Cottages, now part of Trinity College
The photograph above (taken in November 2022) shows the cottages in Broad Street that are now part of Trinity College, with the one on the left having housed the college's lodge since 1885. These cottages were largely rebuilt in 1968/9 (architect Pinkheard & Partners (Oxford), and the builders Kingerlee).
They are jointly Grade II listed (List Entry No. 1046621) as “Trinity College South Range” together with the college's main gate to the west. They have always been in St Mary Magdalen parish.
These cottages were originally built in about 1680 and in 1786 they were bought by Trinity College together with the land behind them from Magdalen and Oriel Colleges. For most of the nineteenth century they remained separate cottages occupied by Trinity College servants.
The image below (Historic England CC72/02269) shows the original cottages in 1880:
There is no lising for the cottages in the censuses after 1881, as In 1883–1885 when Trinity College's new Front Quadrangle was created by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson the cottages were incorporated into the college itself. The outbuildings were demolished and the cottages became staircases 1, 2, and 3, plus the porter's lodge and cottage. Jackson’s Oxford Journal reported on 11 October 1884:
Since last year the College has been adapting the old cottages in Broad-street, which stood near the gate, into sets of rooms, and this alteration, together with the addition of the new block, has necessitated the making of another porter’s lodge, and the westernmost house is now being altered for that purpose, the old lodge being about to be done away with.
Below: A view of the backs of the original cottages in 1890, soon after their incorporation into Trinity College (Historic England CC50/00594):
The postcard below (date uncertain: possibly 1920) shows the front of the original cottages, with the main gate of Trinity College to the left:
Survey of Oxford of 1772
This shows the following people listed in the dwellings between Kettell Hall to the east and Trinity College to the west:
- Mr Wright; garden, &c. (frontage 16 yds 2 ft 6 in)
- Mr Bradley (frontage 8 yds 0 ft 10 in)
- Mr George (frontage 11 yds 2 ft 1 in)
- Mr Godfrey (frontage 11 yds 2 ft 4 in)
- Mr Thomson; workshop (frontage 10 yds 0 ft 5 in)
The numbering of the cottages
There is some uncertainty about this. Prior to their absorption into Trinity College in 1883, these cottages were numbered 55, 56, 57, and 58 Broad Street, running from east to west. Kettell Hall is definitely No. 54, so It seems most likely that No. 55 is the next cottages set at right-angles to the street. Nos. 56 & 57 would then be the pair in the building attached to it (which used to have two front doors facing Broad Street), and No. 58 would be the last house on the left that is now the Porters' Lodge.
No. 55
This is presumably the large house on the right of the group that faces east. Only its left side fronts Broad Street, and so it can be only be seen properly from inside the college (below):
Occupants of No. 55
- By 1841 to 1867: John Pater, Manciple of Trinity College (Mrs Pater from 1860)
The 1841 census shows that this cottage was then occupied by John Pater (described simply as a college servant, even though he had a senior position as Manciple) and his first wife Susannah, plus a student lodger and a servant. In the 1851 census when the cottage's address was specifically given as 55 Broad Street, Pater was still here (now described as Divinity Clerk to the University) with his second wife Elizabeth and one servant. In Gardner's Directory for 1852 he is notably listed in the Gentry section as living at 55 Broad Street. John Pater died here on 9 October 1860, and the 1861 census shows his widow Elizabeth, described as a landholder, living alone at No. 55 with her servant. She died here on 10 August 1867. - 1869 to 1883: James Clifton, Bedmaker of Trinity College
James Clifton moved here from No. 56 next door in about 1869. Both the 1871 and 1881 censuses list Clifton here at No. 55 with his four children, and in the latter year he also had an undergraduate boarder. He would have had to move out in 1883 when this cottage was incorporated into Trinity College's new quadrangle.
The front garden of this cottage was incorporated into the President’s Lodgings in 1885.
No. 56 & 57
These numbers appear to relate to the two cottages shown in this single building, with No. 56 on the right (attached to the back of No. 55) and No. 57 on the left (attached to the back of No. 58, a wide single cottage that now houses the lodge).
This building was originally in matching halves: each had a door to the right of the ground-floor window, and on the first floor there was just one window on each side, and similarly there were only two dormer windows, as shown in this photograph of 1949.
