No 107 St Aldate's, Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire

Summary

No 107 St Aldate's, believed to have originated as a house of 1594, with fabric surviving from that period, but much altered and extended since; the building has a mid-C19 street frontage with early-C20 shop windows. The extended western section of the building* is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.

Description

House, believed to originate in 1594, with fabric surviving from that period, but much altered and extended since. The building has a mid-C19 street frontage with early-C20 shop windows. The extended western section of the building*, which includes part of a range of C19 former stables, is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: the late-C16 building is thought to have been timber-framed, or partly timber framed, and some of this structure survives; however, the walls are now mainly of stone and brick. The front elevation is rendered and painted stone. The roof is slated; the stacks belonging to the early part of the building have been lost.

PLAN: the building has a narrow frontage on the W side of St Aldate’s, the C19 refronting having brought the frontage slightly further to the W. The original building is thought to be two rooms deep. There are later additions* to the W with a circa 1920s extension* to the NW, and the property now incorporates a section of building to the SW*. None of these western additions is of special interest and they are excluded from the listing.

EXTERIOR: the two-bay street frontage is of three storeys with a ground-floor shopfront. The frame of the shopfront is C19, with the windows having being replaced in the early-C20. The central entrance is flanked by splayed plate glass windows, the northern window having a panel to the rear, with a secondary entrance set in the recess behind. The sides of the shopfront are defined by panelled pilasters with corbels framing the fascia, which slopes inwards from the top; the angle of the N window has a surviving slender cast-iron column dividing the panes, lost in the S window. The setback central double doors are modern replacements. Above the shopfront are sash windows, with timber pelmets. Above the first-floor windows is a projecting moulded string course, following the N return, which contains a first-floor window; a similar moulding serves as a cornice. The second-floor windows are linked by a cill with a wrought-iron railing. There is a parapet pierced with quatrefoils, divided by chamfered blocks.

The building is enclosed on the S and W sides, and the N elevation is partially obscured by the public house, and by a long single-storey room belonging to the pub to the rear. Beyond this, a low brick structure contains a rear entrance giving access to the western part of no 107 St Aldate’s. Above the entrance is set the ‘lantern’ – a rectangular structure with multi-pane metal-framed glazed panels above cast iron panels. Further W is a development of C19 two-storey stables and coach houses, now much altered; the first floor of the easternmost section of this belongs to no 107 St Aldate’s. The ground-floor area of this section is obscured by a C20 lean-to structure; the openings above have replacement windows and there are modern rooflights.

INTERIOR: the ground floor is occupied by the shop; this area has both false walls and ceiling, and no historic features are currently visible apart from two cast-iron columns supporting beams to the rear of the shop.

The secondary entrance gives access to a narrow modern stair leading to the first floor. This area is now open plan. Along the line of the original frontage is a beam, chamfered to the W edge only, with scroll stops. An axial beam, also chamfered and stopped, runs along the S wall, but is now boxed in. In the S wall is a large stone fireplace with a depressed four-centred arch; the opening is moulded and the spandrels undecorated, and the jambs are chamfered with elaborate stops. Herringbone brick to the back of the opening could be original; the opening has been partially filled to accommodate a later grate. The stonework of the S chimneybreast is now exposed, with a relieving arch visible. To the N, at the top of the stairs, is a stone projection, possibly part of a former stone chimneybreast, the angle being chamfered and stopped. No associated fireplace has been uncovered at first-floor level, nor is there a chimneybreast in this position at second-floor level. A timber-framed partition has been revealed to the N wall, with a former door opening, confirming that the original building extended to the N. A late-C19 cast-iron spiral staircase leads from the S of this area, up to the first floor. The staircase has ornate foliate balusters and quatrefoil piercing to the string and risers; the handrail is brass. The first floor is divided into two rooms, with a central landing. The E room has a fireplace to the S wall, of the same form as that on the first floor, but smaller, with a geometric moulding to the spandrels, and with simpler stops to the jambs; the brickwork to the back is laid in straight courses. The room contains an irregularly-shaped timber structure to the NE, constructed as a support in connection with alterations to the roof structure, and now plastered over. The room to the W has elements of timber framing exposed to the W wall, with an inserted sash window. This room has a small fireplace with a late-C19 cast-iron chimneypiece. The pitched roof is in a cross shape, with the main section running W-E, in two parts, and a central transverse section. The roof has been altered at the E end, with the former gable being converted to a hip to facilitate the extension and rebuilding of the frontage. The rafters are pegged at the apex, with no ridge piece, and numbered with carpenters’ marks. The roof is ceiled at the level of the purlins, the collars now covered. A number of the timbers have been replaced, or reused. The stone chimney stack is visible at the S end of the transverse section. The roof over the western area has also seen some alteration. This section has purlins set above the later collars, and one pair of principal rafters with a high collar. The common rafters have been reinforced with modern timbers.

The cellar was not inspected. It is understood that the cellar occupies a space approximately relating to the area of the original house, or the southern part of it, and extends a short distance eastwards below the pavement. Photographic evidence suggests that the cellar contains some portions of historic stone walling.

* Pursuant to s.1(5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘The Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historical interest.

History

The building now known as no 107 St Aldate’s occupies a narrow site representing part of a medieval plot, which originally included the site of the inn immediately to the N. The plot was divided circa 1256, and then re-combined circa 1327 to form the Christopher Inn. The current building is believed to have its origins in a ‘freestone’ house built by Thomas Smith in 1594; evidence within the surviving fabric of the building suggests that it was originally timber-framed, and the use of the word ‘freestone’ may refer to elements of decorative moulding. Some features of the late-C16 building survive, including two fireplaces and the altered roof structure. By the C18 the plot had been re-divided with the northern part becoming the New Inn, rebuilt in the 1890s and now St Aldate's Tavern. The current No 107 was refronted in the mid-C19. The first edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed in 1876, shows an open yard to the rear of the building, with a stable range to the W. The yard appears to have been built over by the time of the 1900 Ordnance Survey map.

The building has been in a number of commercial uses since the mid-C19. Between the 1880s and 1932 the building was occupied by the photographic company Gillman and Co; the company installed the new shop windows in the early C20. The glazed studio or ‘lantern’ in the western part of the building (which is not included in the listing) is thought to date from this period, and the company installed the new shop windows in the early C20. The ground floor is now occupied by a betting shop, and the rest of the building has recently been converted for hotel use.

Reasons for Listing

No 107 St Aldate’s, Oxford, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Date: the building retains significant fabric thought to date from the end of the C16;
* Architectural interest: early architectural features, principally two carved stone fireplaces, are of good quality, indicating a house of some status, and represent a valuable survival;
* Historic interest: as the legible survival of part of a documented late-C16 house, set behind a C19 frontage in this historic commercial street;
* Roof: the roof, with carpenters’ marks to the eastern section, is substantially intact;
* Exterior: the mid-C19 frontage with its quatrefoil-pierced parapet and good early-C20 shopfront makes a contribution to the largely C19 character of this stretch of St Aldate’s;
* Group value: with the 1890s Town Hall and museum (Grade II*) the C17 house at Nos 6 and 7 St Aldate’s, the early-C19 house at Nos 98 St Aldate’s (both Grade II), and with the multiple designations of Christ Church College.

External Links

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