The Randolph looking down Beaumont Street

Beaumont Street is a street in the centre of

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 Un ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The street was laid out from 1828 to 1837 with elegant terraced houses in the

Regency style Regency architecture encompasses classical buildings built in the United Kingdom during the Regency era in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to earlier and later buildings following the same style. The period co ...

. Before that, it was the location of Beaumont Palace, now noted by a plaque near the junction with

Walton Street Walton Street may refer to: * Walton Street, Oxford * Walton Street, London Walton Street is a street within central London's Chelsea district, bordering Knightsbridge. It runs south-west to north-east from Draycott Avenue to Walton Place, paral ...

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...

considered it "''the finest street ensemble of Oxford.''"

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Aquitaine and Duchy of Gascony, Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Co ...

(reigned 6 July 1189 – 6 April 1199) and

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

who succeeded him (reigned 6 April 1199 – 19 October 1216), both sons of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

, were born at Beaumont Palace in Oxford on 8 September 1157 and 24 December 1166 respectively. At the western end is

Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arm ...

and the junction with

to the north and

Worcester Street Worcester Street is a street in west central Oxford, England. History The street used to be called Stockwelle Street, also running along the line of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street, to the north of the current Worcester Street. The ...

to the south. Halfway along to the north is St John Street. To the south is the

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxf ...

, designed by Sir

Edward Maufe Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA (12 December 1882 – 12 December 1974) was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on place ...

and built in 1938, where many

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

productions are held. To the north at the eastern end is the Ashmolean Museum. Opposite the eastern end is the

Martyrs' Memorial The Martyrs' Memorial is a stone monument positioned at the intersection of St Giles' Street, Oxford, St Giles', Magdalen Street and Beaumont Street, to the west of Balliol College, Oxford, England. It commemorates the 16th-century Oxford Mar ...

. Here, Beaumont Street adjoins St Giles' to the north and Magdalen Street to the south. Oxford's foremost hotel, the

Randolph Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated commun ...

, is on the corner with Magdalen Street, designed by William Wilkinson in the

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style and built in 1864. An extension was added in 1952 to the west, designed by J. Hopgood. The Institute of Archaeology, part of the School of Archaeology in the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, was established in 1962 and is located at 36 Beaumont Street. In poem "Wherefrom", Francis William Bourdillon a British poet and translator wrote about Beaumont Street legend: ''Just at the end of Beaumont Street,''
''In front of Worcester walls,''
''Strange shrieks of woe the passer greet,''
''As every footstep falls.'' The street is a favoured location for

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial co ...

s and

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles * ...

s.33 Beaumont Street — Specialist Dental Practice, Oxford

Gallery

File:WorcesterCollegeTHShepherdEarly19thc edited.jpg, A 19th-century print of the main entrance of

, which faces down Beaumont Street at the western end. File:Beaumont Palace plaque.jpg, The plaque noting the site of Beaumont Palace. File:Ashmolean.jpg, The Ashmolean Museum main entrance on the north side of Beaumont Street. File:OxfordPlayhouse.jpg, The

entrance on the south side of Beaumont Street.

References

External links

Oxford Guide information
{{coord , 51.7550, -1.2608, region:GB, display=title 1828 establishments in England Streets in Oxford Art gallery districts Worcester College, Oxford