quatrefoils

Then & Now:

Nos. 12-13 & 14-15 Parks Road, North Oxford, seen from north east. Built in 1868 and 1869, architect(s) unspecified, Semi-detached houses on the Keble Road Triangle, called "South/North Grove" (Nos. 12/13) and "East View" (Nos. 14/15). The two remaining of originally four Victorian buildings on this section of Parks Road. Though no informations are available about the architects, Nos. 12-13 can be attributed to Frederick Codd, whose designs at 2 Bevington Rd and 58 Woodstock Rd are identical in style and workmanship. Nos. 14-15 represent a semi type which is quite common in this area, similar buildings can be found near Museums Rd and on Blackhall Rd, and particularly on Winchester Road. No. 15 was later enlarged at the north side, with additional windows and a chimney, furthermore attaching an extension at the north west corner. Everything else looks today almost like on this photograph, just 150 years older. A blue plaque at No. 12 notes today that this was the home of Novelist Joyce Cary from 1920 until his death in 1957. In 1963, Oxford University's Department of Theoretical Physics, headed by Prof. Rudolf Peierls, moved into Nos. 12 to 14. At that time the Victorian houses were already surrounded by modern buildings of the developing Science Area. Today, both buildings are housing offices and laboratories of the Department of Materials. The houses - not occupied yet - look brand new on this photograph, as if the last brick was set moments ago, the site not completely being cleaned up, thus the date of the photograph should also be around 1869. Sources: - T. Hinchcliffe: North Oxford (Yale Univ. Press) - Town Plan of Oxfordshire XXXIII.15.7 (1876), National Library of Scotland - Internet Archive (archive.org)

No. 33 Banbury Road, North Oxford. Built in 1865-67, architect: Charles Edward Bruton. One more photograph of "Springfield", made a few years earlier than the other image in this collection. The house in the background on the right would be No. 3 Bevington Road, leased in 1868, which was later aquired by St. Anne's in 1953. Houses No. 1 and 2 (leased in 1869) are not built yet, thus we could assume this photograph to be taken around 1868, not long after Springfield itself was completed. The household staff of Springfield seems to be quite interested into what's happening outside. If you look at the basement on the right side (which is likely to be the kitchen) you can see the housekeeper standing there and keeping an eye on the scene.