121, Banbury Road Oxford, England

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

612/0/10142 BANBURY ROAD 07-OCT-08 121

II House. 1903. Architect - H.T. Hare

MATERIALS: Red brick in English bond, with darker red flush quoins, pargetted details and stone dressings to entrance; moulded wooden cornice below sprocketted eaves; plain tile roof; brick chimneys, to left of centre and in pairs at either end.

PLAN: A double pile house, of c.1660 style.

FAÇADE: 2 storeys, attic and cellars; 3 bays. Front: symmetrical. Brick outer bays are slightly advanced under shallow hips, and have 4-light wooden casements (ovolo-moulded internally) with gauged brick aprons. Ground-floor windows have moulded wooden cornices and transoms, plain glazed lower metal casements and leaded upper lights. All first-floor and attic windows are leaded. Original downpipes with spirally fluted hoppers, flanked by added later pipes. Centre bay has 4-light dormer with central pediment, extended by 4 lights to left, and rendered upper storey, colourwashed, with pargetted swag and pilasters flanking 4 paired casements. Ground floor is part ashlar, with 3-light leaded stone mullion windows and central stone doorcase with panelled pilasters, scrolled keyblock and open segmental pediment. Part-glazed door. Rear: lower pitch of roof is hipped and projects over 3 canted 2-storey bays. These have pargetted panels between storeys, with blank heraldic shields and flanking drops. Leaded fenestration as to front, the right bays with central Ipswich arches over half-glazed doors. Left bay has central brick pier between service windows. Flat-roofed dormers, canted to centre. c.1950 2-storey wing projects to right.

INTERIORS: Panelled entrance lobby with cloakroom off and arch to hall; lintel on scroll brackets between hall and stairs; staircase with turned wooden balusters, ramped handrail and gentle ascent. Dining room to centre rear has moulded plaster cornice and ceiling panel, and fireplace with heavy frieze of fluting and paterae over opening with figured blue and white tiles. Drawing Room to SW corner has ceiling ribs, and fireplace with mirror-panel frieze and original tiles ¿ geometric margins and green and red intersection motifs. Elaborately moulded fireplace with eared architrave in former morning room to SE. Original cupboards in serving area. First floor partitioned.

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. In the later C19 and early C20 development spread further north, including down Banbury Road, with neo-vernacular red brick and tile-hanging replacing the earlier preference for stock bricks and gothic detailing. H.T. Hare, the architect of 121 (dated 1903 over entrance), was also responsible for the Oxford's new Town Hall. Extended c.1950s for Convent of Springfield St. Mary. Now student accommodation for St. Clare's International College.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: 121 Banbury Road stands out from its nearby contemporaries by virtue of its sophisticated composition which evokes a Restoration style, with a huge hipped roof and rear window. Fine brick and window details, pargetting and a good interior, are consistent with the special architectural character.

SOURCES: T. Hinchcliffe, North Oxford (1992)