Occupants of No. 56
- By 1841: Benjamin Woollams, Butler of Trinity College
Woollams's death notice in 1877 states that he had served as Butler of Trinity College for 47 years, but he had various addresses while holding that post: in 1830, for instance, he was living with his family in Little Clarendon Street. In the 1841 census he was listed in the second cottage to the west of Kettell Hall in Broad Street with his wife Susannah and their five children. Two of his sons died in their Broad Street home later in 1841: Robert (16) on 23 November and Edward (6½) in December. (He continued to serve as Butler of Trinity College until at least 1871, but after the 1840s lived first at Worcester Terrace (now Richmond Road) and then St Giles's Street.) - By 1851: Thomas Rogers, Servant of Trinity College
In the 1851 census the cottage's address was specifically given as 56 Broad Street, and was occupied by the college servant Rogers and his wife Elizabeth , plus a young servant of their own. - By 1861 to 1867: James Clifton, Bedmaker of Trinity College
At the time of the 1861 census this cottage was occupied by James Clifton with his wife and three young children. He was still listed at No. 56 in a directory of 1867. He moved next door to No. 55 in about 1869 - 1869 to 1883: John Pyke or Pike, Bedmaker of Trinity College
The 1871 census shows Pike living at No. 56 with his wife and four children, and the 1881 census with his wife and three grown-up children. He would have had to move out in 1883 when this cottage was incorporated into Trinity College's new quadrangle.
Occupants of No. 57
- By 1841 to 1868: Sarah Worville, Servant of Trinity College
The 1841 census shows Sarah Worville living in the third cottage to the west of Kettell Hall with her seven children (aged between 15 and 30). (She is listed at No. 56 in Hunt's Directory for 1846, but there appears to have been a discrepancy in the numbering in that directory.) In the 1851 census the cottage's address was specifically given as 57 Broad Street, and Sarah Worville, a widow of 54 described as a college servant, was listed here with her five grown-up children and a male college servant of 25. Again in the 1861 census the cottage is numbered as 57 and was still occupied by Sarah Worville (who appears to have still been working as a college servant at the age of 75), together with one daughter and granddaughter, plus a lodger who was an M.A. According to directories, she remained in the house until 1867, and died here at the age of 84 in April 1868. - By 1871 to 1883: James Ray, Bedmaker of Trinity College
At the time of the 1871 census James Ray was living here at No. 57 with his wife and two children, plus a general servant. Their son Frank Alfred Ray died here at the age of five on 18 February 1880. In the 1881 census James Ray is listed as occupying both 57 & 58 Broad Street with his wife and two children, plus a general servant. He had to move out of this pair of cottages in 1883 when they were incorporated into Trinity College's new quadrangle, but continued to work for Trinity College while living at Wellington Square.
No. 58
This is the last numbered cottage in all the censuses, and is assumed to be the one below that now incorporates the porters' lodge and adjoins the college gate to the left.
Occupants of No. 58
- 1841–1852: George Perrott, Servant of Trinity College
The 1841 census shows George Perrott living in the fourth and last cottage with his wife and six children, plus a student lodger. In the 1851 census the cottage's address was specifically given as 58 Broad Street, and Perrott still lived here with his wife and four children, plus a student lodger. He died here near the beginning of January 1852 at the age of 55. - By 1861–1876: George Osborne, Servant of Trinity College
At the time of the 1861 census the cottage numbered 58 was occupied by another college servant, George Osborne, and his wife, daughter, and niece. (Gardner's Directory shows that Osborne was already a servant of Trinity College in 1852, but he then lived at Beaumont Buildings.) His wife Jane Osborne died at No. 58 at the age of 70 on 13 November 1867, and the 1871 census shows George Osborne as a widower of 67, living here with his son and a general servant and still working as a college servant. He died here at the age of 72 on 24 October 1876. - 1881 only: James Ray, Bedmaker of Trinity College
The 1881 census lists James Ray is listed as occupying both 57 & 58 Broad Street with his wife and two children, plus a general servant. He had to move out in 1883 when the cottages were incorporated into Trinity College's new quadrangle, but continued to work for Trinity College while living at Wellington Square.
Below: Postcard showing the twin-gabled rear wing of Trinity College Lodge, viewed from the east. A similar photograph can be seen here.
Right the original row of cottages in c.1905, after they were incorporated into Trinity College
Below: Aerial view of the north side of Broad Street, showing the cottages in the middle (Historic England CC72/02251). No.58 still has a front door, so the image must be earlier than the one on the right