59, Banbury Road

612/0/10133 BANBURY ROAD 07-OCT-08 59

GV II House. 1869. Architect: Frederick Codd. Builder: M. Gray.

MATERIALS: Red brick ground floor with flush blue strings; tile-hung first floor with bands of paler fish-scale tiles; half-timbered gables with angled brick infill and pierced ornamental bargeboards; very steep slate roof; brick stacks with offset caps and original vented pots.

PLAN: Roughly square footprint, with projections.

FAÇADE: Gothic-cum-Domestic Revival in style. 2 storeys, basement and attic, 1½ bays. Front: wide gable to right has half-timbered canted bay to ground floor, 3-light window to first floor and 2-light to attic. Plate glass sashes. Narrower left bay has 2-light first floor window, gabled dormer with iron finial, and projecting gabled porch with stone-coped buttresses. Arched Gothic doorway of painted stone, with colonnettes and richly carved foliage capitals. Steps up to arched plank door with elaborately scrolled strap hinges and original handle. Rear has gable to left, arched ground-floor windows, added conservatory projecting to right, and added narrow wing to left with bay in angle.

INTERIOR: Ground-floor rooms have stone fireplaces with colonnettes, the rear room also with added ornamental plaster ceiling; doors with chamfered plank panels; original open-well stairs with painted turned spindle balusters.

HISTORY: The North Oxford suburb evolved from about 1860 on land owned by St. John's College, with the College gradually making available discreet sets of building plots to lease as it sought to ensure a firm financial future for its endowment. St. John's kept strict control of the development, both in terms of the scale of the houses, and their distribution. All designs were vetted for quality, and to ensure adequate provision of front walls and railings, and rear gardens. Frederick Codd was among the most prolific builders, and in fact had been declared bankrupt before embarking upon 55-61 Banbury Road. Now Hertford College Annex for student accommodation.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Number 59 Banbury Road stands out from the surrounding buildings in its employment of materials and styles to create a substantial house which combines elements of a continental, French, style with those of the emergent Arts and Crafts movement.

SOURCES: T. Hinchcliffe, North Oxford (1992)