Secular Buildings

Arms of the City of Oxford

(50) Oxford Castle, earthworks, tower, crypt, etc., stands on the W. side of the town on the S. side of New Road. The castle, now mainly a prison, was founded by Robert d'Oilly in 1071, to whom must be ascribed the motte and bailey earthwork; the Chapel of St. George was founded in 1074. Probably very shortly afterwards and still in the 11th century St. George's Tower was built. There is a record (Pipe Roll 20th Henry II) of the sinking of a well in 1173–4 but it is uncertain if this applies to the well on the motte. The structures on the motte consisted of a shell-keep of decagonal form and 58 ft. in diameter with walls 5–6 ft. thick, an inner structure of the same form 22 ft. in diameter with walls 3 ft. thick and the still existing well-chamber. The date of the two first structures is uncertain, but the remains were excavated before 1796 and are now again covered in. The well-chamber dates from the 13th century. The castle was in a ruinous state in 1331 but there is little evidence of its subsequent condition. Much destruction was done in the middle of the 17th century and the castle has been long used as a prison. The site was largely cleared and new buildings were finished in 1805. The assizecourt was built in 1841 and the gaol was remodelled in 1848–56, when the crypt of the chapel was reconstructed. Much of the N. side of the earthwork was destroyed by the construction of the New Road.

Oxford Castle

Oxford Castle, Plan Showing Relative Positions of Tower and Crypt

The Earthworks now consist of the motte and very slight traces of the ditch of the bailey towards the S. and S.E. The general outline of the enclosure is shown on the accompanying plan. The Motte was about 250 ft. in diameter at the base and 81 ft. at the top and rises about 64 ft. above the adjoining road. The base has been cut back in various places and the top is reached by a modern foot-path. On the top is a slightly raised circular platform probably preserving the outline of the inner structure mentioned above. The Well-house is sunk in the top of the mound and is approached by a later stairway. It is hexagonal on plan and dates from early in the 13th century. The stone vault has chamfered ribs meeting at the centre and springing from moulded corbels with square abaci and tapering at the bottom. The well is of considerable depth and is 4 ft. in diameter; it is now dry. Re-set in the entrance to the chamber are some 16th-century stones bearing shields-of-arms of Fox, Bishop of Winchester, the See of Durham (?) and Neville, Bishop of Exeter (?).

St. George's Tower (Plate 211) (17 ft. by 19½ ft. with walls 9 ft. thick in the ground stage) stands on the W. side of the former bailey and on the line of the former curtain. It is built of coursed rubble with rubble quoins and a diagonal staircase-turret at the S.E. angle. The external faces have a series of small offsets, six in number on the W. side, giving the appearance of a pronounced batter. The interior is of four storeys, two of the floors of which retain heavy beams of some age. The ground storey has, in the E. wall, a round-headed arch with square responds and imposts; it is probably a comparatively modern restoration. In the W. wall is a blocked window with an irregular semi-circular head and a transom at the level of the first external offset; the upper part lights the second storey. The third and fourth storeys have, in the W. wall, an altered or inserted window with a square head. The walls rise a considerable height above the roof and have on each side two inserted cruciform loops with semi-circular rear-arches. On the E. side these loops appear to have been inserted in the blocking of larger round-headed openings which are visible externally; in the middle of the N. and S. walls are similar blocked openings. The tower is said to have served as the campanile of the chapel, the nave of which may well have extended up to it.

The Chapel of St. George is now represented by the Crypt (Plate 213) (32 ft. by 24½ ft.) which presumably stood under the chancel. It has been taken down and reconstructed, first in 1794 when its position is said to have been slightly altered and again perhaps in 1848. It is of late 11th-century date but the ashlar groined vaulting with cross-arches is presumably of 1794; the rubble side walls are also presumably of this date. The columns and responds are original; the columns are cylindrical with moulded bases; the capitals of the four eastern columns have crudely cut groovings at the angles; one side has an amorphous face in the upper part and another has a simple cross; the two western capitals are plainly shaped from round to square. The pilasters have simple capitals with neckings and square abaci. The E. end of the building is formed by the curved modern wall of part of the prison which cuts into the reconstructed vaulting. Elsewhere the reconstruction of the vault is evidenced by the intrusion of modern brick above some of the cross-arches. Early views of the castle indicate that the chapel terminated in an apse.

Condition—Good.

(51) The City Wall formerly enclosed an area of about 110 to 120 acres and of roughly rectangular form. There is evidence that the town had defences before the Conquest and these were no doubt of earth and timber. The enclosure is referred to in Domesday book and it is probable that the defences were restored and strengthened by Robert d'Oilly soon after the Conquest. Perhaps at this time the earthen bank was strengthened by a stone wall; the excavations of 1899 N. of the Bodleian Library seemed to indicate that an earthen bank reinforced by a stone wall turned towards the S. at this point, while above it the later wall extended towards the N.E. It would thus appear possible that at some period the town extended little if at all beyond the line of Catte Street towards the E, but the evidence is slight. At the S.W. angle of the enclosure the defences were interrupted by the castle. There can be no doubt that since 1100 there has been no alteration in the line of the wall, but between the years 1226 and 1240 the whole of the wall between New Inn Hall Street and Merton Garden was re-built with numerous bastions. The land left vacant by the removal of the earlier earthen bank was let as gardens. The main work seems to have been finished by 1240, though there are later murage grants for added bastions, no doubt on the S. side of the town. In 1371 the king ordered the ditch to be cleaned and the walls to be repaired and much of the surviving work on the N. and E. sides of the town appears to be of the 14th century and later. The portion bounding the property of New College was no doubt re-conditioned by William of Wykeham and he agreed with the town that the college should keep the wall in repair from Hell Passage to E. gate. From c. 1350 onwards the walls were encroached upon by buildings and the bastions came to be used as tenements. The S. gate was pulled down by Cardinal Wolsey and the W. gate came to an end c. 1600; the N. and E. gates were removed in 1772. Besides the four main gates towards the cardinal points there were minor gates of some importance—Littlegate in the S. wall and Smythgate in the N. wall.

The surviving parts of the wall are built of local rubble with ashlar dressings. The bastions are hollow and not closed with masonry on the inner face. The wall with its bastions will be described beginning from the N. side of the castle and proceeding clockwise.

Architectural Description—The length of wall between Bulwark (or Bullock) Lane and New Inn Hall Street has been much altered; the W. part appears to have been reconstructed and there is a large patch of re-used material further E. About 50 yards of the lower part of the wall up to the bastion appear to be mediæval and the walling is of large roughly coursed rubble. The Bastion (1), like the others on the N. wall, forms a slightly stilted semi-circle on plan; it is standing 5 to 7 ft. high of which the lower part is mediæval. In the E. and W. walls are blocked two-light windows, probably of the 17th century; the interior is filled up with earth. The wall to the E. survives to a height of 3 or 4 ft. but is masked on the outside by modern buildings.

The section of wall between New Inn Hall Street, where there was a postern, and Cornmarket Street is now reduced to a length on the N. side of No. 24 St. Michael's Street. A short distance E. of the postern there was a Bastion (2) now destroyed. The surviving length of wall is probably mediæval at the base but the upper part has been reconstructed. Another Bastion (3) stood about 70 yards W. of Cornmarket Street; it was destroyed in 1870. The N. Gate with the adjoining prison of Bocardo stood on Cornmarket Street and was destroyed in 1772.

The section of wall between Cornmarket Street and Catte Street has suffered extensive demolition. Immediately E. of N. Gate the wall was set forward at some uncertain period. The existing wall on this line seems to be a reconstruction at any rate above ground; below the ground remains of three foundation-arches were discovered in 1906. Bastion (4) is still standing to a height of about 25 ft., and forms part of No. 1 Ship Street. It is divided into three modern storeys and has modern windows and parapet. If the wall to the E. has survived it is only in the cellars of houses Nos. 6–12 Ship Street where the N. wall is of rubble and is of considerable thickness; there are remains of an outer or N. face in the yard of No. 8. Bastion (5) now forms the kitchen of No. 15 Ship Street; it is standing to a height of 15 to 20 ft. but has been extensively altered and the N. wall partly reconstructed in brick without a curve; there is an original loop facing N.E. This bastion was repaired in 1423–4 (Mun. Civ. Oxon. 283). There was an opening in the wall, of post-mediæval date, at the end of Turl Street. The wall and two Bastions (6 and 7) on the ground now occupied by Exeter College and the Old Ashmolean Building have been destroyed. The retaining wall of the area S. of the latter building represents the line of the wall but the facing is no doubt of late 17th-century date. Bastion (8) stood immediately to the N. of the Schools Quadrangle. It was largely demolished when the Old Clarendon Building was erected but the remains were excavated in 1899. The bastion was of the normal form and had two openings in the outer wall probably representing former loops; from the E. side a wall was traced running N.E. towards Smythgate. Below the wall to the W. and extending to the E. of the bastion were foundations of an earlier wall which appeared to curve towards the S. Evidence was found which was thought to indicate that a bank formerly existed against the inner face of the wall. Smythgate stood across Catte Street immediately to the W. of the still existing chapel of St. Mary (see Hertford College), which occupies the site of a former bastion.

The section of wall between Catte Street and the N.E. angle of the city is, in great part, preserved on the land of New College. It has been demolished for a distance of about 30 yards to the E. of St. Mary's chapel, but survives in part along the S. side of Hell Passage. Bastion (9) in this passage has been cut back and the curve replaced by a modern straight wall. E. of this bastion the wall is standing to its full height and is finished with an embattled parapet, partly restored; the base has a batter about 3 ft. high and above it is about 3½ ft. of small coursed rubble, while the upper part of the wall is of rubble with an admixture of squared blocks; the lower part is probably part of the 13th-century structure and the upper part a reconstruction of the 14th century. Bastion (10) has been replaced by the Bell Tower of New College. The wall to the E. appears to be of two dates, the lower part being earlier than the building of the college; in it is a doorway or postern, now blocked; the doorway has a two-centred arch and is set in a recess continued up the face of the wall; the sill of the doorway is high above the present ground-level. Bastion (11) stands largely intact. It is of two stages, with a parapet-walk, and is open towards the S. The lower storey has three loops and a blocked opening to the E.; the upper storey also had three loops but one has been blocked and a second largely destroyed; there is also a loop in the embattled parapet. The wall (Plate 214) to the E. shows certain differences in its structural materials which may indicate differences in date or build; in it is a modern gateway. Bastion (12) has had the face of the curve cut back and replaced by a straight wall, in the 18th century; in the face is a gateway with double chamfered jambs and four-centred arch; the parapet survives only on the side walls; some rubble walling at the base of the S.W. angle may be part of the original 13th-century building. The upper stage retains a loop in both the E. and W. walls. The wall to the E. sets forward from the line further W. and the wall itself is thinner; the E. half has traces of an earlier and broader foundation below it. Bastion (13) is still largely intact (Plate 214) and is similar to (11); it had four loops in the ground storey, of which two are blocked; the upper storey has two loops. The wall to the E. is of two sections with a slight change in direction and a straight joint between the two; the E. section appears to be the earlier as at the junction there are traces of a former doorway, destroyed when the W. section was re-built; the two sections differ also in the character of the masonry. The character of the embattled parapet also changes, the E. part having a series of loops in the merlons; near the next bastion is a blocked doorway or postern. Bastion (14) forms the angle of the town-wall; it is of two stages with a parapet-walk like the others and has four loops in the ground-storey, three loops in the upper storey and loops in the parapet.

The section of wall between the N.E. angle and High Street is mainly still standing. The first length of wall is of two builds, the thickness being increased in the S. half from about 5 ft. to 6¼ ft. The N. half is of rather large coursed stones and the embattled parapet is similar to that W. of the angle-bastion; built into the wall is an octagonal stone carved with a lion-mask and probably of the 17th century. The S. half of the wall is of coursed rubble of a different type and there is a straight joint between the two lengths of parapet. Bastion (15) (Plate 214) differs from those on the N. side by having an unstilted semi-circular projection; it is of two storeys with a parapet-walk and embattled parapet; the ground storey has remains of two partly destroyed and blocked loops; the upper storey has three partly restored loops. The wall to the S. is in two builds divided by an irregular joint towards the S. end. On the outer face part of a rough blocked arch is visible from the garden of No. 12 Long Wall Street. The parapet has several alterations in level and in the spacing of the crenels; some of the merlons have loops. The Bastion (16) is similar in form to (15); though standing to its full height it has been much altered and refaced; the loops are confined to the parapet. The wall survives to its full height for a short distance S. of the bastion; further S. it has been largely demolished up to the site of E. Gate, which was demolished about 1772.

The City wall between Smythgate and E. Gate seems to have been provided with an outer line of fortification, some 33 ft. in advance of the main wall. This outer wall is referred to in documents of 1336 and 1484 (Oxford City Properties, 368 and Reg. Ann. Coll. Mertoniensis, 1483–1521, 36–7), and it seems probable that it formed part of the 13th-century construction of this part of the defences; in form it may be compared with the outer enclosure of the Tower of London and with the outer line of town-wall at Carcassonne. The wall seems to have formed the inner revetment of the town-ditch and probably rose but little above the level of the area between it and the main wall. The line on the N. face of the city is preserved on early plans of the city and was provided with bastion-like projections. It has now largely disappeared, but a modern revetment in the N. gardens of New College represents its line and projecting from it is a segmental platform, opposite Bastion (13) and representing one of the outer bastions; further E. is a stretch of rubble walling in the garden of No. 100 Holywell.

The section of wall between High Street and the S.E. angle of the city has been entirely destroyed as far as the summer-house in Merton College garden; in this part there were formerly two bastions (17 and 18). To the S. of the summer-house the wall survives to the height of about 13 ft. but much patched. It is of roughly coursed rubble. The S.E. angle-bastion (19) has been entirely demolished.

