5 Holywell Street probably has an eighteenth-century fronting on an earlier timber-framed house. It is owned by Merton College.
It is a Grade II Listed Building (1186761), with the following description:
No 5 SP 5106 NE 6/220 12.1.54. II GV 2.
House. RCHM 216. Probably a C18 fronting of an earlier timber-framed house. It now has a narrow three-storeyed front with an attic window in gable below which is a moulded eaves cornice. There is a Welsh slate roof and brick stacks. The upper part is roughcast and there is stuccoed a ground floor in which is a three-light sash window; the upper floors have sash windows and all are in moulded wood frames with glazing barn.
Interior. RCHM p. 182a. Includes a door of early C17 panelling.
Holywell Street was renumbered in 1836, but the numbers near the start appear to have remained the same, so this advertisement of a forthcoming auction in Jackson's Oxford Journal on 1 April 1815 may refer to this house:
A small neat House, No. 5, Holywell, in the occupation of Mr. Wm. Worville; consisting of a large parlour and kitchen on the ground floor; wash-house, good cellar, and garden; a dining room and bed room the first floor; two good bed chambers on the second floor; and a very large garret;—held by lease under Merton college for the term of 40 years, 27 whereof are now unexpired. The house is in good repair, and fit for the residence of a small genteel family.
The cabinet-maker William Cooke lived here from 1861 to 1867, and on 26 October 1867 a forthcoming sale of all his furniture at this house was advertised in Jackson's Oxford Journal.
A burglary at this house was reported in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 13 August 1870:
BURGLARY IN HOLYWELL — On Tuesday night, shortly after 9 o’clock, some expert thief broke into the house of Mr. Lovegrove, No. 5 Holywell-street, and bursting open a chamber door was quickly packing together a bundle of clothing when he was discovered by the servant girl. The intruder at once decamped, having in the meantime secured a sum of money besides the clothing mentioned. No clue has been obtained as to his identity.
A planning application to change Nos. 4 & 5 from dwelling houses to student accommodation was approved in February 1968 (68/19835/A_H)
5 Holywell Street in the censuses
1841
The 1841 census for Holywell does not give house numbers, but it is possible to deduce where people listed that year lived by examining directory entries between 1839 and 1842 and later censuses
Mrs Sarah Dry, née Curtis (70) lived here with Mary Ward (50): both are described as independent.
1851
Mrs Sarah Dry, née Curtis (84), an unmarried fundholder, still lived here, with one servant. Mary Ward (72) was also still in the house, but was now described as a visitor. She died here at the age of 93 on 9 December 1859.
1861
William Cooke (49), a cabinet maker employing three men) lived here with his sister Catherine (45) who is described as a gentlewoman, and his brother Nathaniel (37) who was an upholsterer. All three were unmarried, and they had one servant.
1871
John Lovegrove (60), an assistant college librarian, lived here with his wife Maria (59). They had one lodger and one servant.
1881
William Williamson (48), a college bedmaker, lived here with his wife Annie (48), and his sister-in-law-Sarah Holder (54), who was a cook.
1891
William Williamson (59), still a college servant, continued to live here with his wife Ann (58). Two undergraduates were lodging with them.
1901
William Williamson (68), a retired college servant,was still here with his wife Anne (68), who was a lodging-house keeper. They had one 16-year-old servant girl.
1911
Miss Dorothea C. Maude (32), a physician and surgeon, lived here with her unmarried sister Muriel (29) and one servant.
1921
Miss Isabelle Margaret Little (32), who practised as a physician & surgeon from this house, was living here with her housekeeper.
1939 Register
Miss Hope Aspell (born 25 August 1904) was living here alone.
Occupants of 5 Holywell Street listed in directories etc. |
||
1758 |
Mr Brown |
|
1772 |
Mrs Best |
|
1815 |
William Worville? |
|
1842–1852 |
Mrs Sarah Dry |
|
1861–1867 |
William Cooke |
|
1870–1876 |
John Lovegrove |
|
1881–1901 |
William Williamson |
|
1905 |
Miss Laura Elizabeth Forster, M.D. Berne, L.R.C.P. & S. Edin |
|
1911–1920 |
Miss Dorothea Clara Maude, M.A., Dub. |
|
1921–1927 |
Miss Isabella Margaret Little |
|
1930 |
Richard Hartley Rose-Innes, M.B., Ch.B.Edin., F.R.C.S.Edin, surgeon |
|
1933 |
John Frederick Wolfenden, M.A. |
|
1935–1936 |
Nigel James Abercrombie |
|
1938–1940 |
Mrs Hope Aspell |
|
1941–1947 |
John Forster Alcock |
|
1949–1954 |
Revd Charles Stephen Conway Williams |
|
1956–1967 |
Brian G. Campbell |
|
1968 |
Change of use of two dwelling houses to students’ accommodation. Alterations and conversion into one property with No. 4 next door (68/19835/A_H) |
|
Today |
Merton College annexe (with No. 4 next door) |
|