28 Holywell Street was built in c.1661, and has a remodelled front. It is now owned by Harris Manchester College.
It is a Grade II Listed Building (1047228), with the following description:
No 28 SP 5106 NE 6/202 12.1.54. II GV 2.
House. RCHM 203, where it is stated that it was built circa 1661 and that the front has been remodelled. 3-storeyed stuccoed timber-framing on a stone base with cellars, a moulded eaves cornice, parapet and brick stacks. On either side of the front doorway is a splayed bay window carried up to the second floor in which are sashes with glazing bars in moulded and reeded wood frames. The doorway has an early C19 reeded frame and architraves with a rectangular panel over it. At the back the walls are of ashlar and there is a rainwater-head dated 1662.
Interior: RCHM p.181a. Includes contemporary panelling, a fireplace and overmantel (dated 1661) and a late C17 staircase.
A forthcoming auction of this house was advertised in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 9 August 1856, when the proprietor was John Prior, the Butler of Brasenose College:
Very desirable PREMISES, No. 28, Holywell-street, which comprises an excellent front house, with dining, drawing, and breakfast rooms; eight sleeping apartments; cellar and servants' offices, with a very large and delightful garden at the back, extending to the road to the Parks, together with a large enclosed kitchen garden, on the north side of the said road, now let to Mr. Day.
This Property is held by Lease from Merton College for Forty Years, from the 5th day of April, 1851, subject to a Reserved Rent of 4l. 3s.
By 1861 this was a boarding house of New College School.
The house was later owned by Manchester College, which provided higher education to religious nonconformists. This had been founded as the Warrington Academy in 1757 before being refounded in Manchester in 1786 as the Manchester Academy, and after periods in York, Manchester a second time, and London, it finally moved to Oxford in 1893, changing its name to Harris Manchester College in 1996. They named this house Wedgwood & Bentley, after the famous potters and Unitarians who supported the Warrington Academy. The crest to the left is that of Josiah Wedgwood, and the one to the right that of Thomas Bentley.
28 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
John Prior (45), a college servant, lived here with Esther (40) and Sarah (20), James (20), Esther (15), John (15), and George (14). They had one lodger and two female servants.
1851
John Prior (55), now more fully described as “Purveyor or Manciple at Brasenose College”, lived here with his wife Esther (53) and their children John (26), Esther (25), Charles (23) and their granddaughters Katherine and Florence Brazier (aged 5 and 3). They had one servant.
1861
William Tuckwell (31), Head master of New College School, lived here with his wife Rosa (30) and daughter Rose (1). Boarding with them were the Mathematics teacher and six of the boys at the school, aged from 9 to 13. They had five female servants. They were described as living in both 28 and 29 Holywell Street.
1871
Catherine Deakins (43), a widow, lived here with her son Robert (17). They had a cook and a housemaid.
1881
The owner of the house was away on census night, and it was occupied by two servants (a cook and a housemaid).
1891
The house is listed as unoccupied.
1901
Edwin Craig (35), a college tutor and examiner, lived here with his wife Sophia (32). They had two servants (a cook and a parlourmaid).
1911
The Revd Laurence Pearsall Jacks (50), a Professor at Manchester College and an Editor, lived here with his wife Olive (42) and his children Oliver (19), Stopford (15), Evelyn (11), Graham (10),and Hector (9). They had three servants.
1921
Maurice Leonard Jacks (27), Fellow, Tutor, & Dean of Wadham College, lived here with his wife Emily (22) and their two servants.
1939 Register
Top flat: The physician C. Noel Davis and his wife Aileen were listed here
Ground floor flat: The schoolmaster Harold W. Spicer was listed here with his wife Muriel and their son
Occupants of 28 Holywell Street listed in directories etc. |
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1772 |
Frontage: 8 yds 2 ft 20 in |
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1839–1856 |
John Prior |
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1861 |
Revd William Tuckwell |
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1866 |
Mrs Evans |
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1871–1876 |
Mrs Deakins |
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1882–1887 |
Revd Henry G. Woods |
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1889 |
W. Hobhouse, M.A. |
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1894–1899 |
Louis Neville |
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1901 |
Edwin Craig |
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1905–1911 |
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1914–1916 |
Revd Henry Watson Fox, M.A. |
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1921 |
Maurice Leonard Jacks |
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1926–1928 |
Richard Henry Gretton, M.A., Tutor of Keble College with Revd Raymond V. Holt, B.A., B.Litt, lecturer in political philosophy & economics |
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1930–1966 |
Harold William Spicer, M.A., organist, Manchester College with Revd Raymond V. Holt, B.A., B.Litt, lecturer in political philosophy & economics |
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1967–1976 |
No listing |
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Today |
Part of Harris Manchester College |
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