Description

1.
774 STATION ROAD

Oxford Hospital,
Little Park
TL 0237 2/137 17.7.51

II

2.
Almshouses, erected circa 1700 in conformity with the will of John Cross, dated
23 November 1697. There is a tradition that Wren was consulted over this building,
which is typical of the style formed by him. 'E' - pattern building of 2 storeys
in red brick, chequered with blue 'seconds'. Shaped wooden cornice and deeply
projecting eaves below a steeply hipped tile roof, in which hipped dormers light
an attic storey. The bay forming the central prong of the 'E' hardly projects
from the main range and is pedimented into a shallow gable. The wooden pediment
encloses a diamond- shaped wooden clock-face dated 1788. The outer wings project
far enough forward to allow for one window on their flanks and a narrow stringcourse
at 1st floor level binds the entire building together.
7 windows are disposed between the 5 units of the 'E' as follows: 1:2:1:2:1. Along
the unbroken rear wall there are 9 windows and on each side wall 3 windows. Dormers
correspond to all these windows except for the 3 'prong faces'. All windows are
diamond-leaded and those below the eaves have a mullion and transom each; the
upper window in the central bay alone has 2 mullions. The roof is tiled in dark
red, bordered with lighter red along the outline of ridge, valleys, hips ana eaves.
The dormers are roofed in the lighter colour only. The central bay has the main
entrance, giving directly into a chapel; double doors, each of 3 panels, below
a gabled porch supported by substantial brackets, whose forward extremities rest
on slender octagonal pillars. 2 lesser doors at the ends of the main range have
slightly projecting gabled hoods.
A small louvred wooden bell-turret rides over the centre of the roof; above it
rises a simple wrought iron wind vane. 4 chimney stacks are symmetrically placed,
2 on either side of the bell-turret and 2 on the outer wings. The Hospital stands
in a simple garden, which is enclosed with a plain low brick wall.

Listing NGR: TL0246437531

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26408261

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)