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No. 13 Broad Street dates from the late eighteenth century. It is Grade II listed (List Entry No. 1185319) and is owned by Oxford City Council. It and is in St Michael-at-the-Northgate parish.

At the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford it was occupied by Mrs Wootton, together with the side passage, and its frontage measured 6yd 2ft 6in.

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Castell & Son, tailors

No. 13 was occupied by the tailors Castell & Son from at least 1846 to 2022 (although latterly they were part of the Shepherd & Woodward group and catered more for tourists than the undergraduates).

The 1851 census shows George Castell living over No. 13 with his wife and four young children and one servant: he is described as a tailor employing two men and three boys. For more about George Castell, see the grave of his daughters Mary (Mrs Bellamy) and Sarah Maria.

At 1.30 in the morning on Friday 4 September 1857 there was a serious fire in the room under Castell's shop, where wood and shavings were kept. Alderman Sadler gave the family shelter, and John Marsh, the landlord of the North Star at No. 2, went to Mr Floyd's in the High Street to get the keys for the engine house at St Mary's Church, and with the assistance of the University Police got out the two engines. Williams the engineer sent his brother to the new waterworks at Hinksey to have the full power put on, and went to Carfax and to Market Street to turn the tanks on there too. Five fire engines arrived (one from the University Press, St John's College, and Mr Jones the builder, and two from the University). The fire extended westwards to the house of James Price the tailor next door (No. 12), and then to the adjoining houses of the tailor William Wallington (No. 11) and Mrs Bowell (No. 10). The house on the other side of Castell occupied by the boot maker John Harwood (No. 14) also ignited. The premises here at No. 13 and at No. 12 next door were totally destroyed. Full details are in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 5 September 1857, p. 6.

Castell moved temporarily into Ship Street, but reopened in his restored premises here on Monday 29 March 1858. In the 1861 and 1871 censuses he is listed here with his wife and three children, plus a servant.

George Castell died in 1878, and at the time of the 1881 census George Castell's second son John Henry Castell, had succeeded him and was living here at 13 Broad Street with his wife. The business must have greatly expanded, as he was described as employing 15 men, three “lads” and one woman.

John Henry Castell died at 13 Broad Street at the age of 43 on 25 March 1891, and the 1891 census taken very shortly afterwards shows his widow, Sarah (37), described as a tailor and robe-maker, living here with one servant.

The following advertisement for Jaeger woollen underwear at Castell's appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 2 November 1895:

In 1896 the Castell family sold the business to two senior members of staff called Trafford and Wheeler, and eventually the Trafford family took it over. The 1901 census shows Thomas Trafford (41), described as a tailor, living here with his wife Ruth and their five children.

At the time of the 1911 census five of the rooms upstairs at No. 13 were occupied by Tom Ford Horne, a horse-trainer, and his wife and daughter and two rooms by the astronomer Henry Plummer, a bachelor of 35 living on his own.

The business retained the name Castell, and in the 1920s it became known as “The Varsity Shop” as it was the official outfitter and supplier to the university's sports teams. In the 1930s the Chancellor of the University appointed Castell's to design a range of university ties.

Frederick Trafford died in 1945 at the age of 62 and the business was sold to Max Adamson and Guy Osborn. In 1947 it was incorporated as Castell & Son (Oxford) Ltd). Hugh Osborn took over on his father's death in 1976, and when he retired in 1993 it was sold as a going concern to Shepherd & Woodward.

Castell's closed in 2022 after about 180 years here at 13 Broad Street and moved in with Shepherd & Woodward in the High Street.

Castell company records from c.1868 to 1967 are at the Oxfordshire History Centre (GB 160 B22).