The Library And Herbarium Of The Botanic Gardens

The Library and Herbarium of the Botanic Gardens is a Grade I listed building located on High Street, dating back to the 18th century. It consists of two buildings, which now include Magdalen College Bursaey.

The south elevation was originally a single-storey structure built between 1733 and 1735 to serve as the easternmost orangery, designed by William Townesend, an Oxford mason-architect. In 1835, the building was raised by one storey when H.J. Underwood designed the porter's lodge on the west side. The current south elevation features two storeys of ashlar stone, with a moulded cornice at the first floor and a parapet below it. It includes a three-sided bay with a central doorway flanked by a window. The tall sash windows have plain recessed reveals and rusticated keystones. The additional storey from 1835 is designed in the same style, at which point the building became the Professor's house.

The north elevation, also designed by Underwood around 1835, is two storeys of ashlar on a rusticated ground floor. It features a central section with four engaged Doric columns that project forward, a moulded entablature, and a parapet. There are five tall sash windows in moulded frames with scroll-bracketed cornices, along with five smaller sash windows on the ground floor.

All the listed buildings on the south side form a cohesive group.