Belsyre Court is a listed early 20th-century

block of flats An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement ( Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) th ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The building is located on the south side at the east end of St Bernard's Road, the west side of Woodstock Road, and the north side at the east end of Observatory Street in

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...

. There is a small row of shops in a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

with a parking area on the Woodstock Road side. The site, part of the St John's College North Oxford estate, was first considered for a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. In 1932, a mixed-development scheme of shops, offices, and flats, was selected. An initial design by J. C. Leeds was rejected. The final block was designed by Ernest R. Barrow and built in 1936. Belsyre Court was the first large block of flats in Oxford. It was built of brick in a

Jacobethan The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, 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 Engli ...

style. An

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

office was located here from 1936 until the early 1990s. The building was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in October 2008.

References

External links

* Buildings and structures completed in 1936 Grade II listed buildings in Oxford Grade II listed residential buildings Shops in Oxford Apartment buildings in England 1936 establishments in England St John's College, Oxford {{Oxfordshire-struct-stub