Cornmarket Timeline
Cornmarket Street was originally called Northgate Street, because it ran from Carfax to the North Gate of the city. All the street except for a a few houses at the north end lay inside the old city wall.
The southern end used to be in the parish of St Martin, and the rest in the parish of St Michael at the Northgate.
Date |
Event |
1000 |
The street (currently called Northgate Street) was already one of the main commercial areas of Oxford |
c.1050 |
The Saxon Tower of Church of St Michael-at-the-Northgate was built (still surviving) |
1255 |
Northgate Street (later Cornmarket) already marked the east–west divide of the four city wards |
1260 |
Record of a skinners’ quarter on the site of the Golden Cross |
1536 |
Dr John Claymond had a lead roof supported on stone pillars erected in the middle of the street so that |
1644 |
The roof of the corn market was demolished to provide lead for bullets during the civil war |
1695 |
Wooden water pipes were laid in Cornmarket |
1771 |
The North Gate and Bocardo Gaol were demolished |
1774 |
Cornmarket was widened |
1810 |
Last use of the pillory and whipping post in the centre of Cornmarket (opposite Frewin Court) |
1822 |
The City Church of St Martin’s on the south-west corner was rebuilt, but the original tower was retained |
1863 |
The Star Inn was acquired by the Clarendon Hotel Company and renamed the Clarendon Hotel |
1863/4 |
The premises of the grocer Grimbly Hughes at 56 Cornmarket burnt to the ground in 1863, |
1882 |
The tram-route to North Oxford from Carfax was laid through Cornmarket |
1896 |
Carfax Improvement Scheme: The City Church of St Martin at Carfax was demolished except for its tower, as well as adjacent shops at 62, 63, 64, and 65 Cornmarket Street, and the old Crown Inn now occupied by the shops numbered 59, 60, and 61 |
1896/7 |
New shops were built at the south-west end of Cornmarket, including the building now occupied by the HSBC Bank at Nos. 62–65 and a large shop to the north of the ban on the site of the smaller shops at Nos. 59, 60, and 61 |
1900 |
The White Hart Inn at No. 21 was demolished and replaced by Buol's Hotel & Restaurant |
1901 |
The present Lloyds Bank was built on the south-east corner of Carfax, but the part at No. 1 Cornmarket was originally two shops |
1919 |
The tramlines were removed from Cornmarket (photograph in Oxford Journal Illustrated of 10 February) |
1924 |
Woolworth’s moved into the right-hand part of the Roebuck Hotel (No. 8) |
1936 |
Austin Reed gents’ outfitters opened in No. 38; closed 2016 |
1954/5 |
The old Clarendon Hotel was demolished to make way for a new Woolworth’s and Clarendon House above |
1955 |
The rubber surface that had been laid on the road proved to be too dangerous in wet weather and was removed |
1961 |
The Grimbly Hughes grocer's shop at 55, 56, & 57 Cornmarket Street was demolished and replaced by Littlewoods |
1963 |
The eight shops at 13–20 Cornmarket were demolished and replaced by Northgate House, |
1973 |
The pavements were widened, the kerbs were removed, and Cornmarket was closed to all vehicles except buses, taxis, and vehicles requiring access |
1976 |
Marks & Spencer moved from Northgate House to Queen Street, swapping shops with the Co-op |
1983 |
Woolworth’s closed, and the present Clarendon Centre was created |
1986/7 |
The Golden Cross restaurant closed, and Golden Cross Way was created, with 13 new shops, a restaurant, and a bar. |
1999 |
Cornmarket Street wasfully pedestrianised following removal of all buses |
2001 |
Disastrous attempt to repave Cornmarket: the granite sets cracked and the contractor went into liquidation. |
2003 |
Cornmarket was repaved again, and controversial new seats installed |