Wykeham House
WYKEHAM HOUSE, 56, BANBURY ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392911
- Date first listed:
- 07-Oct-2008
- List Entry Name:
- Wykeham House
- Statutory Address:
- WYKEHAM HOUSE, 56, BANBURY ROAD
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392911
- Date first listed:
- 07-Oct-2008
- List Entry Name:
- Wykeham House
- Statutory Address 1:
- WYKEHAM HOUSE, 56, BANBURY 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:
- WYKEHAM HOUSE, 56, BANBURY 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 51149 07444
Reasons for Designation
A substantial house of 1866 and later with strong and careful gothic details with a Ruskinian flavour. The façade is an unusual composition with a chimney and tower to the left and an asymmetrical gable to the right. It makes a special contribution among the row of show houses prominently set at the entrance to North Oxford's Norham Manor estate. Designated at grade II.
Details
612/0/10145 BANBURY ROAD 07-OCT-08 56 Wykeham House
GV II BUILDING: House
DATE: 1866, with extensions of 1884, 1894, 1900, and 1992-3.
ARCHITECT: John Gibbs.
MATERIALS: Yellow brick with red brick window arches and stone dressings; slate roofs.
PLAN: Broadly rectangular, with many projections.
FAÇADE: High Victorian Gothic. 2 storeys, attic and basement. Front façade: 1866 build to centre has gable to right, original castellated porch to centre, and wide left bay with single lights flanking front chimney. Chimney has arched stone tablet to base, carved with bishop's mitre and 'Wykeham House', Gothic inscription 'Manners mayketh Man', and canopied stone statue of William of Wykeham carved by W. Forsyth of Worcester. Top part of chimney rebuilt late C20. Flanking single-light windows with cusped stone arches, columns and carved caps. One dormer. Right gable has similar 2-light windows in arched stone tympana with carved roundels, one inscribed 'E III', set in an advanced gable with carved stone dragons. Paired attic lights above with carved corbel to roof vent. Porch extended 1894 as dated on stone parapet, with marble columns to front and curved service stair to basement on right side. Leaded lights. 3-storey tower added to left corner of house also dated 1894, with matching windows, triple top lights and pyramidal roof. Matching gabled extension set back to right of house has window dated 1884 now concealed within 1900 conservatory. Irregular rear façade with extended attics (part on corbels), projecting WC tower and 1992 extension.
INTERIOR: Entrance hall has Gothic arch to porch, polygonal bay to rear corner, and windows with leaded lights and coloured margins. Dog-leg wooden staircase on Gothic arcade, with 2-tier balustrade of slats and turned columns. Service stair with ramped handrail and skirtings, and built-in cupboards. Ground floor retains all moulded ceiling cornices and embossed wallpaper in front left room, but doorways and fireplaces have been removed; first floor less altered, retaining small painted stone fireplaces; basement re-partitioned but retains matchboarding and stone fireplace with Art Nouveau grate in house-keeper's room.
HISTORY: The North Oxford suburb evolved from about 1860 on land owned by St. John's College, with the College gradually making available discreet sets of building plots to lease as it sought to ensure a firm financial future for its endowment. St. John's kept strict control of the development, both in terms of the scale of the houses, and their distribution. All designs were vetted for quality, and to ensure adequate provision of front walls and railings, and rear gardens. 56 Banbury Road is dated 1866 on a window roundel. It was designed by John Gibbs for Henry Hatch, a draper. Extended in matching style 1884 and 1894 for E.B. Poulton, Professor of Zoology, with conservatory added to front right 1900 by H.W. Moore. Rear extension of 1992-3 The building is currently used by Oxford University Careers Service 2001.
SOURCES: T. Hinchcliffe, North Oxford (1992)
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: A substantial house of 1866 and later with strong and careful gothic details with a Ruskinian flavour. The façade is an unusual composition with a chimney and tower to the left and an asymmetrical gable to the right. It makes a special contribution among the row of show houses prominently set at the entrance to North Oxford's Norham Manor estate.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 493688
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Hinchcliffe, T, North Oxford, ()
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
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jul-2026 at 01:33:04.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.