North Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area Appraisal North Oxford Victorian Suburb Contents Statement of Special Interest 3 1. Introduction 5 2. Context 7 3. Historical Development 8 4. Spatial Analysis 12 5. Buildings 16 6. Character Areas 23 Norham Manor 23 Park Town 26 Bardwell 29 Kingston Road 33 St Margaret's 36 Banbury Road 39 North Parade 42 Lathbury and Staverton Roads 45 7. Vulnerabilities, Negative Features and Opportunities for Enhancement 47 8. SOURCES 51 9. APPENDICES 52 1: Listed Buildings 52 2: Positive Unlisted Buildings 58 3: Maps 59 1 1. Summary of Significance Statement of Special Interest This conservation area’s primary signifi- cance derives from its character as a distinct area, imposed in part by topography as Summary well as by land ownership from the 16th century into the 21st century. At a time Key positive features when Oxford needed to expand out of its • Diversity historic core centred around the castle, the • Village-like enclaves medieval streets and the major colleges, these two factors enabled the area to be • Quality of the buildings laid out as a planned suburb as lands asso- • Residential houses a special feature ciated with medieval manors were made • Gothic, Italianate, Arts and Crafts, Vernacular styles available. This gives the area homogeneity • Purpose-built college teaching and as a residential suburb. In the eastern and residential accommodation central parts of the area as a whole, this • Contribution of 20th and 21st centuries to the area is reinforced by the broad streets and the feeling of spaciousness created by the • Three ecclesiastical buildings generously proportioned and well-planted • 73 listed buildings and a further 21 buildings gardens. To the west of Woodstock Road, that make a positive contribution the spaciousness gives way to denser • Park Town a registered park and garden housing in narrower plots as was consid- • Variety of materials adding texture to the built stock ered appropriate for the homes of artisans. • Low front walls In its Conservation Principles (2008), Historic • Retained and restored railings England suggests that significance may be • Feather-edged boarded fences understood in terms of the following values: • Trees • Evidential value (evidence • Front gardens where retained of past human activity) • Peaceful side streets • Historical value (the association of the • Views of St Philip and St James and place with past people or events) other landmark buildings • Aesthetic value (sensory appreciation • Absence of structured views that may be designed or fortuitous) • Communal value (meaning of a place Negative features for people who relate to it, this may well • Inappropriate modifications and enlargement extend beyond the current users/owners) • Modern developments that are neither sympathetic Evidential value to nor enhance the conservation area The area has considerable evidential poten- • Inappropriate boundary treatments tial for below ground archaeology being • Effects of corporate usage of buildings on the edge of an extensive landscape of designed for residential use late Neolithic-early Bronze Age funerary monuments and Iron Age, Roman and early • Light pollution Saxon rural settlement. The two main roads • Loss of front gardens into the city have a long history and are a • Poorly maintained road surfaces key factor both in defining the nature of the • Extensive use of asphalt for pavement surfaces suburb and as significant entrances into • Traffic the city. Evidential value is derived from the conservation area’s rich texture. On • Parking the one hand the development of the St • Storage problems for bins and bicycles John’s Estate into an early ‘garden suburb’ with large houses reflecting growth of a 2 3 Conservation Area Appraisal 1. Introduction North Oxford Victorian Suburb and the church of St Philip and St James, Designation and boundaries whole areas and not just individual build- • Closing of views between buildings also Grade I. The list could be increased ings. As they were drawing up a scheme The designation of North Oxford as a as there are many significant non-listed to designate Park Town, Norham Gardens, conservation area was a significant mile- buildings which greatly enhance the area. Canterbury Road, North Parade (amongst Vulnerabilities stone in its acceptance as an area of But it is not just the bricks and mortar that others in the same vicinity) as an area of architectural and historic importance as • Loss of front boundary walls emphasise aesthetic value, as the posi- significance, Duncan Sandys’ 1967 Civic well as in terms of planning legislation. and boundary features tive contribution of trees, front gardens Amenities Act was passed enabling the • Character of new development where they survive, broad streets and the The architectural significance of the estate Council to formally designate the same • Increased density of retention of elegant street furniture all add had been questioned after the Second block of streets as a conservation area. new development