The section of wall between the S.E. angle and Christ Church has been much patched and altered. Of the stretch W. of the angle only about 5 ft. at the base seems to be mediæval; the superstructure is of later and modern repair. Bastion (20) (Plate 214) opposite Merton College has been extensively patched and re-built; it has a semi-circular projection and the interior has been filled with the earth of a terrace. The wall to the W. continues at the same height for over 30 yards; beyond this point the height drops to about 6 ft.; the material is similar to the stretch of wall to the E. and the upper part has been re-built. In the higher part of the wall is a blocked doorway or postern, with chamfered jambs and segmental-pointed head with a relieving arch; it is perhaps of the 14th or 15th century; a little to the W. is a patch or blocking perhaps representing a former entrance to Merton College; still further W. is a rubble segmental arch at the base of the wall and probably constructional. The walling immediately to the E. of Merton Grove seems to have been largely re-built. The E. part of the wall in Christ Church garden has been refaced with ashlar. Bastion (21) is similar in general character to (20) but is rather larger; from this point the wall appears to have run S. to enclose the priory buildings, but there are now no remains of the wall between this point and St. Aldate's Street. The line was no doubt extended to include the monastic buildings when St. Frideswide's Priory was founded, but all trace of this line has probably been destroyed by the buildings of Christ Church. The S. Gate stood across St. Aldate's Street at the end of Brewer Street.

The section of wall between St. Aldate's Street and the Castle has been much altered and partly destroyed. On the S. side of Pembroke College it forms the boundary to Brewer Street and the substructure of some of the buildings. The walling is of roughly coursed rubble and the eastern end has been much re-built except in the lower part; further W. it forms a garden wall pierced by two modern doorways; to the E. of the S. range of the college the wall has been re-built, but under the S. range itself the wall survives for a height of about 6 ft.; near the W. end is a triangular relieving arch. Under the college chapel the wall was entirely re-built with the building of the chapel in 1732. To the W. of the chapel the wall is still standing to a height of 16 or 17 ft. but repaired at the top. The wall ends at Littlegate Street and about 30 yards to the E. is a blocked segmental arch just above the pavement level. To the W. of Littlegate Street, across which there was a minor gate, the remains of the wall are fragmentary. The line ran between Penson's Gardens and Church Street heading for the junction of the latter street and Castle Street; about half way along the course seems to have been diverted, perhaps by the Greyfriars church which was built against it. The outer face of the wall can be seen in places as the N. boundary of the gardens of houses in Charles Street; it is of rubble, considerably repaired. On the N. of the N. house in King's Terrace, there are remains of the wall in both the back and front gardens; in the latter is a wide recess on the face of the wall and what may be remains of a doorway to the E. of it; this may be connected with the doorway which the Franciscans were allowed to make in 1248. The W. Gate stood at the junction of Church Street and Castle Street.

Condition—Of section, on and bounding New College site, good, of rest fragmentary, and obscured by buildings.

(52) Civil War Earthworks now survive only in small portions to the N.E. of the city. Earthwork defences were thrown up at the outbreak of the civil war but these were destroyed, at any rate in part, when the Parliament troops entered the city. On the King's entry in October 1642 work was again begun on a complete scheme preserved in de Gomme's plan of 1644 (Oxoniensia I, 168). The defences were ordered to be slighted and dismantled in March 1647. The surviving remains of these works are as follows—(a) The boundary-fence of the garden of Holywell Mill forms a portion of tenaille trace on plan, which represents a work at this point shown on de Gomme's plan; the earthworks themselves have been levelled. (b) Behind a house in Manor Road and under a building of the University O.T.C. is a slight bank running N.N.W.; it is approximately on a line shown by de Gomme. (c) Between the cricket grounds of Merton and Balliol Colleges is a scarp, 4–5 ft. high, which turns outwards near King's Mound House for a short distance, and again returns to the W. till it reaches Mansfield Road; on the W. side of the road the scarp returns to the original alignment along the S. boundary of Mansfield College. This line corresponds to one shown on Loggan's plan, but only very approximately with the inner line shown on de Gomme's plan. From the S.W. angle of Mansfield College grounds the line turns N.N.W., becoming a definite rampart and forming the N.E. boundary of Wadham College garden, as far as South Park Road, where it turned W.S.W. and has been destroyed. The rampart is about 34 ft. wide and rises 13½ ft. above the ground to the E. and 7 ft. above the garden. This stretch does not agree with the inner line on de Gomme's plan. The bank on the E. side of St. John's College garden does not seem to have formed any part of the fortifications.

There are now no recognisable remains of the siegeworks on Headington Hill and in its neighbourhood, shown on de Gomme's plan.

Condition—Poor.

High Street—N. side

(53) Houses, Nos. 9–15, 55 yards E. of Cornmarket Street, are of four storeys with cellars; the walls are of rubble and brick and the roofs are slate-covered. The two western tenements seem to have been largely re-built c. 1690; the brick front has rusticated quoins. The eastern tenements were re-built in 1774. Inside the building, a room on the first floor has an enriched cornice and a panel with carved pendants of fruit and flowers. Below the basement is a cellar with walls of rough ashlar and possibly of mediæval date.

Condition—Good, much altered.

(54) Mitre Hotel, 20 yards E. of (53), is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are of stone, brick and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The cellars are of late 13th-century date and later; the range on the High Street was re-built c. 1630 but the E. end on Turl Street, built or re-built in the 17th century, has been entirely modernised and attics added; the range on Turl Street dates also from the 17th century but has been modernised and there are considerable modern additions on the N. The streetfront has been altered in the 18th century. On the N. front (Plate 10), the second and attic floors both project on moulded bressummers; the attics have three gables each with an oriel window resting on carved brackets; one bracket bears the date 1631; the gables have moulded barge-boards and pendants. Inside the building, the extensive cellars are mostly of 17th-century date, at any rate as to their existing vaults, but one bay, in the long range extending along Turl Street, is of late 13th-century date and has a quadripartite vault (Plate 205) with chamfered ribs springing from round shafts with moulded capitals and bases; this vault formerly extended further to the S.; in the W. wall is a former opening with a chamfered segmental arch; the rest of the range has a roughly four-centred vault with a series of groined bays against the side-walls. In the Writing Room on the first floor is a 16th or 17th-century stone fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; in the S. wall are two late 17th-century blocked windows each with a mullion and transom. At the S. end of the W. wall is a blocked window of c. 1630 with moulded jambs and mullions. Towards the S.E. angle of the main range is a 17th-century staircase with turned balusters and close strings. On the second floor, one room is lined with early 17th-century panelling and the ceiling has plastered beams with running ornament of foliage, fruit and flowers on the soffit and enriched bosses at the intersections. Another room has some 17th-century panelling and a fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; the ceiling-beams are exposed. A third room has a stone fireplace with moulded jambs and square head. One attic-room has a 17th-century fireplace with a four-centred arch in a square head.

Condition—Good.

(55) House, now part of the Principal's Lodging of Brasenose College, opposite the W. end of St. Mary's church, is of three storeys with cellars, the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century but the atticstorey seems to have been added a little later and there is a 17th-century addition on the W. The first and attic-floors project on the E. front. The S. part has three gables with original moulded barge-boards and the projection of the top floor has a moulded bressummer, with curved brackets. Inside the building, the middle room on the first floor is lined with early 17th-century panelling; the fireplace (Plate 20) has moulded jambs and four-centred arch; it is flanked by Doric pilasters, supporting an overmantel of three bays, divided and flanked by coupled Doric columns supporting an enriched entablature; the bays have enriched arcaded panels and there are strapwork enrichments flanking the overmantel; the doorway to the W. has a moulded frame and four-centred arch in a square head, with foliage-spandrels; in the E. wall is a projecting window with a head-beam resting on brackets carved with winged grotesques; the plastered ceiling-beams have running ornament of lilies and foliage. The room to the W. has some 17th-century panelling and a fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with foliage-spandrels; the overmantel is made up with four terminal pilasters. The second floor retains an original fireplace and some panelling of the same date.

Condition—Good.

(56) House, No. 33, immediately E. of All Souls College, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but has been refronted in the 18th century. A range at the back, now forming part of the Queen's College, has a projecting first floor and a series of gabled dormers.

Condition—Good.

(57) House, No. 34, immediately E. of (56), is of four storeys; the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was largely reconstructed and refronted in the 18th century and contains some 18th-century panelling, cornices and staircase.

Condition—Good.

(58) House, Nos. 35 and 36, immediately E. of (57), is of four storeys; the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably before 1600, but was refronted late in the 18th century and has been extensively modernised internally.

Condition—Good.

(59) House, Nos. 37 and 38, immediately E. of (58), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 16th century. On the front are two gabled dormers with moulded barge-boards. At the back of No. 38 is a wing with rubble walls. Inside the building is some 18th-century panelling and doors. The ground floor of No. 38 has plastered beams with conventional decoration on the soffit and vine-scrolls; an oak post, in the W. wall, has a moulded head. In the back wing is a fireplace with a round head and sunk spandrels; on the first floor is a plastered beam with vine-scroll, birds and beasts on the soffit.

Condition—Good.

(60) House, Nos. 39–41 and No. 2 Queen's Lane, is of three storeys with attics and cellars. The walls are timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 16th century but has been so much altered as to make it difficult to say how the original structure was sub-divided or to date the individual portions. Early in the 17th century No. 41 seems to have been extended to the N. There are late 17th and 18th-century additions at the back and the S. front was refaced in the 18th century. On the N. of No. 41 is an early 17th-century five-light oriel-window with moulded frame and mullions. Inside No. 41 one room on the ground-floor is lined with re-set early 16th-century linen-fold panelling and on the first floor are two doors of similar panelling.

Condition—Good.

(61) House, Nos. 42 and 43, immediately E. of (60), is of four storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built c. 1600 but has been much altered. The first floor formerly projected on the S. front; the upper floors also project slightly and are divided by cornices; the front is finished with two gables.

Condition—Good.

S. side

(62) House, No. 85, opposite the end of Queen's Lane, is of four storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century but has been much altered. Inside the building is an original staircase with turned balusters, close strings and square newels. The central passage has at each end an original doorway with a four-centred head and roses or shields in the spandrels.

Condition—Good.

(63) House, Nos. 86 and 87, immediately W. of (62), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built early in the 17th century, with a long wing at the back. Early in the 19th century the front was entirely re-built and an extension made at the back. The first floor projects on the W. side of the back wing, which is finished with three gabled dormers. Inside the building, on the ground floor, the shop, hall and showroom have an original ceiling (Plate 40) divided into panels by plastered beams; these are moulded and have conventional pomegranates, acorns, etc. on the soffits; the entrance-hall is lined with original panelling, refixed. The office has a plastered beam with vine-scroll ornament and a dado of 17th-century panelling. The S. room in the back wing is lined with early 18th-century panelling and the stone fireplace is of the same period. On the first floor, two front rooms have original ceilings with moulded plastered beams and conventional ornament on the soffits; both rooms are lined with original panelling, the N.E. room having a frieze and the N.W. room an entablature with carved frieze and dentilled cornice; on the W. wall of this room are enriched Ionic pilasters dividing it into three bays; there are similar pilasters on the E. and S. walls. In an attic of the back wing is an original fireplace with a four-centred arch in a square head. The early 18th-century staircase has turned balusters and close strings. A second staircase, between the two wings, is original and has a continuous newel, finished at the top with a turned column and an acorn terminal.

Condition—Good.

(64) House, No. 90, 65 yards E. of Magpie Lane, is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built by one Williams, an apothecary, c. 1625, but was refronted in the 18th century. Inside the building, at the back of the shop on the ground floor is a blocked original doorway with a moulded frame. The staircase is of well-type with original newel and wall-posts, but the strings and balusters are modern; springing from the newels to the wall-posts are four-centred arches under the ceiling-beams. The two rooms on the first floor, formerly one room, have a plaster ceiling divided into bays by moulded beams with running foliage-enrichment on the soffits; the bays have subsidiary ribs forming five panels in each of which is a scrolled cartouche with a cross. The original doorway has an enriched entablature. The walls are lined with original panelling with Ionic pilasters supporting an enriched entablature. In the N. wall is an original window now concealed by plaster and panelling. The fireplace in the N.E. room (Plate 20) is flanked by terminal pilasters supporting an enriched and strapped shelf; the overmantel is of three bays, divided and flanked by standing allegorical female figures supporting an enriched entablature; the bays have enriched arcaded panels, the middle one with an achievement-of-arms of Williams. The fireplace in the N.W. room (Plate 20) is of similar general design but in place of the female figures are enriched pedestals with Ionic capitals; the achievement is the same as that on the other fireplace. On the second floor are two similar rooms, with plastered ceiling-beams similar to those on the floor below, but with no decoration in the panels; the walls of both rooms are lined with original panelling similar to that on the floor below. The fireplace of the N.E. room is flanked by enriched Doric columns supporting the carved shelf; the overmantel is of two bays divided and flanked by coupled Ionic columns supporting an enriched entablature; the bays have panels carved with representations of the sacrifice of Isaac with appropriate inscriptions. The fireplace in the N.W. room is flanked by Ionic columns supporting an enriched shelf; the overmantel is of three bays flanked by coupled Corinthian columns and divided by standing figures of Adam and Eve; the bays have enriched arcaded panels, the middle one having a carving of the serpent and the Tree of Life; the entablature has carved masks and swags. The S.W. room has an original stone fireplace with a four-centred arch and sunk spandrels; a door incorporates some enriched work in the upper panels.

Condition—Good.

(65) House, No. 94 and No. 1 Magpie Lane, at the E. corner of that street, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. The two northern blocks of the building date from the 17th century but the S. block was built c. 1588. The N. front has been completely modernised but perhaps represents the original lines. The middle block on the W. front retains some early 17th-century windows with moulded frames; the first floor projects in the S. block and on the bressummer is the date 1588. Inside the building some of the ceiling-beams are exposed and on the third floor of the middle block is an early 17th-century stone fireplace with a four-centred head.

