Cotmania. Vol. XI. 1935-6

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AN OXFORDSHIRE NOTEBOOK.

OXFORD CASTLE.

A few weeks ago a letter appeared in the Notebook in which Sir Charles Peers made an important suggestion as to the future of Oxford Castle. Coming from one who had, for upwards of 30 years, official responsibility for the preservation and maintenance of some of our most historical buildings and ancient monuments, the proposal that steps should be taken to make the remains of Oxford’s Norman citadel more accessible to the general public has naturally attracted considerable attention. As showing how cordially informed opinion is in agreement with the movement initiated by Sir Charles, I cannot do better than publish a letter received from Mr. S. D. Kitson, of Thornbury Lodge, Kidlington.

Architectural Opinion.

Mr. Kitson, like Sir Charles Peers, writes with a fullness of technical knowledge. He has a wide reputation as one who, after a long experience as a practising architect, was for a number of years honorary secretary to the Royal Institute of British Architects. He thoroughly endorses the views of Sir Charles Peers. I produce his letter as a notable contribution toward a proposal for the opening up of Oxford Castle, about which we are certain to hear a great deal in the near future. Mr. Kitson writes:-
“Everyone who read the authoritative description by Sir Charles Peers of Oxford Castle in your columns a few weeks ago must have been deeply impressed by the tale of hidden treasure which that description reveals. Few people know that below the prison building there is a large vaulted crypt of the earliest Norman construction, or that the great tower, which can be glimpsed in parts behind high walls, is one of the few outstanding examples in this country of the architecture immediately following the Conquest. Nor did many people know that the unusually well-preserved mound, a record of the military genius of the Normans, and now inaccessible in the private garden of the governor of the gaol, contained a 13th-century well-house, with a ribbed and vaulted roof in a state of perfect preservation. These are monuments of national importance, and it is a grave misfortune that they cannot be seen by the citizens of Oxford or by the visitors who flock there every year in increasing numbers.
“The only way to remedy this loss of access by the public to these important historical relics would be to pull down the prison, and to re-erect it on a site outside the City. The old building dates from 140 years ago when the scientific planning of such institutions was but little understood; it is, in consequence, difficult to supervise, costly to maintain and unsatisfactory from almost every other point of view. Further, the County Hall and its attendant offices, in urgent need of expansion owing to the new functions which are every year being added to the activities of the County Council, are throttled by the confines of the prison which lie to the south and west. A time must soon come when, if the machinery of local government is to continue to be efficiently conducted, the County Council offices will have to be moved elsewhere, unless they can be extended on part of the site occupied by the prison. All the historic monuments, the importance of which Sir Charles Peers stressed so forcibly, are at the western end of the forbidden premises. If the prison building could be moved, this half might be laid out as a garden, in itself a boon to the large neighbouring population, and such a garden would become a place of pilgrimage by reason of the relics of Norman Oxford which it contained. The other half- where no such monuments exist- is adjacent to the County Hall, and could be used to the greatest advantage in providing the extra accommodation which is increasingly needed for the administration of County business.
“It may be argued with conviction that a prison in the centre of a city is now an anachronism. As the population rapidly increased at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries owing to the rise of industry, so crime increased in even greater proportion; and these great gaols, with their high, grim walls, were built to impress and intimidate an ignorant and semi-barbarous people. The spread of education has completely altered the situation. These grim walls, planted in the centre of populous cities, no longer terrify a more enlightened generation, and the time seems overdue when they should be pulled down to make room for modern needs, and to provide open access to the relics of the past.”

The Next Step.

Mr. Kitson is, I think, right in emphasising the importance of making Oxford Castle more accessible to the public. Oxford is increasingly one of the Meccas of the British race. Each year visitors from the Dominions, United States, and, indeed, from all parts of the globe come to Oxford in increasing numbers. It is natural that they should do so. Oxford is one of the world’s outstanding centres of cultural life in which the glamour of antiquity is enriched by the pulsations of modern thought and activity. The majority of visitors to Oxford do, however, under present conditions, miss what should be one of the principal points in their itinerary. Nor are the citizens of Oxford fully aware, as they should be, of the historical value and architectural interest of the ancient citadel which, to most of them, is a mere adjunct to a Victorian prison with which they have no marked desire to become better acquainted.
Whether Mr. Kitson’s further suggestion that the removal of the prison would enable the County Council offices to be extended in proximity to the County Hall is the best solution of the problem now before the County Council is a matter on which there are obviously two opinions. In these days it is by no means certain that the retention of the County Council offices in the centre of the City is essential. There is, however, much to be said for the removal of the prison from its present site. The matter is clearly one in which Government departments as well as local authorities are involved. It will be interesting to see how far the suggestion for making Oxford Castle more accessible to the public is supported by organised local opinion. We have in our midst the Oxford Preservation Trust, the Oxford Historical Society and a county branch of the C.P.R.E. Each of these bodies may be deemed to have some interest in the future of this ancient monument. What have they to say to the suggestion made by Sir Charles Peers and endorsed by Mr. Kitson?
DR. JEKYLL.

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{Kitson's annotation}

Oxford Times. Oct: 1935?