Description

OXFORD
SP 52 OS MARSTON STREET
19/10003 St Stephens House &
attached cloisters
GV II
Theological college, formerly the Mission House of the Society of
St. John the Evangelist, attached to the Church of St. John the
Evangelist, Iffley Road (qv). Late C19 entrance block, probably
by local architect Clapton Crabb Rolfe; attached main block with
cloister, 1899 by G.F. Bodley, built under the supervision of
Brother Maynard SSJE; 1929 1st floor added to Marston Street
Bodley entrance by F.E. Howard and T. Rayson; 1937-9 transeptal
east end added to House Chapel by J.N. Comper. Late C19 entrance
block of red brick with slated pitched roofs and dormers. Short
tower belfrey having pyramidal roof with lucarnes. 2, 3 & 4
storeys with semi-basement. Altered 2 & 3-light metal framed
windows. To rear, 4th storey "Founder's Chapel" with paired 2-
light pointed arch clerestory windows, eastern rose window and
western gable end carved stone Calvery set in a shallow pointed
arch niche (heads of Mary and St. John currently missing).
Interior of chapel with arch-braced roof and simple stained
timber arcading. Similarly stained simple pews. Mural on
western wall depicting the stoning of St. Stephen. Bodley block
rendered with stone dressings. Tiled hipped and pitched roofs
with dormers. To Marston Street, a recessed 2 storey entrance
block with central pointed arch doorway flanked by buttresses and
3-light windows. 2 2-light windows at 1st floor level. This
leads to an E-plan accommodation/office block, mostly 2 storeys
and attics, with cloisters to south-west adjoining the listed
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Iffley Road (q.v.), also by
Bodley. On the same axis as the church, to the north east, the
House Chapel. Windows to E-plan block stone architraved with
transoms and mullions to ground floor and 2-light to 1st, all
with small leaded panes. Single storey north eastern entrance
with central pointed arch doorway flanked by 5-light windows;
single bay central hipped roof extension above. Interior with
simple but good detail. House Chapel, 4 buttressed bays with 2
bay buttressed transeptal east end. Nave with 2-light pointed
arch tracery windows, east end with lancets. Interior with
wooden screen at west end and stalls; painted frieze above nave
windows. Pointed chancel arch head has extrados moulding fading
into walls and intrados moulding on corbel springers as part of
chancel vaulting; simplified corresponding blind arch on east
wall visually frames classical ciborium by Comper. Axial
cloister extension leads to stone flagged rectangular cloister
which closes off the E plan, forming 2 small courtyards, and
abuts the church through which it is entered. Cloister lit by
slightly pointed arch 3-light openings, set in recessed arched
openings to interior, some with window seats.

Listing NGR: SP5261905625

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Stephen's House at Wikipedia
• St Stephen's House official website
• Wikidata IDs Q26523545 Q5273413

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)