Description

HOLLOW WAY, COWLEY
1.
5353
(West Side)
26/733 The Nuffield Press, East
Wing and attached former
School House
II
2.
Formerly school and military college, then car factory, now mainly offices
for printing works. Former School House 1852; East Wing 1877-8 by Sir
T G Jackson; C20 alterationr,restored 1983. East Wing. Rendered with terracotta
enrichments and brick dressings. Plain-tile hipped roof with truncated ridge
stack to right above a Dutch gable. Renaissance-Revival style. 3-storey,
10-window range of mainly 2-light cross windows with glazing bars. Brick
surrounds and cut-brick aprons. The 3rd bay from right breaks forward slightly
under the gable and has a tall window at 2nd floor. Terracotta moulded strings.
To rear there are elaborate terracotta pilasters and entralatures dividing
the bays and floors, with recessed blank ovals on 2nd floor. Rubble stone
wall to left where intended cowl was left unfinished. Attached to left of
East Wing is the former School House. Coursed rubble stone with ashlar dressings
and Welsh slate roof with stone end and lateral stacks. L-plan. 2 storeys
and attic. Front to Hollow Way is of 5-window range: mostly 2-light stone
mullioned and transomed windows to ground and 1st floors. Gable to right
has canted oriel to lst floor and 3-light attic window. Two 3-light roof
dormers. Front to Oxford Road is similar, of 4-window range with canted
bay ground floor window to gable to right and small attic oriel. Three 2-light
roof dormers. Ground floor and gable windows have hood moulds. Stone-coped
shouldered gable parapets with kneelers, and stone parapets. Interiors altered
but Lord Nuffield's office from 1912-63 in School House, has been retained.
The School House was built for Cowley College and the East Wing for the Oxford
Military College. In 1912 William Morris, later Lord Nuffield, converted
the East Wing for the Morris car factory and from 1913 'bullnose' Morris
Oxfords were produced in it. "Car parts were received and any machining
and drilling carried out on the ground floor; the first floor being used
for assembling the chassis frame and the fitting of engines and wheels.
Car bodies were fitted to the chassis on the second floor while the loft
was used for storage and painting wheels." (Stratton, M., From Trestles
to Track: The Conservation of Historic Car Factories in the UK. Research
paper for HBMCE by Institute of Industrial Archaeology, 1986, ptl, plO; pt2,
p18 and p38-9. Sheppard, J.M., Nuffield Press, A Jubilee History, 1985, p5,
12 - 23 and illustrations). The other buildings at the Nuffield Press are
not of special architectural interest.

Listing NGR: SP5463904264

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26299194

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2