Condition—Good.

(66) House, Nos. 102 and 103 and Nos. 1 and 2 Oriel Street, on the W. corner of that street, is of three or four storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. The block seems to have been built early in the 18th century and the front of No. 102 is finished with a cornice and pediment; No. 103 has a modillioned cornice. The building has been much altered.

Condition—Good.

(67) House, No. 104, immediately W. of (66), is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. The building, called Salutation House, forms a long range of which the middle part, at any rate, dates from late in the 16th century. The front part was remodelled late in the 18th century. Inside the building, the middle part, on the first floor, has a late 16th-century plaster ceiling (Plate 38), with moulded ribs forming a geometrical design and fleurs-de-lis as terminals. The W. wall of the cellar is of rubble and may possibly be mediæval.

Condition—Good.

(68) House, No. 105, immediately W. of (67), is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. The cellar has stone walls and is of uncertain age, but the house above is a 17th-century building, refronted in the 18th century. The second floor projects at the back. Inside the building, the front room on the first floor is lined with early 18th-century panelling. The top floor has exposed framing and two posts with shaped heads.

Condition—Good.

(69) House, Nos. 106 and 107, immediately W. of (68), is partly of three storeys and partly of three with attics; the cellar extends under both parts; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The two tenements incorporate the buildings of Tackley's Inn, erected early in the 14th century. It was occupied by Adam de Brome in 1324 as part of the accommodation of his new society, later Oriel College. The cellar extending under the front half of the building is of this date, as is the back wall which formed the S. wall of the hall of the Inn. The front of the building has been re-built and altered in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The cellar is the best preserved of the mediæval cellars in the city and the remains of the hall are interesting.

The S. wall (Plate 10) is partly of stone and contains an original window of two pointed lights in a two-centred head with double-chamfered jambs, moulded rear-arch and internal label; the window has been divided horizontally by a later blocking. The wall to the E. sets forward and has a 17th-century gable. Inside the building, the cellar is of five bays with a quadripartite stone vault; the ribs are chamfered and are continued down the responds; on the N. side these responds project about 2 ft. from the face of the wall. In the E. bay is an additional respond with a mutilated corbel carved with a crouching figure, from which an additional rib springs to the crown of the vault. In the N. wall of the second bay from the W. are the splays of a former window and in the adjoining W. bay is the opening of a former staircase to the street. In the upper part of the building are remains of the 15th-century roof of the former hall; it is of two bays with collar-beam trusses and moulded braces forming two-centred arches; there are curved wind-braces.

Condition—Good.

(70) House, No. 114, 20 yards W. of King Edward Street, has been entirely re-built in modern times, but incorporates on the first floor, an early 17th-century stone fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head. At the back is a small timber-framed building of the first half of the 17th century, but much altered. On the first floor are two original stone fireplaces.

Condition—Good.

(71) House, No. 118, 20 yards W. of (70), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been extensively altered. On the top floor is an original window with moulded frame and mullion.

Condition—Good.

(72) House, No. 119, immediately W. of (71), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century but the front was remodelled in the 18th century with a cornice and pedimented dormer. The E. side of the lower back wing has a projection at the first-floor level and remains of early 17th-century window-frames. Inside the building are two original stone fireplaces with four-centred heads. There is also an 18th-century staircase.

Condition—Good.

(73) House, Nos. 124 and 125, 10 yards W. of Alfred street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It has been completely altered and largely re-built but at the back of No. 125 is a small two-storey building of the 17th century with a little panelling of that date. The cellar below No. 125 has some stone walling, perhaps of mediæval date.

Condition—Good.

(74) House, No. 126, immediately W. of (73), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 15th century but the front was almost entirely remodelled in the second half of the 17th century. Above the shop the N. front (Plate 215) retains its 17th-century features; both the first and second floors have a continuous entablature and a continuous range of windows with a central projecting bay; the windows have transoms except the middle lights of the bays which have arched heads, one on the first floor and two on the second floor. The gable has a central dormer-window with an arched head and a pediment and flanking it is the broken pediment of the central bay of the floor below. The gable itself has remains of the 15th-century wavy barge-boards with cusped panels. Inside the building, the cellars have stone walls, probably mediæval; in the front wall are remains of the former staircase to the street. The room on the first floor has a timber-arcade a few feet back from the N. front and representing the structural front of the 15th-century building which projected at the second floor level. A dado in this room is of late 16th or early 17th-century panelling. On the second floor the original front was about 4 ft. behind the existing one, as indicated by the survival of the side-posts and a central moulded post and a moulded head-beam, with indications of the former window-openings.

Condition—Good.

(75) House (Plate 12), No. 130, 15 yards W. of (74), is of two or three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built late in the 15th or early in the 16th century, but the back part was heightened early in the 17th century. The passage on the E. side of the N. front has an original doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred head; it is fitted with an old nail-studded door with vertical ribs. At the back of the front block is the heightening of the 17th century with two gabled dormers; the eastern retains its original window and moulded barge-boards. The back entrance to the passage has one stone jamb and a cambered lintel. Inside the building, the back part on the ground floor has moulded ceiling-beams and in the S. wall is a 16th-century fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred head; the W. wall has some late 16th-century panelling. On the first floor the front rooms have roofs of queen-post type and dados of panelling of c. 1600. The cellar has stone walls.

Condition—Good.

(76) House, No. 132, 5 yards W. of (75), with the Chequers Inn adjoining, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 15th century but has been extensively altered. The inn has a 17th-century addition on the S. The original front projected at each floor level on moulded bressummers with curved brackets; the section of this arrangement was exposed when the adjoining building on the W. was demolished and re-built in 1937; the brackets sprang from small attached shafts. The existing front has only one projection and masks whatever may remain of the original work, but there are two lengths of original moulded beams in the passage E. of the shop. The W. side of this passage is of original timber-framing and in it are remains of an original doorway; the head of another doorway has been re-set; it has roses in the spandrels. On the E. front of the inn is a 17th-century window with transoms to the side-lights and an arched middle light. Inside the building, set in the N. wall of the Bar parlour of the inn, is a piece of elaborate 15th-century stone panelling (Plate 15); it has three bays of sub-cusped quatrefoils with foliage points and bosses and an upright panel with a small headless figure on a pedestal. The room above has a panelled late 15th or early 16th-century ceiling with moulded main and subsidiary beams forming four main panels, each sub-divided into 16 small panels. The fireplace has a 17th-century moulded stone surround.

Condition—Good.

(77) House, No. 135, 40 yards E. of St. Aldate's Street, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built early in the 18th-century and the front has a modillioned eaves-cornice and three dormers in the roof. Inside the building, rooms on the first and second floors are lined with 18th-century panelling.

Condition—Good.

(78) Kemp Hall, immediately S. of (75) and fronting an alley on the E., is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are covered with tiles and slates. It was built c. 1637 by William Boswell and had a cross-wing at the S. end, now demolished. On the E. front the ground slopes to the S. and the building stands on a stone plinth, pierced by square-headed windows to the cellar, some of which are blocked. The ground-floor has a central doorway (Plate 8) with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with shields in the spandrels bearing the date 1637; the panelled door has an enriched head; the projecting hood has flat four-centred arches springing from moulded pendants; there are three original windows at this level, of two and three lights with moulded frames and mullions. The upper storeys project and on the first floor is a series of five oriel-windows with moulded frames and mullions and sills supported on scrolled brackets one of which has a shield-of-arms two cheverons dividing three roundels; the two northernmost oriel-windows have been converted into a single long window by the insertion of additional modern lights. The attics have a series of five gables each with an original mullioned window. Inside the building, the S. room on the ground floor has an original fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; it is flanked by fluted pilasters supporting a restored shelf; the re-set overmantel is of three bays, divided and flanked by tapering Ionic pilasters supporting a bracketed entablature; the side bays have arcaded panels and the middle bay an applied enriched tablet with a broken pediment; the dado is of re-used original panelling; the window in the E. wall has two Doric columns supporting the beam above. On the first floor, the N. room has an original fireplace, with an arched head and an eared architrave; there is a dado of re-used panelling. The S. room has a fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head. The original staircase (Plate 46) has moulded strings and rails, shaped and pierced flat balusters and square newels with tall moulded terminals and pendants; below the landings are pairs of four-centred arches; the spandrels of the lower pair are carved with foliage and shields-of-arms similar to that on the front doorway but one having three cheverons. The doorways have moulded frames and four-centred arches in square heads; most of the doors are original; those on the first landing are panelled and have enriched heads. In the attics are two original fireplaces and some of the roof-construction is exposed.

Condition—Good.

Merton Street. N. side

(79) Beam Hall (Plate 12), 20 yards E. of Magpie Lane, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. The house forms two blocks of which the eastern was built as a hall late in the 15th century. A floor was inserted in this wing late in the 16th or early in the 17th century and other alterations made; about the same time the western block was built. Alterations and additions were made to this block in the 18th century and again in 1885. The E. block has on the S. front two windows of 15th-century origin and of two lights with moulded jambs and square heads; further W. are two 17th-century windows; in the roof are three 17th-century dormer-windows, the easternmost retaining its original barge-boards. On the N. side there appear to have been two original windows, now cut down and converted into doorways; the other windows are of the 17th century. The W. block has, on the S. side, a number of 17th-century windows of two and three lights with square heads; the front is finished with a cornice and four gables; the N. side of this block was largely re-built in 1885. Inside the building, the E. block formed a hall with the screens at the W. end with a floor above them. An original moulded beam marks the position of the former screen. The original roof is of two bays and of collar-beam type with curved braces forming four-centred arches and resting on shaped stone corbels. The early 17th-century staircase has a timber-framed enclosure with symmetrically turned balusters in the upper part. On the first floor is a 17th-century fireplace with a three-centred head and some re-used panelling of c. 1600. In the W. block the entrance-hall has a high dado of re-used panelling of c. 1600 and there is some similar panelling in the Dining Room together with 18th-century panelling. The W. room (Plate 183) is lined with early 17th-century panelling with an enriched entablature; the upper and lower ranges of panelling have enriched arcading and the middle range has an arcaded panel in the middle of each bay; the S. wall has enriched Ionic pilasters flanking the windows; the fireplace is flanked by Doric columns and pilasters supporting an enriched shelf and entablature; the overmantel is of three bays divided and flanked by coupled Ionic columns supporting a bracketed entablature; the side bays have arcaded panels and the middle bay has shaped and enriched panels. On the first floor, the E. room is lined with 18th-century panelling; the W. room is lined with original panelling with an enriched entablature; the fireplace has an overmantel of two bays, divided and flanked by enriched Ionic pilasters supporting an enriched entablature; the bays have each an enriched arcaded panel. There are a number of 17th-century panelled doors. The cellars under this block have a series of blocked or partly blocked windows.

Condition—Good.

(80) Merton College Stables, immediately E. of (79), are of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. They are of mediæval origin and a print of 1821 shows two windows on the S. side which would seem to be of 13th-century character; there is now no external trace of these windows. At the E. end of the building is a carriage-way. Inside the building, the roof is of four bays and of uncertain date; it has tie-beams and collars with curved braces. On the upper floor is a loose stone corbel of the 13th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(81) Postmaster's Hall (Plate 12), immediately E. of (80) is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built c. 1600 and has a modern addition on the N.W. On the S. front are a number of original windows, mostly of three lights and with square heads; the doorway has a late 17th-century panelled door and an 18th-century hood. There are two original three-light windows in the E. wall and another in the N. wall. Inside the building, the E. room on the ground-floor is lined with original panelling with an enriched entablature; the fireplace is flanked by fluted Doric pilasters supporting the shelf of the enriched entablature; the overmantel is of four bays divided and flanked by fluted pilasters supporting the enriched entablature; the bays have each an enriched arcaded panel. On the first floor, the E. room is lined with original panelling with an enriched entablature. The roof is of collar-beam type.

Condition—Good.

(82) House, No. 13, 60 yards E. of Logic Lane, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are covered with slates and lead. It was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century but has been much altered; the back wing is timber-framed. The S. front has been remodelled but remains of one original window survive in a cupboard inside the house. Inside the building, the S. room on the ground floor is lined with 18th-century panelling. On the second floor there is a wall-post with a shaped head supporting one of the ceiling-beams; a fireplace has a moulded surround of c. 1700.

Condition—Good.

(83) House, No. 14, immediately E. of (82), is of similar general character. Inside the building is a late 17th-century staircase with turned balusters, close strings and square newels with moulded cappings and pendants.

Condition—Good.

(84) House, No. 15, immediately E. of (83), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the second half of the 16th century and has an 18th-century wing at the back. The S. front has two gables; the windows have had their original mullions removed. Inside the building can be seen some original blocked windows.

Condition—Good.

(85) House, No. 17, 10 yards E. of (84), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are mainly of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been much altered. The top storey on the S. front projects and is timber-framed.

Condition—Good.

(86) House (Plate 12), on the S. side of Kybald Street, 15 yards E. of Magpie Lane, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone, brick and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled. The front block was built probably late in the 16th century but the gabled attics were added c. 1630. On the N. front there is an original window of five lights and a late 17th-century window of three lights; the gables have each a 17th-century window of six lights. Inside the building some of the timber-framing is exposed.

Condition—Good.

(87) Grove House, at the E. end of Kybald Street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. The middle part of the house dates from the 17th century, with later additions at both ends. The first floor projects on the S. side of the original block.

Condition—Good.

Magpie Lane. E. side

(88) House, No. 2, 20 yards S. of High Street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built c. 1613 and has been slightly extended on the S. On the W. front the upper storeys project. At the N. end is a projecting bay supported on carved brackets, one of which bears the date 1613; on the second floor is an orielwindow of six lights on the front and one on each return; the window rests on four carved brackets. Inside the building the N. room on the first floor is lined with original panelling with frieze-panels; the fireplace has an early 18th-century surround and a panel above forming an overmantel. On the second floor are two original stone fireplaces with four-centred arches in square heads. The cellars have rubble walls.

