Christ Church Picture Gallery is a Grade II* listed building in the Oxford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 April 1998. Art gallery. 31 related planning applications.
Christ Church Picture Gallery
- WRENN ID
- odd-niche-yew
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Oxford
- Constituency
- Oxford West and Abingdon MP: Layla Moran (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 April 1998
- Type
- Art gallery
- Address
- Christ Church Picture Gallery, St Aldates, OX1 1DP
- OS grid reference
- SP 515 060
- Coordinates
- 51.75067, -1.25442
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Christ Church Picture Gallery is an art gallery built between 1965 and 1968, designed by Powell and Moya. It is constructed from stone rubble, Portland stone, and reinforced concrete. The building is one storey high and has an 'L' shape, enclosing a small grassy court on the left, which can be viewed through the large entrance passage that connects the galleries. This passage features a gently rising roof.
Access to the gallery is gained through the south range of Canterbury Quad, down a flight of steps. Inside, there is a small gallery and a larger gallery to the right, with two additional galleries at the far end. One of these is a darkened space designed for displaying old master drawings, while the other galleries are illuminated by concealed perimeter daylight and electric lighting.
Internally, the gallery features Portland stone dressings and walls finished with painted rough-textured plaster. The large gallery has a timber boarded roof supported by four unpainted, board-marked concrete pilotis. Simple heavy metal gates with vertical bars slide to close off the galleries. The corridor gallery has glazing that starts at waist height, consisting of a continuous band of narrow vertical lights separated by substantial bronze diamond-shaped mullions, with the glass having a slight grey tint and a broad stone cill.
Unpainted concrete pilotis support a gloss-finished ceiling. The glazing allows views of the stone and concrete ramp that encloses the grassy court; this ramp is grassed on top and provides access to the paved roof of the gallery. The Christ Church Picture Gallery is noted for its subtle and attractively detailed design, which, while modern, integrates sensitively into its historically significant surroundings.
Local climate
Christ Church Picture Gallery sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 77% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 70% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 50% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 31 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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