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Oxford Town Hall is a public building in St Aldate's Street in central
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England. It is both the seat of
Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the lower-tier local government authority for the city of Oxford in England, providing such services as leisure centres and parking. Social Services, Education and Highways services (amongst others) are provided by Oxfor ...
and a venue for public meetings, entertainment and other events. It also includes the
Museum of Oxford The Museum of Oxford (MOX) is a history museum in Oxford, England, covering the history of the City and its people. The museum includes both permanent and temporary displays featuring artefacts relating to Oxford's history from prehistoric time ...
. Although Oxford is a city with its own
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...
, the building is referred to as the "
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
". It is Oxford's third seat of government to have stood on the same site. The present building, completed in 1897, is
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
.


History

Oxford's guildhall was created by substantially repairing or rebuilding a house on the current site in about 1292. It was replaced by a new building, designed by Isaac Ware in the
Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
in 1752. In 1891, an
architectural design competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel ...
was held for a new building on the same site. The local architect
Henry Hare Henry Thomas Hare (1860–1921) was an English architect who was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough, Yorkshire and educated in Sheffield and Harrogate. Career At the age of 16 he was articled to the Scarborough architect C A Bur ...
won with a
Jacobethan The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance ( ...
design. The 1752 building was demolished in 1893. Hare's new building included new premises for Oxford's
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
and
County Court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the hig ...
s, central public library and police station as well as the city council.
The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...
opened the new building in May 1897, about a month before the
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamon ...
.
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
undergraduates were expected to mount a large demonstration for the opening, so a detachment of the
Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch is the mounted police branch of London's Metropolitan Police. It is part of Met Operations. History The Bow Street Horse Patrol was formed in 1763, but ceased after eighteen months when funding ran out. Rev ...
was deployed to reinforce the small Oxford City Police force. The Metropolitan officers were unused to Oxford undergraduates, and considered the boisterous crowd a danger. The officers attacked the crowd with batons, causing several serious injuries. The crowd reciprocated, unhorsing one officer and trampling him. A young law don, FE Smith, who had taken no part in the violence, saw police mishandling his college servant. Smith went to rescue his servant but was arrested. He became the first prisoner in one of the cells of the new police station in the new Town Hall. Smith was charged with obstructing police officers in the execution of their duty, but at his trial the young lawyer was found not guilty. The police station was at the rear in Blue Boar Street. It was completed later than the rest of the building, but the Oxford City Police force was able to move there from its former station in Kemp Hall by the turn of the century. The City Council was accused of greatly exceeding the budget it set for the building project. In 1905
Henry Taunt Henry William Taunt (1842–1922) was a professional photographer, author, publisher and entertainer based in Oxford, England. Birth Henry Taunt was born in Penson's Gardens in the parish of St Ebbe's, Oxford. His father Henry was a plumber an ...
published a leaflet in which he stated that the building was meant to cost £47,000 but ended up costing £100,000. In the First World War the building was converted into the Town Hall section of the 3rd Southern General Hospital. From 1916 it specialised in treating soldiers suffering from
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...
. Oxford City Police moved to a new police station further down St Aldate's in 1936 and the central public library moved to new facilities at Westgate Centre in Queen Street which were completed in 1972. The town hall was the headquarters of the
county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...
for much of the 20th century and remained the seat of government after
Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the lower-tier local government authority for the city of Oxford in England, providing such services as leisure centres and parking. Social Services, Education and Highways services (amongst others) are provided by Oxfor ...
was formed in 1974. Works of art in the town hall include a portraits of
King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
, Queen Anne and the Duke of Marlborough by
Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from ...
, a painting depicting
the Rape of the Sabine Women The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...
by
Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...
and a painting depicting
Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...
by
Francesco Fontebasso ''Allegory of Faith'' (v.1750) San Zanipolo Venice Francesco Fontebasso (4 October 1707 – 31 May 1769) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque or Rococo period of Venice. He first apprenticed with Sebastiano Ricci, but was strongly influen ...
.


See also

*
Museum of Oxford The Museum of Oxford (MOX) is a history museum in Oxford, England, covering the history of the City and its people. The museum includes both permanent and temporary displays featuring artefacts relating to Oxford's history from prehistoric time ...
, situated inside Oxford Town Hall *
Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...
*
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in some ...


References


Sources and further reading

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External links

* * {{Coord, 51, 45, 6, N, 1, 15, 26, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings by Henry Hare City and town halls in Oxfordshire Government buildings completed in 1897 Grade II* listed buildings in Oxford Jacobethan architecture
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...