85: Antiques on High
No. 85 is a timber-framed house of the seventeenth or eighteenth century that was enlarged in the early nineteenth century. It is owned by University College, and there is student accommodation upstairs.
It is a Grade II listed building (List Entry No. 1139039). It was in St Peter-in-the East parish until that parish was united with St Cross parish in 1957.
This site was originally owned by The Queen’s College, and the Saracen’s Head pub was here by 1442.
In 1772 a survey of every house in the city was taken in consequence of the Mileways Act of 1771. No. 85 was then in the occupation of Mrs Horn, and its frontage measured 7 yards 1 foot 7 inches.
In the nineteenth century No. 85 was acquired by University College from The Queen's College.
The plumber & glazier John Hickman lived here, possibly from as early as 1795. He died in 1831, and the business was taken over by his son Charles Randall Hickman. The the 1841 census shows Charles, a widower, living here alone with a lodger and two servants. The following year he married his second wife Lucy Mason in Westminster. He died here at the age of 45 on 22 June 1849, and the business was taken over by his widow Lucy Hickman, who In Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 20 April 1850 thanked people for help with a fire that destroyed the workshop behind this building and had threatened her home and shop. The 1851 census shows her at the age of 47 and described as a “plumber and glazier” living here alone with one servant. On 8 May 1852 she announced that in consequence of ill health she was giving up the business that day and that John Taylor, who had worked both for her husband and his father, would continue to attend to the business for a short time.
The 1861 census shows No. 85 occupied by the gun maker George Webb (52) and his wife Elizabeth and their five children, plus their servant. Another daughter Elizabeth Jane Webb died here at the age of 31 on 4 July 1870.
The 1871 census shows the beer & stout agent James Brown (33) living here with his wife Elizabeth and their five children plus three servants. In a separate household at No. 85 lived the wine merchant Charles Foster junior (63) and his wife Mary, plus three unmarried sisters with the surname Guise.
On 15 September 1877 this building was advertised as follows in Jackson's Oxford Journal:
UNIVERSITY LODGINGS.
TO be LET—No. 85, High Street. A large, commodious, and substantially-built HOUSE, excellently situated, capable of letting four sets of University Lodgings, with good garden and very large room at back of premises.
By the time of the 1881 census the lodging house keeper Richard Beesley (43) lived here with his wife Annie and his niece.
The premises upstairs were unoccupied at the time of the 1891 census, and on 4 June 1892 the building was advertised for sale with a sitting tenant in the building at the back:
All that substantially-built LEASEHOLD LICENSED UNIVERSITY LODGING-HOUSE, known as No. 85, High-street, Oxford, containing on the ground floor, Entrance Passage, Hall, Dining Room, and small Sitting Room; on the first floor, good Drawing Room, Bed Room, and China Closet; on the second floor, 2 Rooms and w.c.; on the third floor, 2 Bed Rooms and Linen Closet; and on the top floor, 2 Attics; front Kitchen, Scullery, 2 Pantries, and good Wine Cellar in the basement; large Garden, Paved Coal Yard, Servants' w.c., and a Building consisting of 3 Rooms in the rear; as now in the occupation of Miss Parker, at a rental of £80 per annum.
It is held under Queen's College, Oxford, for an unexpired term of 10 years from August, 1892, at an annual Ground Rent of £2.
At the time of the 1901 census the premises above No. 85 were occupied by the lodging-house keeper Miss Elizabeth Parker (49) and her 13-year old nephew, plus their servant.
In about 1908 James Leed opened a tobacconist's shop on the ground floor, while his wife ran a lodging house upstairs. The 1911 census shows Leed (36) living in the twelve rooms over this shop with his wife Bertha and their two sons.
The 1921 census shows Herbert Montague Lodge (39), a clerk of accounts at the University, living here with his wife Lilian and their two children, plus their servant.
From 1949 to 1956 this shop was part of the Co-op café next door:
It then became a Co-op grocer’s shop, which survived until 1970.
In the early 1970s, a transfer of property between The Queen’s College and University College brought this shop at No. 85 under the same ownership as its neighbours to the east and the upper floors of Nos. 83–85 were made into a single unit, which has been occupied by students of University College since that date.
In 1971 the City of Oxford Motor Services moved in here at No. 85, but in 1976 they moved to their present home at No. 83, next door but one.
In 1984 No. 84 next door became the Frank Cooper shop again, and it took over this shop for its office, museum, and storage.
Occupiers of 85 High Street | |
1795–1852 |
John Hickman, Plumber & glazier (from 1794 (probably) to his death in 1831) |
1861–1870 |
George Webb |
1871–1876 |
James Brown, Ale & porter merchant |
1880–1885 |
Richard Beesley |
1887–1907 |
Mrs Elizabeth Parker, University lodgings |
1909–1916 |
James
C. Leed Tobacconist |
1918–1935 |
George E. Weeks & Co., Bakers |
1936–1945 |
Russell Butler, Peto & Marks, Auctioneers & estate agents |
1949–1956 |
Part of Co-op Café at Nos. 83 and 84 |
1958–1970 |
Co-operative Grocery |
1971–1976 |
City of Oxford Motor Services Ltd |
1984–c.1990 |
Frank Cooper Ltd Museum (and at 84) |
1998–present |
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