17: Oxford Chariot
This very narrow building, squashed between the easternmost entrance of the Market on the left and the Mitre on the right, is owned by Lincoln College, and is jointly Grade II* listed with the Mitre next door (List Entry No. 1369357). It was in the parish of All Saints until that church closed in 1971. It is now in the parish of St Michael-at-the-Northgate Church.
No. 17 was once the Mitre’s coach office, as can be seen in the extract on the right from a coloured engraving, dating from c.1825.
At the time of the 1841 census No. 17 appears to have been occupied by the victualler Richard Hamlet and his wife and daughter, plus five servants.
The 1851 and 1861 censuses list the occupants of the Mitre Hotel under No. 17 rather than No. 18. Again in the 1881 and 1891 censuses the staff and guests at the Mitre Hotel next door are listed under No. 17, with just the hotel-keeper shown at the Mitre itself at No. 18. See the main Mitre page for details.
The 1901 census lists No. 17 as an unoccupied Parcels Office, and it does not appear to be listed separately in the 1911 census.
No. 17 can be seen below in the early twentieth century, when the Mitre still had its coach office here, and a notice in the window reads GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. The bedrooms of the Mitre then extended over No. 17 and westwards over Slatter & Rose at No. 16.
It ceased to be the Mitre Coach Office in 1913, and was the florist shop of Bates & Co from 1913 to 1917.
The confectioner Thomas Long had his shop here from 1918 to the late 1970s:
It was Tim's Newsagent for twenty years from 2002, and it announced that it was about to close in May 2022.
Occupiers of 17 High Street | |
By 1846–1913 |
Mitre Coach Office |
1913–1917 |
Bates & Co., Florists |
1918–1976+ |
Thomas Long, Confectioner |
1980s |
Shop, name unknown, that sold model kits, |
1998 |
Candle Light, Candle shop |
2000–2001 |
Avenue 5 |
2002–2022 |
Tim’s Newsagent |
2023–present |
Oxford Chariot |
