of house has chimney bay to left with leaded ground-floor windows canted across corners under ogee corbels.

INTERIORS: Inner door with leaded glazing; open-well staircase with paired slat balustrade; simpler service stair; original fireplace in ground-floor SW room, with carved decoration and oval to overmantel; some plaster cornicing; inserted partitions.

HISTORY: The North Oxford suburb evolved from about 1860 on land owned by St. John's College, with the College gradually making available discreet sets of building plots to lease as it sought to ensure a firm financial future for its endowment. St. John's kept strict control of the development, both in terms of the scale of the houses, and their distribution. All designs were vetted for quality, and to ensure adequate provision of front walls and railings, and rear gardens. This house was built for Major Henry Adair. Now in use as student accommodation for Linacre College.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: A large house of 1886, of special architectural interest as a particularly successful example of Wilkinson and Moore's work in the Domestic Revival style. Overhanging asymmetrical gables contribute to a taught composition, with finely carved stone details and clear definition between family living rooms, stair bay and service end. Interior has inserted partitions and few original fireplaces, but stair arrangements are intact and original plan is still evident.

SOURCES: T. Hinchcliffe, North Oxford (1992); A. Saint, 'Three Oxford Architects', Oxoniensia 35 (1970), 53-102.