Well House Oxford Castle
WELL HOUSE OXFORD CASTLE, NEW ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1369493
- Date first listed:
- 12-Jan-1954
- List Entry Name:
- Well House Oxford Castle
- Statutory Address:
- WELL HOUSE OXFORD CASTLE, NEW ROAD
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-04-15
- Reference:
- IOE01/12237/16
- Rights:
- © Mr Neil Guiden. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1369493
- Date first listed:
- 12-Jan-1954
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 18-Feb-1993
- List Entry Name:
- Well House Oxford Castle
- Statutory Address 1:
- WELL HOUSE OXFORD CASTLE, NEW ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- WELL HOUSE OXFORD CASTLE, NEW ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Oxfordshire
- District:
- Oxford (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 50967 06199
Details
HM PRISON OXFORD NEW ROAD SF 5006 SE 7/10014 Well House Oxford Castle GV I Motte to former castle with Well Chamber. Mound, c1071 as the motte of Oxford Castle built for Robert d'Oilly to provide a means for the Normans to control the town and the Upper Thames Valley. Earth. Circular plan. Approximately 80 feet high, base diameter about 250 feet, top diameter about 60 feet. Originally there would have been a wooden keep. Constructed by forced Saxon labour. The Well Chamber. Early C13. Rubble stone. Entrance with 3 stones bearing shield-of- arms thought to be of Fox, Bishop of Winchester, the see of Durham and Newcastle, Bishop of Exeter. A flight of steps leads down about 20 feet into a hexagonal plan chamber with stone vaulted roof supported on chamfered ribs. Oxford Castle was slighted in 1652. In 1776 New Road was built across the northern part of the Bailey and in 1785 the County Justices acquired the site to build a new Oxford Prison which incorporated the only other surviving elements of the castle viz. St. George's Tower (qv), St. George's Chapel Crypt (qv) and the batter from the Round Tower (qv). The castle saw little action apart from during the Anarchy in 1142 when King Stephen besieged the Empress Matilda and it was attacked in the Baron's War of 1215. There had been prison buildings within the bailey since the C12.
Listing NGR: SP5152606221
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 246003
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
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Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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