Condition—Good.

(89) House, No. 3, immediately S.E. of (88), is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The lower part of the house was built in the 17th century but the two upper storeys were added in the 18th century. The ground floor retains an original window of three lights. The upper part of the staircase is of the 18th century and has turned balusters.

Condition—Good.

(90) House, No. 5, 10 yards S. of (89), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of timber-framing and brick and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and much altered in the 18th century. Inside the building is an early 18th-century staircase with turned balusters and close strings.

Condition—Good.

(91) Stables, immediately S. of (90), are now of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. They were built in the 16th or early in the 17th century. The roof is of two bays with tie and collar-beam trusses and curved wind-braces.

Condition—Fairly good.

Oriel Street. W. side

(92) Range of houses, Nos. 3–8, 30 yards S. of High Street, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 18th century and has modern additions at the back. The fronts have sash windows. Nos. 4 and 5 have original staircases with turned balusters and close strings. A room in No. 8 is lined with 18th-century panelling. At the back of this range of buildings is the shell of a covered tenniscourt probably of the 17th century. The walls are of rubble.

Condition—Good.

(93) House, No. 12, 70 yards S. of High Street, is of three or two storeys with cellars; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The back wing was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century and the front block was added late in the 17th or early in the 18th century. In the back wing, the first floor projects on part of the N. front and further E. is an early 18th-century bay-window. Inside this wing is an original stone fireplace with a four-centred head.

Condition—Fairly good.

(94) House, Nos. 14–15, immediately S. of (93), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of brick and timber-framing and the roofs are covered with tiles and slates. It was built in the second half of the 17th century but has been much altered.

Condition—Good.

(95) House, No. 5, on the N. side of Bear Lane, 15 yards W. of King Edward Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century. The first floor projects on the S. front.

Condition—Good.

(96) House, No. 7, 15 yards W. of (95), is of three storeys, the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th century and subsequently altered.

Condition—Good.

(97) The Bear Inn, at the W. angle of Alfred Street and Blue Boar Street, is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but has been much altered.

Condition—Good.

(98) House, Nos. 10 and 11 Blue Boar Street, 5 yards W. of (97), is of two or three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone, brick and timber-framing and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the late 17th century but altered later. No. 10 is probably of 18th-century date.

Condition—Good.

Turl Street. W. side

(99) House, No. 3, immediately N. of (54), is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are mostly timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built late in the 17th century but has been much altered. Below the house is the 13th-century crypt described under No. 54.

Condition—Good.

(100) House, Nos. 11 and 12, 75 yards N. of High Street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the first half of the 17th century. The upper floors project in front and the house is finished with a cornice and four gables. There is some original panelling in the second-floor rooms and an original fireplace on the first floor.

Condition—Good.

(101) House, No. 14, 5 yards N. of (100), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century and the second floor projects. Inside the building are some 18th-century panelling and a staircase of the same period.

Condition—Good.

Cornmarket Street, E. side

(102) House, No. 3, 15 yards N. of High Street, is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 15th century as evidenced by a moulded post found when a shop-front was inserted in 1927. The top storey may be a 17th-century addition. The house was refaced in the 18th century and again altered in 1934, when the small S. wing was re-built. Within the S. end of the front is an original moulded post, partly cut back; it appears to have been the jamb of a former doorway. Inside the building, some of the framing is exposed. The N. or Painted room (Plate 36) on the second floor has painted decorative designs on the plaster of the N. and E. walls; these are of mid16th-century date and were discovered in 1927. The design forms an interlacing pattern of ogee curves enclosing flowers and grape-bunches; the frieze has a series of fish-tailed panels with black-letter inscriptions. "... And last of this rest, be thow God's servante for that hold I best. In the mornynge earlye serve God devoutlye" and on the E. wall "feare God above allthynge"; at the base is an ornamental band of different character and later date; it has alternate apples and pears with leaves. The early 16th-century fireplace has brick jambs and back and an oak lintel; above it is a large painted ihs, showing through the later painting which covers it. The N. paintings are covered by early 17th-century panelling, in situ but now made to open; there is similar panelling on the S. wall and a dado on the W. wall. The S. room has a high dado of late 16th-century panelling, removed from the S. wing in 1934; it has traces of painted strapwork cartouches on the panels; the fireplace has a cambered lintel. A room in the former S. wing had wall-paintings similar in design to those in the N. room, but bearing also the initials I.T., identified with John Tatleton, tenant c. 1564. The staircase has a central newel and in the N.W. angle is a wooden corbel-beam with the base of a curved brace resting on it.

Condition—Good.

(103) The Golden Cross Hotel, 10 yards N. of (102), is of two and three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. The house has been an inn since the year 1200 and the existing N. range with the gateway into Cornmarket Street was built in the 15th century. The S. range was largely re-built in the second half of the 17th century and the E. range was re-built in the 19th century. The 15th-century entrance gateway has moulded and shafted oak jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with leaves in the spandrels; the N. spandrel has also a shield of the arms of New College. The hotel is built round a long narrow courtyard. The 15th-century N. Range is of two storeys with attics; the upper storey projected and has a heavy moulded bressummer, mostly concealed by later and modern additions to the front. On the first floor is a range of six original oriel-windows, with moulded posts and transomed return-lights; the front lights are 17th or early 18th-century insertions; the oriels rest on original moulded strings with a cove and cornice. There is a plaster cove and cornice under the eaves. Inside the range the Commercial Room has original moulded ceiling-beams; the oriels on the first floor have moulded four-centred arches to the recesses. Some of the roof-timbers are exposed. The cellars have stone walls, patched with brick. The 17th-century S. Range (Plate 10) is of three storeys partly with attics and is of four gabled bays. The ground-floor has been largely covered by modern additions. The two upper floors have in the three W. bays an original bay-window of three lights on the face and one on each return; the middle light has an arched head but the others are transomed. Inside the range, the Coffee Room has a dado of re-used 17th-century panelling. The late 17th-century W. staircase has turned balusters, close strings and square newels.

Condition—Good.

(104) House, Nos. 26 and 27, 140 yards N. of (103), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 15th century but was extensively altered in the 17th century and later. The upper storeys formerly projected in front, but have been under-built; a moulded post and bracket of the upper overhang are exposed inside the building; in the same room is a fireplace with a four-centred arch and sunk spandrels. In a room on the second floor is a plaster panel, crudely painted with leaves and roundels.

Condition—Fairly good.

(105) House, No. 28, at the S. corner of Ship Street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 15th century but has been extensively altered. The upper floors formerly projected on the N. and W. fronts, but have been partly under-built. The upper overhang at the N.W. angle is supported on a heavy bracket. Inside the building some of the timber-framing is exposed.

Condition—Good.

W. side

(106) House, No. 38, at the S. corner of St. Michael's Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century (a window is said to have borne the date 1665), but has been extensively re-built. The upper storey projects on the E. front and has a window of seven lights with a moulded head and a cornice over it; above this are two low gables or pediments; behind them rises a high modern gable. Inside the building is a small original fireplace with a four-centred head.

Condition—Good.

(107) House, No. 40, 5 yards S. of (106) is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but has been much altered. Inside the building some timber-framing is exposed.

Condition—Good.

(108) House, Nos. 41 and 42, immediately S. of (107) is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but remodelled and refronted. Inside the building some timber-framing is exposed.

Condition—Good.

Ship Street. N. side

The houses in this street are, unless otherwise described, of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. They were mostly built in the 17th century.

(109) House, No. 6, 40 yards E. of St. Michael's church, was refitted in the 18th century. The first floor projects on the S. front. The rubble N. wall of the cellar is part of the city-wall.

Condition—Good.

(110) House, No. 8, E. of (109), has a projecting first floor on the S. front. The cellar-walls are of rubble and at the back of the yard is a portion of the city-wall.

Condition—Good.

(111) House, No. 9, immediately E. of (110), has a newel-staircase. The cellar has rubble walls and at the back of the premises is part of the city-wall.

Condition—Good.

(112) House, No. 10, immediately E. of (111), is of two storeys with cellars and attics. It was refitted in the 18th century.

Condition—Good.

(113) House, No. 11, immediately E. of (112), is of four storeys and was refronted in the 18th century.

Condition—Good.

(114) House, No. 12, immediately E. of (113), is of two storeys with cellars and attics. The rubble N. wall of the cellar is on the line of the city-wall.

Condition—Good.

(115) House, No. 13, immediately E. of (114), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the first floor projects on the S. side. The N. wall of the cellar is of rubble.

Condition—Good.

(116) House, No. 14, immediately E. of (115) is partly of two and partly of three storeys. The first floor projects on the S. front. The top flight of the staircase has shaped splat-balusters.

Condition—Good.

(117) House, No. 16, E. of (116), has a slight projection at the first floor level. In the cellar is some rubble walling on the line of the city-wall.

Condition—Good.

S. side

(118) House, No. 26, 10 yards E. of Cornmarket Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 15th century and gables were added to the front in the 17th century. An original doorway belonging to this house is only visible from the back of No. 37 Cornmarket Street; it has moulded jambs and two-centred head. Inside the building, some of the timber-framing is exposed on the first floor including a moulded ceiling-beam and plate; in the S. wall is an original window of oak, now blocked; it is of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head with cusped spandrels. The roof is of king-post type with curved braces under the central purlin.

Condition—Good.

St. Michael's Street, N. side

(119) House, Nos. 4 and 6, 20 yards W. of Cornmarket Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of timber-framing, stone and brick and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built c. 1600 and has a 17th-century wing at the back. The front has two gabled dormers with ornamental barge-boards. Some of the timber-framing is exposed inside the building.

Condition—Good.

(120) House, No. 8, immediately W. of (119), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of timber-framing and brick and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but has been extensively altered. Inside the building is some 17th-century panelling.

Condition—Good.

(121) House, No. 10, immediately W. of (120), is of three storeys; the walls are of brick and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 18th century but at the back is a range of 17th-century outbuildings.

Condition—Good.

(122) Vanbrugh House, No. 20 (Plate 13), 30 yards W. of (121), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of timber-framing and stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but was remodelled and refronted perhaps by Vanbrugh early in the 18th century. The ashlar-faced front is finished with a cornice; the round-headed central doorway and the window above are flanked by Doric pilasters, supporting entablatures and a continuous cornice. The ground-floor windows are plain; those on the first floor have aprons and key-blocks and the second-floor windows have segmental heads and key-blocks. In the W. wall is a 17th-century window with wooden mullion and transom. Inside the building, several rooms are lined with 18th-century panelling with cornices; the S.W. room on the ground-floor has also a fireplace with a moulded stone surround and a wooden niche with painted decoration, all of the 18th century. The 18th-century staircase has twisted balusters, close strings and square newels. The basement has stone walls and a re-set fireplace with a four-centred head and key-block. The garden is bounded on the N. by a portion of the city-wall, largely reconstructed.

Condition—Good.

(123) House (Plate 13), No. 24, W. of (122), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone, ashlar-faced and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably in the second half of the 17th century but was much altered in the 18th century. The S. front has two curvilinear gables with pediments; the 18th-century doorway has a round arch, imposts and a pediment. The back is of similar general character to the front. Inside the building is some 18th-century panelling with cornices. The 18th-century staircase has turned balusters, close strings and four grouped balusters forming the bottom newel. The N. gardenwall may be part of the city-wall.

Condition—Good, but external stonework decayed.

(124) Frewin Hall, house and gateway, stands on the E. side of New Inn Hall Street. The House is of two storeys partly with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. St. Mary's College, on this site, was founded in 1435 by Thomas Holden and Elizabeth his wife, primarily for canons of the Augustinian order. It was dissolved in 1540 and later in the century became a private house. The surviving remains of the college appear to be the lower part of the gatehouse and the cellar of the W. wing. Much of the original building had, by this time, been pulled down and the W. wing was altered and converted by the tenant Dr. Griffith Lloyd about 1582. Dr. Richard Frewin had a lease of the property in the first half of the 18th century and the S. wing was added or reconstructed at this period. The N. part of the W. wing and the buildings to the E. are later additions and the upper storey of the W. wing is a modern addition. The building is L-shaped, with the wings extending towards the S. and W. Below part of the W. wing is a cellar, presumably of mediæval date with a late 12th-century column of unknown origin and perhaps re-used; it is cylindrical with a moulded base and scalloped capital from which spring the segments of two arches under the barrel-vault of the cellar; these arches, both from their steepness and their springing from near the edge of the abacus, appear not to be work of the 12th century.

The exterior of the house has no ancient features. Inside the W. wing, the Dining Room is lined with late 16th-century panelling with an enriched entablature; the fireplace in the W. wall has a late 18th-century marble surround; it is flanked by late 16th-century fluted Ionic pilasters supporting the overmantel; this is of two stages and three arcaded bays, divided and flanked by terminal figures, supporting cornices. This room and the adjoining hall were formerly one room and have a late 16th-century plaster ceiling (Plate 38) of two bays, with moulded and plastered beams with vine-ornament in the middle and at each end; the bays have a geometrical design of moulded ribs with pendants and bosses and floral sprays in the panels; round the walls, above the cornice is a band of vine-ornament. On the S. wall of the hall is some late 16th or early 17th-century panelling and in the E. wall is an 18th-century fireplace with two bolection-moulded panels above and an entablature. The staircase has twisted balusters and close strings; the lower part is of late 17th-century date. The cellar is divided into three bays by cross-walls and is approached by a staircase with an old handrail and newel; it passes under a chamfered segmental arch in the E. wall of the cellar; on the same wall are the springers of a flat wall-arch of one order; further W. is a cross-arch under the semi-circular barrel-vault; in the W. bay is the 12th-century column described above and in the walls are some re-used 12th-century stones with cheveron-ornament; the side and W. walls have a number of blocked windows and openings. In the S. range the S. room is lined with re-used late 16th or early 17th-century panelling with a frieze and an 18th-century cornice. There is some similar panelling at the entrance to the kitchen and a room on the first floor is lined with similar panelling. In the low range to the E. is a dado and door of late 16th-century panelling.

