County Hall is a municipal building on New Road in

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 ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. County Hall, which is the headquarters of

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

, is a Grade II*

listed building 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, Hi ...

History

In the early 16th century, the

assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

and

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

were held in a sessions house in the grounds of

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

but towards the end of the century they were moved to

Oxford Town Hall Oxford Town Hall is a public building on the street called St Aldate's in central Oxford, England. It is both the seat of Oxford City Council and a venue for public meetings, entertainment and other events. It also includes the Museum of Oxfo ...

. After deciding in the early 19th century that this arrangement was inadequate for their needs, the justices decided to procure a dedicated building within, what was then, the castle grounds. The building, which was designed by

John Plowman John Plowman (c.1773–1843) was an English architect based in Oxford. His younger son John Plowman (1807–1871) also worked on buildings on Oxford, leading to issues with attribution. From 1812 until 1837 Plowman worked in partnership with t ...

in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

, was completed in 1841. The design involved a symmetrical

castellate A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

d main frontage of five bays facing New Road: the central section featured a projecting castellated porch containing a round headed doorway with a small round headed window above encircled with the inscription "County Hall A.D. MDCCCXLI" ("County Hall A.D. 1841"); there were

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

s at roof level and the other bays contained round headed windows. Sir Charles Oman described it as "quite the most abominable pseudo-Gothic Assize Court in all England". The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of

. The limited office space at County Hall required the council to establish other premises for its staff. In 1911 and 1912, a new building called "County Offices" was built at the corner of Tidmarsh Lane and New Road, lying on the opposite side of the castle mound from County Hall. County Offices was designed by William Austin Daft and built in white limestone with yellow sandstone dressings. Council meetings continued to be held at County Hall, with County Offices being the main administrative building. By the early 1970s, the council had outgrown County Offices. A modern facility, known as "New County Hall", was designed by the County Architect to accommodate the County Council's administrative staff: it was built adjacent to the original 1841 County Hall and was completed in 1973. The design for the five-storey building involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below. The old building continued to be used as a courthouse – it was the venue for the trial and conviction of

Donald Neilson Donald Neilson (born Donald Nappey; 1 August 1936 – 18 December 2011), also known as "The Black Panther," "The Phantom," and "Handy Andy," was an English armed robber, kidnapper and murderer. Neilson carried out a series of sub-post office r ...

for the kidnapping and murder of Lesley Whittle in July 1976 – until the new

Oxford Combined Court Centre The Oxford Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in St Aldate's, Oxford, England. History The building was commissioned by the then Sir Wi ...

St Aldate's St Aldate's (, like "all dates") is a street in central Oxford, England, named after Saint Aldate, but formerly known as Fish Street. Museum and Church The street runs south from the generally acknowledged centre of Oxford at Carfax. The ...

was completed in October 1985. Meetings of the county council continued to be held in the council chamber located within the old County Hall. The 1912 County Offices at Tidmarsh Lane is now used as the Oxford

register office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

. The county record office, which had been based in the basement of the new County Hall, moved to St Luke's Church in Temple Cowley in January 2001.

Notes

References

{{Reflist O Government buildings completed in 1841 Grade II* listed buildings in Oxford