THE KING'S HOUSES
The king's houses, later called Beaumont Palace,
were built by Henry I outside the town's North Gate,
on a site at the western end of the later Beaumont
Street. (fn. 1) Henry I spent Easter at his new hall in Oxford
in 1132; (fn. 2) Richard I was born there in 1157 and John
in 1167. (fn. 3) Work and repairs on the king's houses were
carried out regularly, and by the mid 13th century, at
the height of their use as a royal palace, they comprised the king's hall and great chamber, two chapels,
a cloister, many rooms, including chambers for the
queen, the king's son, and the royal chaplains, besides
kitchens and other domestic offices; the site, defended
by a wall, was entered through a 'great gate'. (fn. 4)
The houses were already sizeable by the later 12th
century, for in 1171 40,000 oak shingles and 20 pairs
of beams were supplied for building work there. (fn. 5) The
king's chapel and cloister were first mentioned in the
1190s; (fn. 6) the chapel appears to have been dedicated to
St. Nicholas, and along with the queen's chapel was
served by chaplains appointed by the sheriff. (fn. 7) The
great chamber was decorated with paintings before
1231-2. (fn. 8) The hall, apparently a large, aisled building,
was partly wainscoted and glazed in the 1240s. (fn. 9)
The king's houses were the sheriff's responsibility, (fn. 10)
except when entrusted to keepers, or, as on one
occasion in 1239, when the mayor and bailiffs were
put in charge of repairs. (fn. 11) The first known keeper was
Ellis of Oxford, described variously as mason, carpenter, and engineer, who was paid for work on the
houses in 1187 and was keeper from 1188 until
succeeded in 1200 by Walter Buistard. (fn. 12) In 1215 the
office was confirmed or regranted to Buistard, who
remained keeper in 1219. (fn. 13) In 1231 Gilbert Cook,
servant of Godfrey of Chacombe, was appointed
keeper for life, and was confirmed in the office in 1237
despite an intervening grant to another keeper. (fn. 14) Keepers appointed in 1252 and 1254 appear to have been
displaced quickly in favour of the sheriff. (fn. 15) In 1262
and 1267 king's chaplains were granted the keepership. (fn. 16)
In the later 13th century the houses ceased to be
used as a royal palace. Edward I spent some time there
in the summer of 1275, but later that year granted
them, as 'the manor of Oxford', to Francesco Accorso,
his wife and household, to live in; (fn. 17) Accorso was a
doctor of laws from Bologna who served the king on
several diplomatic missions, and may have been lecturing in Oxford at that time. (fn. 18) In 1276 the king granted
the houses to Edmund Mortimer, who was in minor
orders and perhaps studying at the university, (fn. 19) and in
1294 to Edward of St. John, described as the king's
kinsman. (fn. 20)
The last recorded repairs at the king's expense were
in 1289, and in 1308 the sheriff was permitted to take
stones and timber from the houses to repair the
castle. (fn. 21) In 1318 Edward II granted the buildings to the
Carmelite friars. (fn. 22)