Oxford History: The High

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These Brasenose College buildings that face the High Street were built in two phases: the tower and the four bays to the right in 1887, and the three bays to the left in 1911. They were designed by the well-known later Victorian architect T. G. Jackson, and both sections are Grade II listed (List Entry for 1887 section is 1046735, and for 1911 section is 1046736).

In all, Brasenose demolished eight shops and Amsterdam Court behind in order to build its New Quadrangle stretching down to the High.

A parish boundary ran down the middle of the former row of shops here:

• Nos. 24, 25, 26, & 27 to the west were in All Saints parish
  No. 27 was demolished by Brasenose in 1887, and the rest in 1908
• Nos.  28, 29, 30, & 31 to the east were in St Mary-the-Virgin parish
  These were all demolished by Brasenose in 1887

The photograph below shows workmen in 1887 preparing to demolish the shops from Tester's at No. 27 eastwards to Standen at No. 31 (Historic England HT04354):

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First phase of Brasenose New Buildings (1887): Tower and bays to east

 

The photograph on the left shows the above scene as it was between 1887 and 1908.

At this stage only four of the seven bays of Brasenose New Buildings had been built (replacing 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31 High Street)

The opening to the left of them was the entrance to Amsterdam Passage, now the site of Brasenose's Amsterdam Quad.

The shops at No. 26, 25, and 24 High Street to the west of Amsterdam Passage were not demolished by Brasenose until 1908

 

 

Jackson's Oxford Journal of 15 October 1887 reported thus on the first phase of this development (on the site of the four shops Nos. 27–31), showing how the plans were altered at the last minute :

An extensive line of buildings is to be added to Brasenose, and to provide room for these a row of shops — Messrs. Standen and Co. [No. 31], Bassett [No. 29], Gee [No. 28], and Tester's [No. 27] — have succumbed to the pick-axe and the crowbar, and a long tract is laid bare. Eventually, when leases have expired, we believe there is an intention of continuing the base of operations as far as All Saints, but that idea is yet but a dream of the future.

The plans had been accepted, and the foundations had reached an advanced stage, when objections were made, and the designs for all the main portions of the buildings above the line of the street were recalled. A serious difficulty had arisen as to the incongruity of the block—and particularly the tower— with the steeples of St. Mary-the-Virgin and All Saints. There was some hesitation before the present designs were accepted, to risk a work which must, to a certain degree, be experimental, and which might, if incorrectly designed, mar the beauty of the incomparable “High,” which has been well and truly said to have no equal in the world in point of architectural beauty. At the eleventh hour the accepted plans were rejected, and new designs are in course of completion.

Mr. Mogford, the clerk of the works, beyond the foundations, which, having been almost completed, are to remain unaltered, has as yet had no further official instructions with regard to future movements. We have been able, however, to ascertain that the whole superstructure is to be materially altered; that the tower hitherto intended to stand back some distance from the line of frontage is now to be brought on a level with the street, and to be, perhaps, of dwarf construction. The basements on which the men are now at work are the Principal's house, sets of Undergraduate's rooms, and the foundations of a tower.

The following report appeared in The Times (of London) on 17 October 1888:

The Brasenose block promises to be a handsome addition to the High Street, according well with the frontages of the University Church and All Souls. The architect, Mr. T. G. Jackson, has designed a front of good 15th century perpendicular, bold, and pleasing to the eye. The block includes a tower which will be one of the main features of the street. It comprises a Tudor archway leading into an Amsterdam quad, with a groined roof, over which the first story has three double windows with carved spandrils, their heads fitted with quatrefoil and trefoil lights. Above these are a second and a turret story, and the total height is about 62ft. The portion of the building now constructing is to cost £12,000.

A very full description of the first phase of this building work is given in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 12 October 1889. The architect T. G. Jackson in the Magazine of Art for 1888 described the buildings thus:

Various considerations, partly those of expense, prevailed with the College to content themselves with a less ambitious scheme [than that including the crown steeple] and we have returned to a simple gateway tower…. The front consists of a gateway tower with the royal arms and supporters over the arch, signifying the proper style of the College as the “King's Hall and College of Brasenose.” Above are two niches destined for statues of Bishop Smyth and Sir Richard Sutton, the founders. To the west of the tower are three, and to the right four gables, each with a projecting oriel on the first floor; and at the corner next St. Mary's is an octagonal bay, crowned with a spirelet. This end of the front is allotted to the Principal's house, which runs backward towards the Chapel.

The two niches remained empty.