The Gateway, from New Inn Hall Street, consists of the outer archway and remains of the Gate-hall. The archway has jambs and four-centred arch of two chamfered orders; it is of the 16th century but the S. jamb has been restored. The archway is set in a rubble wall with remains of a blocked window to the N. The passage, E. of the archway, represents the former gatehall of which the 15th-century S. wall remains; it retains the wall-ribs and springers of a stone vault of two bays with mutilated carved bosses at the apex of each wall-rib and springing from a central head-corbel. Adjoining the passage on the S. is a two-stored outbuilding of rubble, probably of the 17th century. Re-set in the E. entrance towards Cornmarket Street is a 17th-century panelled door with a central wicket; this has an elliptical head with the date 1666 in the spandrels.

Condition—Good.

New Inn Hall Street, W. side

(125) House, No. 1, 30 yards N. of Queen Street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of timber-framing and rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably c. 1600 but has been extensively altered. The first floor projects at the front and back. Inside the building are three original stone fireplaces with four-centred heads; the staircase has flat shaped balusters.

Condition—Good.

(126) House, No. 5, 10 yards N. of (125), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built late in the 17th century but has been modernised. Inside the building, the staircase has twisted balusters, close strings and square newels with pendants. One window at the back retains its wooden mullion and transom.

Condition—Fairly good.

E. side

(127) House, No. 20, 85 yards N. of Queen Street, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble, timber-framing and brick and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but has been much altered and partly re-built.

Condition—Poor.

(128) House, Nos. 22 and 24, immediately N. of (127), is of three storeys; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century and remodelled in the 18th century. The front has two gables and the main roof is carried down to the first-floor level between them.

Condition—Good.

Queen Street, N. side

(129) House, No. 30, 15 yards E. of New Inn Hall Street, is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are lead-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been refronted and otherwise altered. Inside the building is some late 17th or early 18th-century panelling with dado-rail and cornice.

Condition—Good.

S. side

(130) House, No. 24, 15 yards E. of St. Ebbe's Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century and remodelled in the 18th century. The upper storey projected in front but has been under-built. The cellar has rubble walls.

Condition—Good.

(131) House, No. 25, immediately W. of (130), is of the same date and character as (130).

Condition—Good.

(132) The Sherborne Arms Inn, immediately W. of (131) and on the corner of St. Ebbe's Street, is again of the same date and character as (130).

Condition—Good.

St. Ebbe's Street, E. side

(133) House, Nos. 1 and 2, immediately S. of (132), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably early in the 18th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(134) House, Nos. 3 and 4, immediately S. of (133), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 17th century.

Condition—Poor.

(135) House, No. 5, immediately S. of (134), is of similar date and character to (134).

Condition—Poor.

Castle Street. S. side

(136) House, No. 5, opposite the end of New Road, is of three storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been much altered.

Condition—Poor.

(137) The Paviers Arms Inn, 40 yards W. of (136) is modern but incorporates a 16th-century stone doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with shields-of-arms of d'Oilly and a damaged coat.

Condition—Good.

Pembroke Street. S. side

(138) House, No. 11, 50 yards W. of St. Aldate's Street, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built late in the 17th century and altered in the 18th century. The first floor projects in front. Inside the building are some 18th-century doors and a fireplace with a moulded shelf.

Condition—Good.

(139) House, Nos. 13 and 14, 10 yards W. of (138), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled. It was built by Richard Hannes in 1641; the house was much altered c. 1800. The two lower storeys have stone walls. On the N. front, the third storey projects and under the projection are two bay-windows and a central bay with a doorway; the doorway has a frieze and pediment and above it is an original oval window. The S. front has a projecting gabled staircase-wing in the middle and a gabled bay on each side; the second floor projects in each bay and below it are bay-windows; the projection rests on three-centred wooden arches, enriched pendant posts and an enriched fascia. The attic-storey also projects and has a dentilled fascia; the gables have moulded bargeboards and above the later windows are the cornices of the original oriel-windows. On the E. side of the staircase-bay is an original doorway with a four-centred head, eared architrave, frieze with panel and a pediment; in the S. wall is an original window of two four-centred lights. Inside the building, the E. room on the ground-floor is lined with early 18th-century panelling. The original staircase is of well-type with pierced and shaped slat-balusters, grip-handrails, and square newels with pendants; between the newels are strainers forming four-centred arches; on the first and second floor landings are four-centred arches in square heads with moulded posts; at the head of the stairs is a four-centred arch with key-stone and entablature. Between the staircase and a room on the second floor is a two-sided panelled enclosure (Plate 49) for the doorway; it has enriched pilasters at the angles supporting an entablature with a pediment on each face; above these is a second enriched entablature; the two faces of the enclosure have each two large panels, those on one side forming the door. In the garden is an old lead cistern.

Condition—Fairly good.

(140) House (Plate 11), Nos. 17 and 18, 15 yards W. of (139), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built c. 1600 and altered in the 18th century. The N. front is of two gabled bays each with a three-storeyed bay-window; the original angles of the two upper windows in each bay remain but elsewhere these and all the mullions have been replaced. The two doorways have four-centred heads and one retains its original nail-studded door. The S. front retains some altered original windows and a doorway with a four-centred head. Inside the building, the W. room retains a moulded beam over the recess of the bay-window. There are also a 17th-century panelled door and a late 18th-century staircase.

Condition—Good.

(141) House, No. 20, 10 yards W. of (140), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th century but was much altered in the 19th century. The second storey projects on the N. front.

Condition—Good.

(142) House, No. 23, 10 yards W. of (141), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of timber-framing and stone and the roofs are slate-covered. The N. part of the house was built early in the 17th century and the S. part is probably older. On the N. front the upper storey projects and has a 17th-century oriel-window resting on shaped brackets; the window is of four lights on the face and one on each return and has moulded mullions and frame. Inside the building is a fireplace with a re-set four-centred head and a wooden frieze and cornice of c. 1700.

Condition—Fairly good.

(143) House, No. 24, immediately W. of (142), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and remodelled in the 19th century; the upper storeys project on the N. front.

Condition—Good.

N. side

(144) House, Nos. 36 and 37, 50 yards E. of St. Ebbe's Street, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built late in the 17th century and has additions at the back. The two doorways have each an early 18th-century shell-hood.

Condition—Good.

(145) House (Plate 11), No. 38, immediately E. of (144) is of three storeys; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled and slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and both the upper storeys and the two gables project on the S. front. Inside the building is a partition of early 17th-century panelling.

Condition—Good.

(146) House, No. 39, immediately E. of (145) is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably early in the 17th century. The first floor projects on the S. front and there is a cornice at the second-floor level. The early 18th-century staircase has turned balusters, close strings and square newels.

Condition—Good.

(147) House, No. 11 on the N. side of Beef Lane, 40 yards W. of St. Aldate's church, is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and the upper floors project on the S. front. The doorway has an 18th-century hood.

Condition—Fairly good.

St. Aldate's Street. E. side

(148) Crypt, under the Town Hall and 40 yards S. of High Street, is built of rubble with ashlar dressings. It was built probably in the 15th century and is of three bays with a quadripartite vault; the hollow-chamfered ribs spring from shafts with moulded capitals and chamfered bases. In the W. wall is an original doorway, now blocked; it has chamfered jambs and two-centred head.

Condition—Good.

(149) House (Plate 12), No. 7, on the S. corner of Blue Boar Lane, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably about the middle of the 17th century and was remodelled c. 1700 and again in modern times. The first floor formerly projected on the W. front, which is finished with two gables. The doorway has an original moulded frame; the much repaired door has moulded ribs forming panels and a central wicket. The middle window on the first floor has a pediment, the others have cornices. Inside the building, the S.E. room is lined with panelling of c. 1700. The cellar has rubble walls and the blocked arches of former conduits or drains.

Condition—Good.

(150) House, Nos. 31 and 32, 145 yards N. of Folly Bridge, is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century. The front is largely modern but the first floor projects and has an enriched fascia. Inside the building are two original stone fireplaces.

Condition—Good.

W. side

(151) House, No. 80, at the N. corner of Speedwell Street, is modern but incorporates a mediæval stone panel with a quatrefoil.

(152) House (Plate 12), formerly Littlemore Hall, Nos. 82 and 83, 5 yards N. of (151), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 15th century and formerly had a doorway of this date, drawn by Buckler. The house was largely re-built and remodelled in the first half of the 17th century. The E. front has modern windows on the ground floor with the cornices of the 17th-century windows above; on the first floor are two 17th-century stone windows of six and five transomed lights respectively, with moulded jambs, mullions and cornices. The front is finished with a gable and two gabled dormers; the gable has moulded barge-boards; the dormers have modern windows but below them are the 17th-century moulded sills and brackets. In the N. wall of the S.W. wing is a 17th-century oriel-window of three lights on the face and one on each return; it rests on a scrolled bracket. In the S. boundary wall are two blocked 17th-century windows of a demolished outbuilding. Inside the building, the S.E. room on the ground floor has an early 17th-century plaster ceiling (Plate 40) with moulded beams enriched with running vine-ornament dividing it into six bays; the four main bays have a central rose and cob-ornament, fleur-de-lis and shields of the arms of King; the elaborate plaster frieze has lion-masks and monsters; the walls are lined with panelling with Ionic pilasters and a second frieze with scrolls and brackets. In the passage between the two tenements is a portion of a 15th-century partition or panelling with chamfered framing. In the ground floor of No. 83 is a little 17th-century panelling. The S.E. room on the first floor has an early 17th-century plaster ceiling (Plate 40) divided into three bays by moulded beams with enriched soffits; the two S. bays have an elaborate interlaced design with fleurs-de-lis, flowers, etc.; the frieze has a running vine-design; the N. bay of the ceiling is now plain; above the fireplace the cornice has a series of crude heads and the soffit of the window-recess has vine-enrichment. The N.E. room is lined with early 17th-century panelling. In the attics of No. 82 is a 17th-century stone fireplace with a four-centred head.

Condition—Bad.

(153) House, No. 84, immediately N. of (152), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of timber-framing and stone and the roofs are tiled and slate-covered. The W. part of the structure was built probably c. 1600 and the E. part was added c. 1700. The front was remodelled in the 18th century. Inside the building, the E. room on the first floor has an early 17th-century panelled overmantel (Plate 19), flanked by coupled Ionic columns supporting a bracketed entablature; the walls are lined with panelling with a cornice. The N. wall of the room above is covered with 17th-century panelling. Above the first-floor level is a staircase of c. 1700 with some turned balusters.

Condition—Good.

(154) The Old Palace, house at the S. corner of Rose Place, is of three storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The main house was built by Thomas Smith c. 1622–28, but seems to have incorporated portions of an earlier building. The house on the W., formerly a separate entity, was built perhaps c. 1600. The E. front is ashlar-faced with an embattled parapet and a curvilinear gable; the three 17th-century upper windows have labels. The N. front (Plate 215) of the main building has five gabled bays; these and the second floor project and have moulded fascias with enriched arches springing from pendant posts below them and between the oriel-windows of the first and second floors. These windows are each of four transomed lights on the face and one on each return and have moulded frames and mullions; they each rest on three corbels carved with monsters or figures merging into scrolls; those supporting the middle window on the first floor have shields with the date 1628. There are five of these windows on the second and three on the first floor. The main wall-face is finished with a pargeted design of squares and quadrants. The adjoining building on the W. has a projecting second floor and two projecting gables. The front has two oriel-windows, of three lights on the face and one on each return, with moulded frames and mullions and shaped brackets; there is also a third 17th-century window, with moulded frame and mullion. Inside the building, the walls round the lowest flight of the E. staircase are lined with plank-panelling and at the head of the former stairs to the cellar is a doorway with a four-centred arch in a square head. The E. room on the first floor has an elaborate plaster ceiling (Plate 38) with panelled and scrolled designs, shells, garlands, etc. and an oval cartouche (Plate 39) of the arms of Smith impaling Wilmot, for Thomas Smith and Margaret (Wilmot) his wife; the room has a considerable amount of 17th-century panelling and over the N.W. doorway is a portion of the original frieze with a rod and scroll enrichment. The staircase landing to the W. has two archways, with moulded jambs and four-centred arches in square heads, with carved spandrels and stops. The middle room has a plaster ceiling (Plate 40) perhaps of c. 1600 and retaining much of the original coloured decoration; it is divided into six bays by moulded beams with arabesque and jewel-ornament on the soffits; each bay has a central boss with delicate floral sprays in the angles; the oriel window-recess has similar decoration more crudely rendered; the wooden entablature round the room has brackets, a dentilled cornice and an enriched frieze. The N. staircase is divided from the room to the W. by a panelled partition; the room itself is lined with 17th-century panelling; the ceiling is a modern reproduction. Some timber-framing is exposed on the upper floors and in a room on the second floor is a little 17th-century panelling.

Condition—Good.

(155) House, No. 92, 10 yards S. of Brewer Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th-century and has two gables on the E. front. Inside the building the main staircase is of dog-legged type with flat shaped balusters.

Condition—Good.

