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Radcliffe Observatory Quarter Walton Street Wall Strategy Document 2 Contents

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Radcliffe Observatory Quarter Walton Street Wall Strategy Document 2 Contents Radcliffe Observatory Quarter Walton Street Wall Strategy Document 2 Contents Section Description Page 1 Introduction 5 2 History of the Wall 2.1 General history 6 2.2 Historic maps of the wall 7 2.3 Description of the wall 12 2.4 Significance of the wall 14 3 Walton Street 3.1 General description of Walton Street 18 3.2 Walton Street frontage conditions 20 3.3 Walton Street views and sections 28 4 Public and Private Realm 4.1 Spatial typologies in Oxford 30 4.2 Central University Area 34 4.3 Keble College and South Parks Road 36 4.4 Walton Street and the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter 38 4.5 Colleges, hospitals and hotels 40 4.6 Spatial typologies and the development of the Radcliffe 42 Observatory Quarter 5 Approaches to Development 5.0 Introduction 44 5.1 Retain the wall as it is today 45 5.2 Retain the wall with modifications 46 5.3 Retain the wall with engaged buildings 47 5.4 Retain the wall built into new buildings 48 5.5 Lower the wall 49 5.6 Remove the wall completely 50 5.7 Remove the wall but retain key sections 51 6 Conclusion 52 3 4 1 Introduction This report examines the wall to the west of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ), Green Woodstock Road which forms its boundary with Walton Street. It was originally built as a demesne Templeton wall enclosing and protecting the properties of the Radcliffe Observatory and the College Radcliffe Infirmary. Although this Report considers the history and significance of the wall, it primarily examines the spatial character of the area around the wall and looks at how it has changed over time. In this way we hope to find some evidence that will relate the new spatial character of the ROQ to previous spatial organisations of the Radcliffe site, allowing us to make decisions about the future of the wall. Observatory One assumption of this report is that it is possible to describe the urban realm in terms of spatial typology. That is the relationship between buildings, walls, enclosed Radcliffe and open space and how they affect the perception of people using the city. Infirmary Certain buildings and places, by their forms and adjacencies, let us know that they are open and accessible; other are clearly private and we know when we cross critical thresholds. Urban form has developed in such a way that we are normally subliminally aware of these distinctions and they are fundamental to our ability to navigate the city. The city of Oxford has developed around certain dominant typologies. The walled St Paul’s Church or cloistered college conflated the organisation of the monastery and the manor house into a new spatial form characterised by introspection. Religious, civic and University institutions were normally more open to the public realm. This may seem entirely self evident but it is not. St. Mary the Virgin enjoys an open relationship with its surroundings quite unlike the temenos of a Roman temple or its descendents in Somerville Islamic religious architecture. College Walton Street In central Oxford, private residential or commercial property is interspersed between the two dominant types forming an infill layer. However, the key spatial characteristic of the city is the polarisation between the bounded college enclosures and the more Oxford expansive institutional buildings. University Press In this report we will examine the existing mixed spatial character of Walton Street (Section 2). We will look at the dominant spatial typologies in the city with reference to the Central University Area and South Parks Road (Section 3). We will compare Above: Aerial photo of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site [ Walton Street Wall] these with the proposed new spatial character of the ROQ and we will look at how that character is changing over time. We will conclude by looking at the varying approaches for developing the space around the Walton Street Wall (Section 4). We will propose a framework for the future development of this part of the site. 5 2 History of the Wall 2.1 General history of the wall Map progression charting the development of the Walton Street Wall History of the Walton Street Wall On the 1878 and 1921 OS maps a path is marked by dotted lines running near to the north edge of the Observatory site to a point in the north end of the wall. It is likely that the northern section of the Walton Street wall was constructed at Logically, therefore, an entrance in the wall would have been present here by some point between 1770 and 1795 at the same time as the Observatory. The wall 1878. However, the pedestrian and vehicular entrance that still exists today [1] continued around the rest of the Observatory site and at the northern boundary appears to be of a later construction. It is difficult to say when this was carried out. the wall still survives. The southern boundary wall of the Observatory was still in It is possible that it was reconstructed in 1931 when entrances 2, 3 and 4 were place on the 1921 OS map but soon after this, in 1929, the Infirmary purchased created. However, this entrance features chamfered edge details to the stonework the Observatory site and the wall between the two was taken down to allow for the which do not feature on the other gateways, indicating that it was constructed at Infirmary’s expansion, though there is a possibility that some parts of it still survive a different time. It is therefore difficult to tell what the date of construction of this in the northern boundary wall of St Paul’s Church. entrance was, though it is likely to be late 19th/early 20th century. The boundary wall of the Infirmary was originally set back from the road slightly, as seen in the 1797 map and had a central gateway. The addition of graveyards at the west of the site meant that this boundary was revised before 1832 and a new set of walls must have been constructed around the burial grounds, though the central pathway was retained. In 1836 St Paul’s Church and its gate posts and railings were constructed abutting the south of the Observatory site and over part of the northern burial ground at the west end of the Infirmary site. A wall was also constructed around the north, east and south sides of the Church, faced in stone on the church side and brick on the Infirmary side. Presumably, being a more prestigious material in this region (most of Oxford’s older buildings are constructed of limestone) the stone was used for the side visible to the church goers and the cheaper material of brick was used for the back of the wall. The 1850 map gives a diagrammatic representation of the wall, i.e. it shows one continuous line without any breaks indicating gates etc. We know that St. Paul’s Church had railings and a gate but these are not shown on the plan. It is therefore possible that there were other openings which are not marked. One such opening could have been where the path in the Infirmary gardens meets the wall [E]. This could have given access from the west of the Infirmary site to the burial grounds of the chapel and Infirmary. However, the wall shows no sign of an opening at this point that has been blocked up and the dramatic change in ground levels either side of the wall would indicate that the ground was built up and the wall rebuilt when the new Fever Ward was constructed in 1870. The ground level may have been raised on the Infirmary side to provide a flat construction surface. The later maps show that the Fever Ward was accessed by a driveway at the south end of the wall next to 199A Walton Street [7]. The construction of the Fever Ward, therefore, also involved the construction of a new access gateway at the south. Key plan with entrances/openings marked as numbers and sections of the wall marked as letters Aerial view of the section of Walton Street in front of the ROQ site. 6 2 History of the wall 2.2 Historic maps of the wall Map progression charting the development of the Walton Street Wall 1797 Richard Davis’ Map 1832 Parish of St Giles, St John’s College Enclosure Map This map shows the early years off the Observatory and Infirmary. The Observatory grounds This map is unfortunately of poor quality but the boundaries of the Infirmary and Observatory show a solid boundary around the north, west, south and possibly the east sides, which sites can still be made out, along with the principal buildings. indicates a boundary wall around the whole site. It is likely that this was constructed as part of the Observatory complex. The Observatory was started in 1770 but not finished until The Observer’s House is now present on the Observatory site. Though the landscaping of 1795. The Observer’s House to the east is not constructed yet. the site has changed slightly the boundary wall appears to have remained the same. At the west end of the Infirmary site there is a wedge shaped patch of grass beside the road. The western boundary of the Infirmary site has changed. There are now two small enclosures Set back from the road is a boundary with a central opening for a gate. This opens to a path located where the patch of grassland had been in 1797. A gap between them indicates a that leads back through the Infirmary gardens.
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