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Second phase of Brasenose New Buildings (1911): Three bays to the west

It was reported in The Times (of London) on 19 August 1910 (33 years after the opening of the first phase) that the Brasenose buildings were incomplete, and that

it was only last year that the aged Bishop of Lincoln (the late Dr. King), as Visitor of the College, laid the foundation-stone of the remaining portion — a worthy commemoration of the 400th birthday of Brasenose. The builders have worked quickly since that day, and now it is possible to see what the completed front will look like — very harmonious, very academical, and as perfectly in keeping with the place as with the needs of future undergraduates.

The postcard below dating from about 1910 shows All Saints' Church on the left, then the five houses to the east (19–23 High Street) which had originally included in the plan but were spared and still survive today. Phase 2 of the Brasenose new buildings are in the process of being erected behind the scaffolding.

The Oxford Chronicle of 14 October 1910 (p. 8) has a full report on Phase 2 of Brasenose College's High Street buildings, which comprised 16 sets of rooms (14 for undergraduates and two for fellows), a basement with heating apparatus, rooms for servants, cellars, and storerooms. It was fitted with a set of new lavatories, including eight baths and six shower baths.

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Some of the shops that stood on the High Street frontage of this site

1814

Advertisement for Spiers at 28 High Street
in Jackson's Oxford Journal, 6 November 1813

The above detail from a plan of 1814 shows the shops that once stood on this site. From left to right they are:

• No. 26: Sawell (as per 1841 census)
• Entrance to Amsterdam Court
• ?: Cox = Frederick Cox, ladies' shoe maker in 1839
• No. 27: Hester: an error for Tester, fishmonger
• No. 28: Spiers = Richard Spiers, manufacturer of ornamental hair, who remained here until 1834
• No. 29: Barrett (G. Bridges, perfumery & stationer in 1839)
• No. 30: Lodgings of the Principal of Brasenose
• No. 31: Sindry = Mary Sindry, jeweller

Then comes the entrance to St Mary's Passage, with the Oxford Arms pub marked behind Sindry's shop.

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Amsterdam Court

Amsterdam Court (or simply “Amsterdam” as it is usually described in directories) was a narrow passage owned by Brasenose College which until 1911 ran between 26 and 27 High Street. Originally Amsterdam stretched back almost to Lincoln College, but in the 1820s Brasenose cut it off roughly level with its chapel. In medieval times Broadgates Hall stood on this site.

Anthony Wood first mentions the court on 3 May 1667, when he wrote: “For whey at several times at Amsterdam, 4d.”, and it appears there was some kind of small inn there at that time. In July 1669 and again July 1671 he writes about two visiting Benedictine monks who stayed there, Father John Huddleston and Father Thomas Vincent, saying on the second occasion, “Their lodging was in Allsaints parish, in the back-side housing called Amsterdam.”

In the 1772 Survey of Oxford, the following three people are listed as having a house and passage to Amsterdam:

• Mr Spiers L (frontage: 6 yards 1 foot 11 inches)
• Mr Brown (frontage: 4 yards 1 foot 3 inches)
• Mr Benford (frontage: 3 yards 2 feet 8 inches).

At the time of the 1841 census five houses, occupied by the following Brasenose College servants, were listed under Amsterdam Court:

• Timothy Miller, the Porter of the college, with his wife and four children and an independent lady lodger
• Samuel Seaborne, college servant, with his wife and five children and four lodgers (a plasterer, a gilder, a young college servant, and an independent lady). This group had their own servant girl
• Adam Owen, servant, with his wife and seven children, and a 12-year-old girl. This family had its own servant girl
• John Hedges, college servant, and his wife and three children, and another young woman. This family also had its own servant girl
• James West, college servant, and his wife and two daughters.

The cottages in the passage were pulled down by Brasenose College in 1881. Jackson's Oxford Journal of 15 October that year reported:

BRASENOSE COLLEGE
A very considerable addition has just been commenced at this College, the whole of the cottages and shops in the passage known as “Amsterdam” having recently been pulled down to make room for about 30 sets of rooms and two lecture rooms. The area at present cleared is about 150 feet from north to south, by about 46 feet from east to west, but in course of time the extension will be carried to High-street. Owing to the nature of the soil the foundations have had to be dug to a depth of 29 feet, and upon the gravel no less than six feet of concrete has been placed, surmounted with stonework. The buildings will consist of basement, ground, first, and second floors. In the excavations which have been made some interesting specimens of pottery, coins, and other articles have been found. The architect is Mr. Jackson, of London, and the clerk of the works Mr. T. Mockford, but the contract for the building itself has not yet been let.

The Times of 25 October 1886, reporting on the new development, stated that “the back lane, known as 'Amsterdam,' has now entirely disappeared.”

This photograph dating from 1908 shows on the right the new “Tudor archway” of 1888 leading into Amsterdam quad, but this too was demolished in preparation for Brasenose's 1911 range of buildings:

The old passage now lies under the west side of the New Quadrangle, and the passage between Staircases XI and XII is called Amsterdam in its memory.

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