No. 5: Yard on left of The Store Hotel
No. 5 Broad Street was one of the five houses/shops that were demolished in 1928 to make way for Boswell House, and was more or less on the site of its yard at the west end leading to the bastion in the city wall. In the early 2020s the whole of Boswell House was converted into The Store Hotel.
The old house at 5 Broad Street prior to 1928
The former premises at No. 5 Broad Street was originally a private house in St Michael-at-the-Northgate parish. At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford it was jointly occupied with No. 4 to the left by Miss Goodenough, and the pair of houses had a combined frontage of 14yds 0ft 7in.
In the 1840s the numbering of this part of Broad Street was unsettled, and Hunt's Directory for 1846 lists the surgeon Thomas Allen at No. 4, but in fact he was here at No. 5. The 1851 census correctly lists Thomas Allen (49) at 5 Broad Street, together with his wife and two young children, his wife's niece, and two servants.
The Oxford Directory for 1861 indicates that No. 5 was occupied by the attorneys Thomas Ward and Richard J. Hansard, but the 1861 census wrongly lists Thomas Ward at 6 Broad Street, which pushes subsequent numbers up by one.
From 1866 to 1908 No. 5 was the home and surgery of John Briscoe, Surgeon to the Radcliffe Infirmary. The 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses all show him living here on his own with two servants. He died at this house at the age of 88 on 28 September 1908.
From 1910 to 1915 Sydney Galpin, auctioneer, valuer, & estate agent had his office here, but the living quarters appear to have been unoccupied at the time of the 1911 census. .
From 1918 to 1922 No. 5 Broad Street was a School of Cookery & Tea Rooms, and then the Shamrock Tea Rooms from 1923 to 1926.
Miss Adela Bankhead was a confectioner here around the time the building was demolished in 1928.
Demolition of the old house on this site
No. 5 was demolished in 1928 along with Nos. 4, 3, 2, & 1 to the right to make way for Boswell House (now The Store Hotel).
This photograph shows the demolition of 1–5 Broad Street taking place in 1928:
- On the left is part of No. 6 Broad Street which survives today
- Then come two semi-detached dwellings partly demolished at the top:
this house at No. 5 is the one on the left and No. 4 the one on the right) - Then to the right again re the demolished remains of Nos. 3, 2, and 1 Broad Street
- Out of sight on the corner is William Baker's new shop of 1915, which survives today
The later shop at 5 Broad Street
in Boswell House
(now the extreme left of The Store Hotel)
The later shop at No. 5 Broad Street in Boswell House (built in the late 1920s) was occupied by various businesses from 1930, ranging from a tailor, an optician, television rentals, estate agent, fashion, and fudge: see list in the table below. The photograph on the right shows it when it was Gaff.
Occupants of 5 Broad Street listed in directories since 1930 |
|
1930–1935 |
George Smith, |
1937–1962 |
Wingate Melson (Melson Wingate |
1964–1968 |
Robinson Rentals Ltd, Television rentals |
1969–1976 |
Granada Ltd, Television rentals |
1980s |
August & Lester, Estate Agents |
c.1995–2009 |
Gaff |
2009–2020 |
Fudge Kitchen |
From 2021 to 2024 the site at 1–5 Broad Street underwent building work, and since then the site of the former shop at No. 5 has been part of The Store Hotel.
Above: The Store Hotel which opened in 2024 occupies the whole of Boswell House.
The frontage
of the
1928 shop in Boswell House that was numbered 5 Broad Street is on the far left-hand side