Brewer Street. S. side

(156) House, Nos. 1 and 2, 30 yards W. of St. Aldate's Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The main block was built perhaps c. 1600 and a separate house was erected on the W. side, probably early in the 17th century, by Oliver Smith. Early in the 18th century an addition was made on the E. side and there are various modern additions including the upper part of the W. wing. The main building is ashlar-faced except for the upper part at the back; it retains a number of original windows with elliptical-headed lights and labels con tinued along the wall-face as strings. The doorways in front are of the 18th century. The W. wing is modern externally. Inside the building the room, W. of the entrance of No. 1, has an original stone fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with a cornice; the walls have a dado of original panelling and in the E. wall is a blocked opening with moulded oak jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with shields in the spandrels cut with the date 1596, of doubtful authenticity. A room in the partly reconconstructed E. building is lined with early 18th-century panelling. On the first floor the E. room is lined with 18th-century panelling. The W. room has an original fireplace similar to that in the room below; in the E. wall is a blocked original doorway with moulded oak jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with vineornament in the spandrels. Inside the W. wing the ground-floor W. room has an early 17th-century plastered ceiling (Plate 38); it is divided into four bays by moulded beams with vine-ornament on the soffits; the bays have an interlacing design enclosing vine and flower sprays, rosettes, etc. The overmantel from this room is now in the Master's Lodging Pembroke College and the stone fireplace is in the W. range at Christ Church.

Condition—Good.

(157) Campion Hall, 50 yards W. of (156), has been largely re-built but incorporates portions of a 17th-century house with rubble walls. The house contains some 18th-century panelling and a fireplace, an enriched plaster frieze and an original moulded beam.

Condition—Good.

(158) Malthouse, now store, on the N. side of Rose Place, 50 yards E. of Littlegate Street, is of one storey; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably in the 17th century.

Condition—Poor.

Littlegate Street. E. side

(159) House, No. 3, 20 yards S. of Brewer Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and has a doorway at the N. end with a four-centred head.

Condition—Poor.

(160) House, No. 10, 10 yards S.W. of Albion Place, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built c. 1647 and has a porch on the E. side and some original windows, partly altered. The porch has an outer entrance with a four-centred head; the inner doorway has an oak frame and four-centred arch in a square head with shields in the spandrels; above the head is the date 1647; the door is of two leaves with vertical ribs. A sketch by Buckler shows the W. front of this house, now covered by adjoining buildings; it has a mediæval doorway and other features, thought to have formed some part of the Black Friars convent.

Condition—Fairly good.

W. side

(161) Holy Trinity Vicarage, at the S. corner of Charles Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and has a large 18th-century addition on the S. The front doorway has a flat hood with scrolled brackets. Inside the building the N.E. room is lined with panelling of c. 1700; there are some 17th-century doors and an 18th-century overmantel on the first floor. In the 18th-century addition are some panelling and a staircase of that date, with turned balusters and close strings.

Condition—Good.

Paradise Street. N. side

(162) House, Nos. 5 and 6, 25 yards W. of Castle Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of brick and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century and has some original windows in front.

Condition—Poor.

S. side

(163) Greyfriars, formerly Paradise House, 10 yards W. of Castle Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled or slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th century and about 1700 it was altered and the block on the W. of the garden was built. There is a modern extension on the W. of this block connecting it with a 17th-century house of two storeys with attics. The doorway on the W. side of the E. block has early 18th-century pilasters and brackets, supporting a semidomed hood (Plate 39) with plaster decoration on the soffit. Inside the E. block, the S. room on the ground floor has a panelled dado and a fireplace with a bolection-moulded surround; above is a re-set 18th-century panelled overmantel with elaborate carved scrolls. The N. room has a little 18th-century panelling. The staircase (Plate 45) of c. 1700 has twisted balusters, close string and square newels. On the first floor, the S. room is lined with bolection-moulded panelling with an enriched cornice and the fireplace (Plate 23) has a black marble surround; the overmantel has an enriched shelf and a painting of still life in an enriched frame; above it are palm-leaves and flowers, with pendants at the sides. The S.W. room is lined with bolection-moulded panelling and the N. room has a moulded surround to the fireplace. On the second floor, the S. room has a moulded surround to the fireplace and a moulded shelf with a panel and cornice above; the N. room has a similar fireplace with a moulded shelf. Inside the W. block, the early 18th-century staircase has turned balusters, close strings and square newels. On the second floor, the S.E. room has a plaster ceiling of c. 1700; it has an oval panel with a modelled wreath of leaves and flowers; the spandrel-panels have conventional foliage. In the wall, N. of the garden, is a stone doorway of c. 1700; it has a segmental head with an eared architrave, scrolled key-block and cornice; flanking the key-block are swags of flowers; above the cornice is a scrolled centre-piece with a carved panel and cornice, perhaps a later addition.

Condition—Good.

(164) The Jolly Farmers Inn (Plate 10), on the E. corner of Greyfriars Street, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century and the first floor projects on the N. front. On this front there were formerly oriel-windows of which the cutback sills remain, together with the moulded head of that in the gable.

Condition—Good.

Fisher Row. W. side

These cottages, unless otherwise described, are of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled or slate-covered. Most of the houses are of the 17th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(165) Cottage, Nos. 4 and 4a, 30 yards N.W. of Quaking Bridge.

(166) Cottages, Nos. 5 to 8, immediately N.W. of (165).

(167) Cottages, Nos. 28 and 29, 30 yards S. of Hythebridge Street, were built early in the 18th century.

(168) Cottages, and the Nag's Head Inn, Nos. 30, 31 and 32 immediately N. of (167). No. 30 has a projecting upper storey and a gabled dormer.

High Street, St. Thomas. N. side

(169) House, Nos. 65 and 66, nearly 200 yards E. of the church, is of three storeys with attics; the walls are of brick and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 17th century but has been much altered. The first floor projects in front and both the front and back have two gables.

Condition—Good.

(170) House, No. 64, immediately W. of (169), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 17th century but has been altered. The upper storey projects in front.

Condition—Good.

(171) Old Rectory, house 40 yards E.N.E. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled. It was built c. 1600 and formerly extended further S. In the chimney-stack are blocked fireplaces with moulded jambs and four-centred arches.

Condition—Fairly good.

S. side

(172) Gate House, immediately E. of the church-yard, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in 1702 by John Coombe as a school. The exterior has a plain band between the storeys and an eaves-cornice; the windows are mostly original and have plain stone framing and mullions; the E. doorway has a pediment. On the N. front is a panel with the inscription "This parrish school-house was built in the year of our Lord 1702 and in the 1st year of the reigne of Queen Anne at the charge of Mr. John Coombe citizen plaisterer of London, born in this parish and free of this city for the benefit of as many poor children as the rent of the house will pay for their teaching to read and write, the teacher to be the clerk of the parrish, (if duly qualified), but if not, the teacher, as well as the children to be elected by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor, and such elders as have executed both these offices in this parrish, with the assistance of the minister."

Condition—Good.

(173) House, Nos. 2 and 3 on the E. side of Hollybush Row, 20 yards S. of Parkend Street, is of two storeys, with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th century and some of the windows have solid frames with a mullion and transom.

Condition—Fairly good.

(174) House, No. 31, Parkend Street, at the E. corner of Hollybush Row, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(175) House, No. 10, on the S. side of George Street Mews 30 yards E. of the turning, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are tile or slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and has two gabled dormers in front. In one of the attics is a little late 17th-century panelling.

Condition—Poor.

St. Giles Street. W. side

(176) House, No. 53, 20 yards N. of Pusey Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are ashlar-faced and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century. The entrance to the passage on the N. side has an original segmental arch in a square head with a label; the front has two projecting timber-framed dormers and below them are 18th-century bay-windows. Inside the building are remains of an original stone fireplace.

Condition—Fairly good.

(177) House, Nos. 50 and 51, 5 yards N. of (176), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 17th century and the ashlar-faced front has string-courses between the storeys and two small gables. Inside the building, on the first floor of the wing is an original wall-post with a shaped and moulded head. There are several 18th-century mantelpieces.

Condition—Good.

(178) The Eagle and Child Inn, immediately N. of (177), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th century and has a modern front.

Condition—Good.

(179) House, No. 43, 30 yards N. of (178), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of stone and the roofs slate-covered. It was built c. 1660 but has been extensively altered. On the front is a stone with the initials and date W.P. 1660. The original staircase has flat shaped and pierced balusters and square newels with ball-terminals.

Condition—Good.

(180) House, No. 41, 10 yards N. of (179), is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. The main block was built c. 1700 and the W. wing may be of the same date. The front is ashlar-faced and the square-headed windows have architraves and cornices; the doorway has side-columns with entablatures and a pediment; the front is finished with four small gables. The back wing is partly timber-framed. Inside the building, the original staircase has turned balusters, close strings and square newels; there are also some original doors.

Condition—Good.

(181) House, No. 40, immediately N. of (180), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone, brick and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. The S.E. part of the house together with the stonebuilt hall at the back date probably from the early part of the 17th century; the extension to the W. forming a barn was added probably late in the 17th century and the N. wing is an 18th-century addition; there are various modern additions. The upper storeys project on part of the original E. front and the gable has a moulded fascia. Inside the building, the hall has a stone fireplace with original moulded jambs and a moulded ceiling-beam. On the first floor of this part of the house is an original plastered ceiling-beam with modelled vine-ornament and flowers on the sides and soffit. In the attic-floor of the wing are the jambs of an original stone fireplace, with a reconstructed head.

Condition—Good.

E. side

(182) The Lamb and Flag Inn, opposite (179), is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but was refronted late in the 18th century and has been extensively modernised. In the back wing is a fireplace with an early 18th-century surround.

Condition—Good.

(183) The Judge's Lodging (Plate 216), house 35 yards N. of (182), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are ashlar-faced and the roofs are covered with slates and lead. It was built in 1702 but the N. part was remodelled c. 1800 and there is a late 18th-century cottage against the S. side. The front is symmetrically designed with rusticated angles and finished with a cornice having a pediment over the central bay; the windows have architraves and the lower range also cornices; the central doorway has been altered. The attics have gabled dormers. This front has been recently refaced. The back has similar windows, cornice and dormers; the doorway (Plate 8) has a wooden semi-domical hood supported on carved brackets and having scrolls, cherub-heads and a basket of fruit and flowers. The doorway in the S. wall has a flat wooden hood and an original panelled door. On the lead flat of the roof is a plate inscribed "Thomas Rowney Esq. Elizabeth his wife, Anno 1702." The front garden has an enclosure with stone gate and angle piers surmounted by cornices and vases; the wrought-iron gates have an ornamental band and cresting; the railings are plain. The entrance to the yard and carriage-way, on the S., seem to be later and in the wall, S. of the yard, is a doorway with a segmental head, key-block and cornice. Inside the house, the entrance-hall is lined with bolection-moulded panelling, with cornice and dado-rail; the fireplace has a moulded marble surround. The staircase has twisted balusters, cut and bracketed strings and the rails are ramped over the grouped balusters forming newels. The ceiling (Plate 39) has a cornice and an oval panel with a richly modelled band of fruit and flowers; the spandrels have acanthus-ornament. The S.W. room is lined with bolection-moulded panelling with an enriched cornice; above the angle-fireplace is a panel with scrolled floral ornament and a second panel above with enriched mouldings. The back staircase has twisted balusters, close-strings and square newels with pendants; the walls have a panelled dado, with a handrail as capping. On the upper storey is a considerable amount of bolection-moulded panelling and some re-set panelling of c. 1600; there are also some fireplaces with moulded surrounds.

Condition—Good.

(184) Black Hall, 50 yards N. of (183), is of three storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century or earlier, but was extensively remodelled c. 1700; there is a modern addition on the N. The W. front has been restored and has a three-storeyed bay-window. The S. front has a modillioned eaves-cornice and four windows on the second floor, with solid frame, mullion and transom and all dating from c. 1700; the doorway has 18th-century columns and entablature. There is a window of c. 1700 on the N. face and a blocked dormer-window of two lights. The E. end has an 18th-century or modern bay-window Inside the building, the staircase of c. 1700 has turned balusters, close strings and square newels. In the attics is a 17th-century stone fireplace with a segmental head and sunk spandrels.

Condition—Good.

(185) House, Nos. 22 and 23, 40 yards N. of (184), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built c. 1600 and has three gabled dormers in front. There is one original window of two lights on the front and two of three and two lights respectively at the back. Inside the building is some re-set panelling of c. 1600 and of the 17th century, besides some 18th-century panelling.

Condition—Good.

(186) House, Nos. 26a and 27, 25 yards N. of (185), is of two storeys with cellars and attics, the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century and has two gabled dormers in front, one of which has an original window-frame.

Condition—Poor.

(187) The Pheasant Inn, at the S. corner of Keble Road, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are tiled. It was built early in the 17th century and has modern additions on the N. and E. The upper storeys in front have each two original oriel-windows, partly restored; those on the first floor are of six and those on the attic-floor of five lights, and all four rest on shaped brackets. Inside the building are some 18th-century panelling and fireplaces with moulded surrounds.

Condition—Good.

(188) The Old Parsonage, on the W. side of the Banbury Road, immediately N. of St. Giles' church-yard, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built c. 1600 and has modern additions at the back. The E. front has two original doorways with moulded jambs and four-centred arches in square heads; the spandrels of the central doorway have blank shields and the date 1659, those of the N. doorway are traceried; the partly restored windows have stone jambs and mullions and square heads; they are of two or four lights. Inside the building, one room on the ground-floor has a stone fireplace with moulded jambs and segmental head. In the S. room one jamb of an original fireplace remains. On the first floor, the N. room retains its original stone fireplace with stop-moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with simple traceried spandrels, like those of the N. doorway. The S. room has some early 18th-century bolection-moulded panelling.

Condition—Good.

(189) The Royal Oak Inn, on the E. side of the Woodstock Road, 180 yards N. of St. Giles' church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been extensively altered.

Condition—Good.

Broad Street. S. side

(190) House, Nos. 19 and 20, 25 yards W. of Turl Street, is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built in the 17th or early in the 18th century but has been almost entirely modernised.

Condition—Fairly good.

(191) House, No. 21, immediately E. of (190), is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built or largely re-built early in the 18th century and retains the upper part of a staircase of this date with turned balusters, close strings and square newels.

Condition—Fairly good.

