This pair of houses at 61 & 62 Holywell Street has a three-storeyed stone front dating from c.1700. They were owned by New College in 1976, but by 1995 belonged to Merton College.
They form a Grade II Listed Building (1047240), with the following description:
Nos 61 & 62 SP 5106 NE 6/247 12.1.54. II GV 2.
Houses. One building. RCHM 226. A Cl7-C18 three-storeyed stone front with cellars, a moulded and coved eaves cornice and a modern brown tiled roof in which are two modern gabled attic dormers with four-light casement windows. The ground floor is stuccoed and the upper floors are plastered with moulded strings. The two doorways have plain stone frames and moulded scroll-bracketed flat wooden hoods. There are sash windows in plain wood frames, the two western ones on the lst floor having keystones all have glazing bars. The East Side is roughcast.
Interior: RCHM p 182 b. No 62 has an original fireplace.
No. 61
This was in the occupation of Mr Chettoe at the time of the 1772 Survey of Oxford. This appears to be the retired mercer Thomas Chettoe, who served on the council, and died on 24 October 1772.
On 21 August 1773 the following advertisement appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal:
To be LETT, in Holiwell, Oxford,—A neat STONE HOUSE, fit for a small Family, late in the Occupation of Mr. Chettoe, deceased.
On 30 September 1843 the house was described thus when it was advertised as being to let:
To be LET, with immediate possession. — No. 61, HOLYWELL-STREET, OXFORD, a most convenient and well-arranged DWELLING HOUSE; containing parlour, drawing room, three bed rooms, two attics, wine and beer cellars, paved yard, and all other suitable offices. The rooms have been newly painted and papered, and the premises are in perfect repair. Rent very moderate. — Apply to Mr. Pike, auctioneer, &c. 38, Queen-street.
An auction of the contents of No. 61 was advertised in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 21 January 1860: these included a Pembroke table, a chiffonière, a full-compass cottage pianoforte in a rosewood case, a dumb waiter, Brussels carpets, a wheel barometer, fine prints and oil paintings in rich frames, and mahogany four-poster beds.
It appears that the New College cook William Thurland took on the lease.
In December 1976 planning permission was granted to New College to convert these two houses numbered 61 and 62 from four maisonettes to student accommodation (76/01002/AH_H).
By 1995 this pair of houses belonged to Merton College.
61–62 Holywell Street in the censuses
1841
The 1841 census for Holywell does not give house numbers, but it is possible to deduce where people listed that year lived by examining directory entries between 1839 and 1842 and later censuses
No. 61
UncertainNo. 62
Thomas Davis Jackson, a cook at Exeter College, lived here with Elizabeth Jackson and Ellen Garlick, plus a female servant and two student lodgers, and it seems likely it was in this house.
1851
No. 61
John Jones (45), a college servant, lived here with his wife Mary (35) and their children John (11), George (10), Thomas (7), and William (3). They had an undergraduate lodger and one servant.No. 62: Thomas Davis Jackson (37), the cook at Exeter College, atill lived here with his wife Elizabeth (32) and their children Ellen (9), Henrietta (7), William (5), and Henry (2). They had a graduate lodger and two servants.
1861
No. 61
Henry Kilbee (46), the London-born butler of Oriel College, lived here with his wife Harriet (43) and their children Percival (14) and Thomas (11), and his widowed mother-in-law Nance Slatter (72).No. 62
Sarah Perkins (55), an unmarried house proprietor, lived here with her brother William Francis Perkins (50), who was an University Bailiff, and her sister Maria (43). They had one female servant.
1871
No. 61
Henry Kilbee (36), the butler of Oriel College, still lived here with his wife Harriet (53) and their children Percival (24), who was a mariner, and Thomas (22), who was an accountant. They had one servant.Purdue's Yard is listed between Nos. 61 and 62, and this was occupied by the widowed housekeeper Mary ?Hosiere and her son William (24), who worked as a servant.
No. 62
Sarah Perkins (66) still lived here with her sister Maria (53). They had one servant.
1881
No. 61
UninhabitedNo. 62
Maria Perkins (63), a fundholder, lived here with her brother William Francis Perkins (71), who was an Oxford University Bailiff. They had one general servant.
1891
No. 61
George Mullins (48), a college clerk, lived here with his wife Eliza (43) and his children Edith (14) and Frank (11). They had a 16-year-old servant girl.No. 62
Miss Maria Perkins (73), who was living on her own means, was still here, alone with one servant.
1901
Both unoccupied
1911
No. 61
William Huckerby (58), a lodging-house keeper, lived here with his wife Mary (60) and his unmarried daughter Mary (30) and widowed son Robert (26), who was a bricklayer.No. 62
Bessie Cook (47), a widowed boarding-house keeper, lived here with her son Albert (20), an electrical engineer, her daughter Violet (19), a typist, and her widowed mother Mrs Elizabeth Green (81). They had two visitors.
1921
No. 61
Lelio Stampa (48, an unmarried Turkish-born Lecturer in Modern History at Exeter College, lived here with his two servants, and Leonard Buxton, the University's Demonstrator in Physical Anthropology, was lodging with him.No. 62
Bessie Cook (57), a widowed boarding house keeper, lived here with her unmarried daughter Violet (29), who was a shorthand-typist for the Layton Garages at 30 Holywell Street. They had two student boarders in a separate part of the house on census night.
1939 Register
There is no listing for No. 61.
The artist Paul Nash is listed at No. 62 with his wife Margaret.
Occupants of 61–62 Holywell Street listed in directories etc. |
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No. 62 (left) |
No. 61 (right) |
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1772 |
Mr Collis |
Mr Chettoe |
1841–1852 |
Thomas Davis Jackson |
William Thurland |
1861–1880 |
Variously |
Henry Kilbee or Kilby |
1881 |
Unoccupied |
|
1884–1897 |
George Mullins
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|
1899 |
Mrs Grenfell |
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1905 |
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1911 |
Mrs Bessie Cooke |
No listing |
1914 |
William Huckerby |
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1921 |
Nathaniel Micklem |
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1926–1930 |
Lelio Stampa, M.A., |
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1933 |
Bernard C. Gotch |
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1935–1938 |
T. W. J. Taylor |
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1940 |
Denis B. Kingston |
Mrs N. H. Alcock, M.B.E. |
1942 |
John Hereward Pitchford |
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1943–1945 |
Harold S. Glyde, B.Sc. |
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1947 |
Harry Raymond Ing |
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1949 |
Raymond Beale |
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1952 |
No listing |
|
1954–1956 |
Philip Dixon Watson, M.A., D.Phil. |
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1958–1962 |
Laurence W. Hanson, M.A., B.Litt. |
Dennis Shaw |
1964–1966 |
David Faulkner |
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1967 |
Terence McCann |
No listing |
1970 |
62: No listing |
|
1972–1973 |
Peter J. Cameron (Russell G. Poole listed at 69A in 1972 only) |
|
1976 |
62: Roger J. Van Schaick |
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Today |
Merton College annexe |
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