to the conservation area’s significance. World War. Proposals were being put The first designation came into effect on • Loss of green landscape forward for relief roads running through 6 May 1968. It was extended in 1972 to Communal value the centre of the suburb; St John’s were • Loss of mature trees incorporate Fyfield Road and include the considering plans for wide-scale redevelop- • Increase in traffic Communal value is manifest in a range of previously omitted sections of Norham ment of their estate; changes in ownership important indicators. The conservation area Manor and to consolidate the boundary • Microgeneration and use, together with mounting pressure is greatly valued by residents, visitors and along Banbury Road. Rawlinson Road, • Corporate use of former from other colleges and the University for those who work there for the quality of its in the northern sector of the estate, was residential buildings additional accommodation, all of which buildings and shared spaces. Educational designated as a separate conservation were placing North Oxford in a vulnerable establishments, whether University level in area in 1973 reflecting its “complete and position. The residents and preserva- the colleges, ordinand training at Wycliffe unspoilt area of Victorian character”. At the tion bodies were becoming increasingly wealthy commercial class is balanced on Hall or in schools all have significance for time of this designation, Rawlinson Road concerned that North Oxford would be the other by the market gardens, orchards past and present users of those buildings. was mainly unchanged. It was one of the sacrificed in favour of development and and nurseries out of which the suburb The purpose-built working men’s institute last roads to be developed under Moore’s set about trying to save the suburb. was planned. Further contrast is evident in Polstead Road is a reminder of philan- supervision but was beginning to come in the surviving industrial heritage of the thropic support for the artisan classes living The event which was instrumental in under threat from developers. The bound- canal which forms the western boundary. in the western segment of the conservation aries were further consolidated in 1976 to area and provides essential communal securing the City’s first conservation area designation was the proposal by the merge the two North Oxford designations Historical value space today. Apart from a Greek Orthodox and expand the boundary to incorporate church in Canterbury Road, the churches University for the new Pitt Rivers Museum The historical value of the conservation area all of the ‘Wilkinson-Moore’ area, as well are all Anglican but strategically placed in on Banbury Road. The University had derives from the major contribution of a as the post-First World War developments relation to each other and the development acquired nos. 56–64 Banbury Road from St small number of respected architects to the in the eastern section of the suburb. The of the suburb. War Memorials attached to John’s in the early 1960s and despite the development of an almost rural ethos that boundaries now extend from Walton Well churches or in schools and in colleges have provisional listing of nos. 60 (considered contrasts significantly with the lanes and Road, the north side of Leckford Road, St significance as a focus for remembrance to be Wilkinson’s finest North Oxford work) alleys of the city centre. Blue Plaques are an Giles and the University Parks in the south, and a reminder of past residents or pupils. and 62 under the 1962 Town & Country indication of notable residents, many asso- up to Frenchay, Lathbury and Belbroughton Finally leisure or gentle recreational facil- Planning Act, the proposal included ciated with the University but also several Roads in the north; the River Cherwell in ities are available to all whether using the demolition of these properties. There affluent professionals whose status was the east and the Oxford Canal in the west. river and the canal or as joggers, walkers was considerable local objection to the reflected by the grandeur of the houses. The boundaries were drawn to include and cyclists. There are at least three hotels proposals in terms of potential demolition, Within the conservation area are three the Victorian development of the St John’s utilising large houses east of the Banbury the replacement building and proposed colleges which were seminal for providing College estate. The northern boundary was Road, a well-established restaurant in what use. The development would alter the university-level education for women and drawn along its present line as these roads was Gee’s Nursery and three pubs in North character and appearance of Banbury four newer colleges which focus on interna- marked the most northerly developments Parade and St Margaret’s character areas. Road and the use was at odds with the tional studies and postgraduate level study. City’s Development Plan as North Oxford of Wilkinson and Moore encompassing the had been zoned as residential.