N. side

(192) House, No. 53, immediately E. of Kettell Hall, Trinity College, is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built c. 1600 and has an early 18th-century wing on the N. It has been remodelled in modern times. Inside the building is a restored original fireplace with a four-centred arch in a square head.

Condition—Good.

(193) The White Horse Inn, immediately E. of (192), is of four storeys with cellars; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century but has been much altered. Inside the building is a door of original panelling and a room on the first floor is said to have a painted design on the plaster, now covered by wall-paper.

Condition—Good.

(194) House, No. 51, immediately E. of (193), is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built or largely re-built, as two houses, early in the 18th century and has modern additions at the back. The front has rusticated angles, a cornice and two pedimented dormer-windows in the hipped roof. Inside the building are two original staircases with turned balusters, close strings and square newels.

Condition—Good.

(195) Wadham Cottage, on the E. side of Parks Road, 220 yards N. of Holywell Street, is of two storeys with cellar and attics; the walls are of rubble and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century and has later additions on the N. and S. Inside the building are two doors of early 17th-century panelling and some fireplaces with early 18th-century moulded surrounds.

Condition—Fairly good.

Holywell Street. N. side

The houses in this street, unless otherwise described are of three storeys with cellars; the walls generally are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. They are mostly of the 17th century but may incorporate some 16th-century structure of which there is no direct evidence.

Condition—Good, or fairly good, unless noted.

(196) The King's Arms Hotel, on the corner of Parks Road, became an inn in 1607; it has a N. range of two storeys which is probably of early 17th-century date; the main part of the S. front was built or re-built early in the 18th century together with most of the wing at the back of the same block; the block fronting W. was built later in the 18th century. The early 18th-century part of the S. front has a modillioned eaves-cornice; the rest of this front and the W. front have a later 18th-century cornice and parapet. Some early 18th-century windows remain at the back. The N. range has three gables towards the S.; the N. face incorporates a much altered rubble wall with remains of chimneys, etc., which may be of earlier date than the 17th-century building. Inside the main building, the early 18th-century staircase has turned balusters and moulded rails; on the top floor are two fireplaces of the same period with moulded stone surrounds.

(197) House, No. 36, 50 yards E. of Parks Road, has also been much altered. There are three gables at the back.

(198) House, No. 35, immediately E. of (197), was built in 1626; the N. wing was extended c. 1700. On the S. front the ground-floor is a late 18th-century alteration; the first floor has two original oriel-windows altered in the 18th century; the brackets of the eastern window bear the arms of Merton and New Inn Hall (?) and those under the western window have the arms of Merton, the date 1626 and the initials M.L. and A.L. The eaves have three carved grotesque brackets and there are three gabled dormers in the roof. Inside the building, the S.W. room on the first floor has some original panelling and a fireplace with moulded jambs, four-centred arch in a square head and ornamental stops. Both this and the E. room have blocked original windows in the S. wall which probably formed a continuous window between the oriels. The E. room on the ground floor has a fireplace with an early 18th-century moulded surround; in the back wing is a fireplace of the same period.

(199) House, No. 32, 40 yards E. of (198), is partly of stone. It has been drastically modernised especially the front block. The N. wing is, in part, of the 17th century and the upper storey projects on the E. side. Inside the building is some re-set panelling of c. 1600 and a fireplace with an early 18th-century moulded surround.

(200) House, No. 31, immediately E. of (199), was built probably early in the 18th century, but has been much modernised.

(201) House, No. 30, immediately E. of (200), was remodelled in the 18th century. A fireplace with a moulded surround is of the latter date.

(202) House, No. 29, immediately E. of (201), is built of stone. It was erected c. 1600 and has an 18th-century extension at the back and various modern additions. The front has no ancient features. On the E. side there are two projecting and gabled bays and some restored stone windows. Inside the building the 17th-century staircase has flat-shaped balusters and square newels with ball-terminals. The S.W. room on the first floor has an original fireplace with returned moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head. In the upper floors are two fireplaces with four-centred arches and sunk spandrels.

(203) House, No. 28, immediately E. of (202), was built c. 1661, but the front has been remodelled. Inside the building the S.E. room on the ground floor is lined with original panelling with a cornice; the fireplace is flanked by pilasters supporting a shelf and the overmantel is of two bays divided and flanked by similar pilasters supporting an entablature; the bays have each an ornamental applied tablet with side-columns, entablature, broken pediment and shields with the date 1661; flanking the head of the overmantel are scrolled supports. The late 17th-century staircase has turned balusters, close strings and square newels; in a modern passage is a lead rain-water head with the date 1662. In a room on the second floor is a re-set panelled overmantel with a bracketed cornice and a central arcaded panel and a terminal figure below.

(204) House, No. 25, 20 yards E. of (203), has a lower storey of stone; it has been much altered and probably heightened. Connected by an 18th-century building at the back is a small stone house of late 16th or early 17th-century date retaining a number of original windows; two on the N. front are of four transomed lights with moulded jambs and mullions. Inside this building there are some 17th-century panelling and doors; a fireplace on the first floor has stone side-pilasters with an architrave, cornice and very deep panelled frieze; the frieze and pilasters have crude rosette-enrichments.

(205) House, No. 24, immediately E. of (204), is partly of stone. It has been refronted in the 18th century.

(206) House, No. 20, on the E. corner of Mansfield Road, has been remodelled in the 18th century. Inside the building the early 17th-century staircase has flat shaped and pierced balusters and continuous square newels; between the lowest string and the floor is a pierced ornamental wooden grille. The dining-room has an early 17th-century plaster ceiling of two bays each with leaves in the angles and a central four-lobed enrichment, with heads, birds, bear and foliage. The kitchen has a dado of 17th-century panelling; the passage on the W. has a partition of chamfered framing. On the first floor are some moulded ceiling-beams and an early 18th-century fireplace with a moulded stone surround. The S.W. room has an early 17th-century overmantel with an enriched shelf; the three bays are divided and flanked by pilasters supporting an enriched entablature; in the middle of the frieze is a shield-of-arms of nine roundels; the bays have enriched arcaded panels; the fireplace has an 18th-century surround; the walls are lined with panelling of the same period.

(207) House, No. 17, 20 yards E. of (206), was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century; the walls are of stone. The original doorway has moulded jambs with elaborate carved stops and square head. Inside the building, the late 17th-century staircase has turned balusters, close strings and continuous square newels. A room on the first floor has a late 17th-century stone fireplace and a doorway with an original frame.

(208) House, Nos. 15 and 16, immediately E. of (207), was built probably late in the 16th century but has been remodelled in the 18th century. Inside the building the roof-trusses are partly exposed; the tiebeams have ogee-curved braces. On the first floor of No. 16 is an early 18th-century fireplace.

(209) House, No. 14, immediately E. of (208), has been remodelled in the 18th century.

(210) House (Plate 11), Nos. 13 and 13a, immediately E. of (209), is partly of stone. The front has two gabled dormers with three-light mullioned windows and labels; the windows of the first floor retain their original jambs and heads. Inside the building there is an original fireplace on the first floor with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head.

Condition—Poor.

(211) House, No. 12, immediately E. of (210), has been much altered; the first floor projects in front.

(212) House, Nos. 10 and 11, immediately E. of (211), was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century and the front accords with that of (211). Inside No. 10 is an original fireplace and in No. 11 one room is lined with bolection-moulded panelling.

(213) House, No. 9, immediately E. of (212), has been much altered and refronted late in the 18th century.

(214) House, No. 8, immediately E. of (213), is of similar character and has been refronted late in the 18th century.

(215) House, No. 6, 15 yards E. of (214), is partly of stone. It was partly remodelled early in the 18th century and the N.W. wing added. The front is of late 18th-century character. Inside the building, the early 18th-century staircase has twisted balusters, close strings and square newels with pendants. Three rooms are lined with early 18th-century panelling with bolection-moulded panels over the fireplaces.

(216) House, No. 5, immediately E. of (215), was entirely remodelled late in the 18th century. Inside the building is a door of early 17th-century panelling.

(217) House, No. 4, immediately E. of (216), was built probably early in the 18th century but has been much altered.

(218) House, No. 3, immediately E. of (217), is ashlar-faced. It has early 18th-century and modern additions at the back. The S. front has an original doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head and is hung with a nail-studded door; above it is an early 18th-century hood; the windows are mostly original, with moulded jambs and mullions; W. of the doorway is a two storeyed bay-window of the same character and of five lights; the front is finished with four gables. Inside the building are some 18th-century panelling, fireplaces and staircase. The S.E. room on the first floor has early 17th-century panelling.

(219) House (Plate 11), No. 2, immediately E. of (218) and 15 yards W. of St. Cross Road, is partly of stone. The upper storeys project on the S. front and the top floor has been added. The lower projection is supported on four shaped brackets, perhaps modern; the first floor has two oriel-windows, fitted with 18th-century sashes but retaining their enriched and scrolled brackets. Inside the building is an 18th-century fireplace and some panelling of the same period.

S. side

(220) House, No. 100, nearly opposite St. Cross Road, is partly of stone. It was remodelled in the 18th century except for the early 17th-century W. wing. This is ashlar-faced and gabled and the upper storeys retain their original mullioned windows; there are string-courses between the storeys. Inside the building is some 18th-century panelling.

(221) House, No. 99, immediately W. of (220), has stone walls and was remodelled in the 18th century. The front is ashlar-faced and has two gables. Inside the building is some re-set early 17th-century panelling.

(222) Tower Cottage, immediately W. of the New Building of New College, was remodelled late in the 18th century. The upper storeys project on the N. front.

(223) House, No. 68, immediately W. of (222), has also been remodelled. The upper storeys project on the N. front. Inside the building are some early 18th-century panelling and fireplaces.

(224) House, No. 67, immediately W. of (223) is of two storeys; the walls are partly of stone; the front part has been remodelled late in the 18th century. In the wing is an original stone fireplace.

(225) House, No. 65, immediately W. of (224), is partly of stone and was built in 1639. The front has been much altered and the oriel-windows renewed except for four carved brackets with grotesque beasts; two brackets bear the initials and date A.S., C.S., 1639.

(226) House, Nos. 61 and 62, 10 yards W. of (225), is of three storeys with cellars and attics and was built early in the 18th century. The front is of stone and has string-courses between the storeys, a coved eaves-cornice and two gabled dormers; the two doorways have flat hoods with scrolled brackets. Inside No. 62 is an original fireplace with a moulded surround.

(227) House, No. 57, 25 yards W. of (226), has on the N. front a bay-window, of c. 1700, to the two upper storeys, finished with a gable; between the storeys it has a wood entablature and above the upper window is a cornice.

Condition—Poor.

(228) House, Nos. 2 and 3, on the E. side of Bath Place, is partly of stone. The front has been much altered.

(229) House, No. 5, at the S. end of Bath Place, is partly of stone and partly of two storeys. It was remodelled in the 18th century.

(230) The Turf Tavern, on the N. side of Hell (St. Helen's) Passage, 10 yards E. of (229), was largely remodelled and partly re-built in the 18th century. The cellar has a barrel-roof.

(231) Holywell Cottage, on the W. side of St. Cross Road, 40 yards N. of Holywell Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs slate-covered. It was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century. The front is symmetrically designed; the windows are of mullion and transom type and there are three dormers in the hipped roof. Inside the building are some original doors.

Condition—Good.

(232) Holywell Manor (Plate 13), now an annexe of Balliol College, stands immediately N. of St. Cross church. It is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was re-built in 1516 by Merton College and the original indenture preserves some particulars of the building. The attics of the main block were inserted probably late in the 17th century and in 1761 the N.E. part of the house was ruinous and was probably pulled down. In 1862 it passed into the hands of the Clewer Sisters who erected a building on the S., one wall of which is still standing S. of the garden. The house has recently been completely reconditioned and extensive additions made to fit it for its present purpose. The old part of the building consists of a main range running E. and W. with a wing extending N. from the W. end. The W. front retains some original windows of one and two four-centred lights with labels. There are also some original windows on the S. front and the doorway retains its moulded jambs; on this side is a combined porch and staircase projection with diagonal buttresses and finished with a gable. Inside the building, the S. range contained the former Hall, which has original moulded ceiling-beams and chamfered joists. The S.W. room on the first floor is open to the roof, which has an original truss with curved braces to the collar and curved wind-braces; the fireplace has moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head. The room to the E. is lined with re-set 17th-century panelling; the overmantel is of two stages, the lower with two carved panels divided and flanked by small terminal figures and the upper of three arcaded bays divided and flanked by fluted pilasters supporting an enriched entablature; the original doorway to the staircase has moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; there is a similar doorway further E. and now blocked. Part of the original roof is exposed at the E. end of the S. range.

Condition—Good.

Longwall Street. W. side

The houses in this street, unless otherwise described, are of three storeys, timber-framed and with slate-covered roofs; they were built late in the 17th century, but have been remodelled in the 18th century and in modern times.

Condition—Good or fairly good.

(233) House, Nos. 16 and 17, 220 yards N. of High Street, is built partly of stone and brick.

(234), House, No. 15, 50 yards S. of (233), is partly of stone.

(235) Houses, Nos. 9 to 14, immediately S. of (234). Inside No. 12 is a little re-set 17th-century panelling.

(236) House, No. 8, 15 yards S. of (235), is partly of stone.

(237) House, No. 4, 25 yards S. of (236), is partly of brick.

(238) House, Nos. 1 to 3, immediately S. of (237). Inside No. 1 are a few 17th-century wavy slat-balusters.

St. Clement's Street. N. side

(239) House, Nos. 9 and 10, 65 yards S.E. of Magdalen Bridge, is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 18th century but has been extensively modernised.

Condition—Good.

(240) House, No. 11, immediately E. of (239), is of similar date and character.

Condition—Good.

(241) House, No. 13, 10 yards E. of (240), is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built c. 1700 but has been extensively modernised.

Condition—Good.

