Context 166 - November 2020

C O N T E X T 1 6 6 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0 27 Oxford via a new stone-clad entrance building in a gap within theTurl Street frontage; and to undertake all necessary repairs to the highest conservation standards, in accordance with Lincoln College’s commitment to its historic building stock, which included making sure that the buildings were put into an excellent state of repair suitable for the next phase in their life. Allied to these not-inconsiderable challenges was yet another set of principles, which was to move much of the internal circulation space (which had often been achieved by carving up historic rooms) externally by providing a new ramped access to the rear of the pub. This opened up the interior of the site and allowed individual historic rooms to be restored, and simplified general wayfinding. It has also enabled the removal of superannuated air-conditioning equipment and ductwork from the important rear facade of the Mitre and has allowed this 17th-century jettied elevation to be revealed once more. To add to these complexities, all this needed to take place while the shops on Turl Street continued to trade, and without impeding access to either Turl Street or the High Street. As part of the investigations into the site, thermal imaging was taken of the High Street elevations by Robert Demaus. This clearly showed that beneath the later stucco render were almost-complete timber frames, which are likely to date to the 17th century. We also provided the first comprehensively researched history of the site, which drew together all the known and archival sources relating to the buildings, and described, dated and photographed each room and the historic features within it. The oldest part of the site is the medieval cel- lars, which have ribbed vaults in part; there are also a number of 16th- and early-17th-century stone fireplaces; panelling from the 17th and 18th century (some in situ but much having been moved here from elsewhere); stucco-clad beams with a pomegranate decoration of the later 16th or early 17th century; a fine flight of stairs from the 17th century above another from the late 19th century; and wide elm floorboards, also of the later 16th or early 17th century. For an architectural historian the buildings were a veritable treasure-trove, often with interesting historic features overlaid one on top of the other. There were also some horrors: a 1950s staircase which brutally cut through a 17th-century room and crude modern partitions which in some places hid or rudely abutted the stucco-clad beams. The scheme resolved some but not all of these problems. Our research uncovered a number of key documents hitherto unknown, including plans from 1922 which showed how the building was altered at that time to accommodate a new billiard room. These gave us crucial evidence of the layout of the site at that point in time and in many ways helped to unlock the regeneration of the site. A collection of photographs from the early 20th century was found by chance, uncata- logued in a cardboard box in the Oxfordshire History Centre. Throughout, Lincoln College remained an enlightened and model client, highly conscious of its role as custodian of the historic environment, its desire to be an excellent landlord to its tenants and always interested in what was discovered as the works progressed. It has commissioned both a short film (featuring TSH project architect Miles Philips and me discussing the project and looking at some of the more exciting features within the site, an experience which I am not entirely sure I would want to repeat), and a coffee-table book on the history of the Mitre site to explain to potential funders and alumni both the interest of the buildings, and the ways in which they are improving and conserving them. The approved scheme managed to hit all of the key points of the brief, with the exception of increasing the overall number of student rooms, which could not be done without (what was considered by the team) to be adding undue pressure on the historic fabric. The result is that the history and development of these buildings is now much better understood; and the presenta- tion (and therefore interpretation) of the historic buildings will be much improved. It is anticipated that the student experience of living in such ancient fabric will no longer be compromised by equally ancient bathrooms, antiquated hot water systems and medieval wayfinding. A carved stone chimneypiece (Photo: Donald Insall Associates) The cellar of the Mitre photographed in 1938 (Photo: Historic England) Helen Ensor is an associate director at Donald Insall Associates and office leader of its Oxford branch.