(242) House, Nos. 22 and 23, 50 yards E. of (241), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and timber-framing and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built c. 1700 and has two gables in front.

Condition—Poor.

(243) House, Nos. 24 and 25, immediately E. of (242) is of similar date and character.

Condition—Fairly good.

(244) House, No. 26, immediately E. of (243), is of three storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roof slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 18th century, but the roof has been altered.

Condition—Good.

S. side

(245) The Port Mahon Inn, on the E. corner of Jeune Street, is of three storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 18th century but has been much altered. Inside the building are some original fireplaces and a dog-gate at the foot of the staircase.

Condition—Good.

(246) Cottages, Nos. 84 and 85, on the W. corner of Jeune Street, are of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. They were built probably in the 17th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(247) Stone's Almshouses (Plate 216), 30 yards S.W. of (246), are of two storeys with attics; the walls are ashlar-faced and the roofs are slate-covered. They were founded in 1700 by executors of the Rev. William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, and consist of eight tenements four on each floor of the building. The front is symmetrically designed with a band between the storeys and a cornice. The middle bay projects and has a pediment with a cartouche-of-arms of Stone and a scrolled cartouche with the inscription "This Hospital for ye poor and sick was founded by the Reverend Mr. William Stone, Principal of New Inne Hall, In hopes of thy assistance Ao. Dni. 1700". The middle doorway has a moulded surround and the middle window has a mullion and transom; the other windows are of a single transomed light. In the hipped roof are a series of small dormers. The back and sides have similar band-courses, cornices and windows; there appear to have been two wings at the back, now demolished. Inside the building, the tenements are approached by doorways at the back with newel-staircases to the upper floor. In the middle bay are coal-cupboards and a newel-staircase to the Committee Room on the first floor. This has a moulded cornice as has the adjoining tenement on the W. The garden in front has stone gate-piers with cornices and ball-terminals.

Stone's Almshouses, St Clement's, Dated 1700

Condition—Good.

(248) The Black Horse Inn, on the W. corner of Dawson Street, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century with a staircase-wing on the S. side. There are various later and modern additions on the N., S. and W. Inside the building is an original stone fireplace and some panelled doors.

Condition—Good.

(249) House, No. 107, 30 yards E. of (248), is of two storeys; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs slate-covered. It was built probably early in the 18th century.

Condition—Good.

(250) Cottages, Nos. 37 and 39, on the N. side of Cowley Road 100 yards S.E. of (248), are of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. They were built early in the 17th century and refaced in the following century. Inside No. 37 is an original stone fireplace with a four-centred head; in No. 39 is an original door-frame with a square head and ornamental stops to the posts.

Condition—Poor.

Cowley.

(251) St. Bartholomew's Farm, house 40 yards W. of St. Bartholomew's Chapel, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 16th century and consists of three blocks of differing heights with later additions at each end. It has been extensively altered but some of the internal timber-construction is exposed and in the W. wall is an original window. This and building (252) seem to have formed part of the buildings of St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

Condition—Good.

(252) House (Plate 13), 15 yards N. of St. Bartholomew's Chapel, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It formed the main building of the hospital and was re-built by Oriel College in 1649, the earlier building having been destroyed in the siege. It forms a long range originally divided into four tenements. On the S. front the two doorways have four-centred heads and the windows are of four lights; the N. front has similar doorways and single-light windows. There are two three-light windows in the E. wall. Inside the building the timber-framing is exposed and there are some original fireplaces with four-centred heads. There are several original doorways with four-centred arches in square heads and initials in the spandrels—(a) I.S., P. (for John Saunders, Provost 1644–53); (b) H., L.; (c) W. B., T.; (d) O. C. (for Oriel College); (e) H. L., T.

Condition—Good.

(253) Barn at Southfield Farm, 300 yards N.E. of St. Bartholomew's Chapel, has rubble walls and a slate-covered roof. It dates from the 17th century and is of nine bays with two porches. The walls have two ranges of loops and the roof is of collar-beam type.

Condition—Good.

(254) Cottages, Nos. 1 and 3 on the W. side of Church Street, 170 and 90 yards respectively N. of the parish church, are of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are thatched. They date from the 17th century and No. 3 retains some original windows.

Condition—of No. 1, good, of No. 3, bad.

(255) Cottages, Nos. 19 and 20, to the S. of Hockmore Street and 330 yards E.N.E. of the parish church, are of the 17th century and of two storeys with rubble walls and a thatched roof.

Condition—Good.

(256) House, on the E. side of Temple Street and 700 yards N.E. of the parish church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century and has later additions on the S.W. and N.W. On the S.E. side is a small gabled wing rising above the eaves.

Condition—Fairly good.

(257) Cowley Manor House, on the N. side of the road 800 yards N.E. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century and was much altered and probably enlarged in the 18th century.

Condition—Poor.

Iffley.

The Rectory, Iffley, Sketch Plan

(258) The Rectory, N.W. of the Church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are tile and slate-covered. The S. end of the main block seems to have formed part of a 13th-century house which probably had a wing on the E. The N. block was added in the 16th century and the existing kitchen-wing is perhaps of the 17th century. Modern corridors have been added on the E. and an office on the S.E. The original block has two projecting chimney-stacks on the W. side, the southern of which seems to be original; between them are two 16th-century windows. The W. front (Plate 13) of the N. block has a moulded string-course between the storeys and a series of 16th-century windows, one three-light and two six-light on both floors; the doorway has moulded jambs and square head with a label. The N. end and the staircase-wing have 16th-century windows. One chimney-stack retains its 17th-century shafts of brick. Set in the scullery wall is a 12th-century carved corbel. Inside the building, the E. wall of the original block has a 13th-century opening (Plate 15) of highly unusual form; the moulded jambs have each an attached shaft with a moulded base and capital with cable and dog-tooth ornament; in the middle is a mullion with a reversed shaft on the E. or outward face with the capital at the bottom; the head and sill of the opening are both splayed and there is no trace of rebate or glazing groove. In the 16th-century block, the drawing-room is lined with 17th-century panelling and the plaster ceiling has ribs forming a geometrical design with lion-masks in the larger panels. The dining-room and the study on the upper floor of the early block, have 17th-century panelling. Part of the roof-construction of this block is exposed.

Condition—Good.

(259) Court Place, 40 yards S. of the church, seems to have been entirely re-built in the 18th century except for the 17th-century S.E. wing; on the N. front is a panel with the date and initials 1580 I.L. probably for John Lewys.

(260) The Manor House, 150 yards N.N.W. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are probably of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century or earlier but has been much altered. Inside the building are some late 17th or early 18th-century panelling and moulded fireplacesurrounds; the dog-leg staircase has turned balusters. The roof-construction is exposed.

Condition—Good.

(261) The Thatched Cottage, 100 yards N.N.E. of (260), is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are thatched. It was built probably early in the 17th century and retains some original mullioned windows. Inside the building one room has an original moulded and enriched ceiling-beam.

Condition—Good.

(262) Malt House, outbuilding at the back, 50 yards N. of (261), is probably of the 17th century and has stone walls. Built into and on to it is a collection of carvings of various dates.

Condition—Good.

(263) Rivermead, house E. of (262), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tile and slate-covered. It was built probably late in the 17th or early in the 18th century but has been much altered. Inside the building, the back-stairs have some 17th-century shaped slat-balusters.

Condition—Good.

(264) Barn, 50 yards S.E. of (263), is of one storey with stone walls and a thatched roof. It may be of late 16th-century date and is of four bays with tie and collar-beam trusses and curved struts between the two.

Condition—Fairly good.

Headington.

(265) The White Hart Inn, on the S. side of Church Street, opposite the E. end of the church, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century and contains some original panelled and battened doors.

Condition—Good.

(266) House, No. 16 Church Street, 20 yards W. of (265), is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century and contains an original stone fireplace with a four-centred head and some exposed framing.

Condition—Good.

(267) Laurel Farm, house 10 yards W. of (266), is of two storeys with cellars; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. The S. wing was built probably in the 16th century but much altered in the 18th century; the front block is largely of the latter period. Inside, the kitchen has original moulded ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good.

(268) The Croft, No. 8, house 80 yards S. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built perhaps early in the 18th century.

Condition—Good.

(269) The Bull Inn, on the W. side of High Street, 150 yards S.S.E. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century but has been much altered.

Condition—Good.

(270) Cottage on the S. side of North Place, 300 yards S.S.E. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century and has some battened doors of that date.

Condition—Good.

(271) Cottages, immediately E. of (270), are of similar character and were built probably early in the 18th century.

Condition—Good.

(272) The Court, house 200 yards S.S.W. of the church, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably early in the 17th century but has been extensively modernised. In the hall is an original fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head.

Condition—Good.

(273) Manor Farm, house 350 yards W.N.W. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century but has been much altered. Inside the building, the dining-room has an original stone fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head; on the N. side is an original partition of panelled framing. There is a second fireplace, of similar character, on the first floor. Some irregularities in the field S.E. of the house are marked Palace on the O.S.

Condition—Good.

(274) The Rookery, house 250 yards N.W. of the church, is of three storeys; the walls are of rubble. The middle part of the house was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century and there are extensive modern additions. There are some original three and four-light mullioned windows and two stone fireplaces with moulded jambs and four-centred arches in square heads. To the E. of the house is an enclosure with stone walls; the N. wall has three diagonal projections, lined on the S. or inside with brick and perhaps for fruit-growing.

Condition—Good.

(275) Stoke, house 130 yards N. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble. It is largely modern but incorporates a 17th-century cottage.

Condition—Good.

(276) Cottage, No. 14 on the N.W. side of Church Lane, 140 yards N.N.E. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century.

Condition—Poor.

(277) Cottage, Nos. 1 and 2 on the W. side of Larkins Lane 135 yards N.E. of the church, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century but No. 2 has been largely reconstructed.

Condition—Good.

(278) Mather's Farm, house on the E. corner of Larkins Lane is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and the S. front and W. end retain a number of original two light windows. Inside the building is some 18th-century panelling and there is some earlier panelling in a room on the first floor.

Condition—Good.

(279) House, No. 2 Barton Village, on the E. side of the road 720 yards E.N.E. of the church, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century and has later additions and has been partly reconstructed.

Condition—Good.

(280) The Fox Inn, on the W. side of the road, 30 yards W. of (279), is modern, but an outhouse, formerly a cottage, is of the 17th century; it has rubble walls and a doorway with a four-centred head, now blocked.

Condition—Fairly good.

(281) Cottage, No. 15, 50 yards N.N.E. of (280) is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built probably in the 17th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(282) Cottage, 250 yards N.W. of (281), is of one storey with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roof is thatched. It was built probably in the 17th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(283) Quarry Farm, house 25 yards N.W. of Holy Trinity church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century and retains some original mullioned windows of two and three lights; two of these have moulded labels.

Condition—Fairly good.

(284) Remains, re-erected in the grounds of No. 320 Woodstock Road, 1,000 yards S.E. of Wolvercote church, were removed here from the site of Beaumont Palace about 1830–1. The remains form an ornamental feature and include a doorway and a round window. The doorway has early 13th-century shafted jambs. There are also some fragments of slip-tiles.

Wolvercote.

(285) Church Farm, house 50 yards S.W. of the church, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 16th century with a wing on the N.W.; this was later extended on the N.E. and there is a modern addition on the W. The front doorway has a four-centred arch with plain shields in the spandrels. Inside the building, the S. room has an original fireplace (Plate 20) with moulded jambs and four-centred arch with sunk spandrels; it is flanked by fluted Ionic oak pilasters supporting a panelled head and shelf; the overmantel is of three bays divided and flanked by terminal pilasters, supporting an enriched entablature; the bays have enriched arcaded panels; the room has a panelled dado. One room on the first floor has an original fireplace with a four-centred head.

Condition—Good.

(286) Farmhouse, now two tenements, 220 yards N.W. of the church, is partly of two and partly of one storey with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. The W. part was built probably in the 17th century and the higher E. part added in the 18th century. At the back is a gabled staircase-wing with 17th-century windows, perhaps re-set. In the N. wing are some original windows; the head of one of these is part of a 16th-century window-head re-used and inverted.

Condition—Fairly good.

(287) Manor Farm, house 20 yards N. of (286), is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been extensively altered. In the N. gable-end is a 15th-century head-corbel of a king.

Condition—Good.

(288) Cottage, No. 5 on the S. side of Godstow Road, Lower Wolvercote, and 950 yards W.S.W. of the church, is of one storey with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 17th century.

Condition—Good.

(289) Cottage, 180 yards S.W of (288), is of one storey with attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are thatched. On the N. side is a stone with the initials and date R.R. 1702.

Condition—Fairly good.

(290) The Trout Inn at Godstow Bridge, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 17th century and altered and added to in the 18th century. Inside the building, the dining room has an original stone fireplace with a three-centred arch and there is a dado of 17th-century panelling. Other woodwork has probably been brought from elsewhere.

Condition—Good.

(291) The Perch Inn, on the N. side of Binsey Green, 830 yards S.E. of Binsey church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are of thatch and slate. It was built probably in the 17th century but has been much altered and added to.

Condition—Good.

(292) Medley Manor Farm, house 1 m. N.W. of St. Thomas' church, was entirely re-built in the 18th century but re-set in an enclosure-wall, E. of the house, is a 16th-century doorway; it has moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with foliagespandrels and a label with head-stops of a bishop and a king; in the middle is an angel with a defaced shield. Flanking the label are two 12th-century corbels. The wall itself is of coursed stone with ashlar quoins.

(293) Eastwyke Farm, house on the E. side of the road, 720 yards S.S.E. of Folly bridge, is of two storeys with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th century and the N. wing may be a rather later addition. It retains a few original windows with stone jambs and mullions; two large dormers have projecting gables. Inside the building is an original stone fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred arch with sunk spandrels. The ditches which partly surround the farm may have a defensive character.

Condition—Good.