Polstead Road is a residential road that runs between Kingston Road and Hayfield Road to the west and the Woodstock Road to the east, in the suburb of North Oxford, England. [1] Halfway along it forms the southern junction of Chalfont Road. The road is probably named after the village of Polstead in the county of Suffolk.[ citation needed ]
The houses in Polstead Road were designed by Harry Wilkinson Moore and built between 1887 and 1894. [1] [2]
St Margaret's Institute Community Centre [3] was the first building constructed on Polstead Road, following a subscription by parishioners of St Philip and St James Church in 1889 "for the building of a Working Men's Institute, 'to provide rational amusement and instruction for working men of any creed, sect, or opinions, who may thus be kept out of public houses'". [4]
The Anchor Inn [5] is located at the corner of Hayfield Road and Polstead Road at the western end.
The most well-known resident was T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), later known as 'Lawrence of Arabia'. The son of Thomas Chapman (1846-1919; who became, in 1914, Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet), an Anglo-Irish nobleman, he was brought up in a house (No. 2) on this road and a blue plaque records the fact. [6] [7] The future Sir Thomas Chapman, the 7th Baronet of Killua Castle in County Westmeath, Ireland, separated from his wife to live with his daughters' governess, Sarah Junner, also known as Sarah Lawrence. They had five sons and the couple lived under the names of Mr and Mrs Lawrence, moving to No. 2, Polstead Road in the summer of 1896 with the aim that the children could receive a good education for a reasonable cost. T. E. Lawrence attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys in central Oxford. Here also was born his youngest brother, A. W. Lawrence, who went on to become the Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge University in the 1940s.
The house is a substantial semi-detached red-brick house that had been built approximately six years before the Lawrences moved there. They built a bungalow in the garden especially for Lawrence because the house was not large enough to accommodate the entire family. 2 Polstead Road remained the Lawrence family home until 1921. Lawrence was in residence when he departed for the First World War.
In January 2017, it was reported that Oxford City Council had failed to gain Grade II listed status for the Lawrence home, leaving its future in doubt. [8] [9]
The house was offered for sale in 2018 for £2.95 million. [10]
Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about 3 miles (5 km) northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames.
North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College.
Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with Broad Street, Holywell Street and Catte Street to the south.
Holywell Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs east-west with Broad Street to the west and Longwall Street to the east. About halfway along, Mansfield Road adjoins to the north.
Keble Road is a short road running east–west in central Oxford, England. To the west is the southern end of the Banbury Road with St Giles' Church opposite. To the east is Parks Road with the University Parks opposite. Blackhall Road leads off the road to the south near the western end.
St Margaret's Road is a road in North Oxford, England.
Kingston Road is a road in Oxford, England. It continues north from Walton Street, at the junction with Walton Well Road to the west and St Bernard's Road to the east, running parallel with and to the west of Woodstock Road. Kingston Road is the main road in Walton Manor. At the northern end, there is a staggered junction with Aristotle Lane to the west and Polstead Road to the east. The road continues as Hayfield Road. Southmoor Road and Southmoor Place lead off Kingston Road to the west.
St Michael's Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs between New Inn Hall Street to the west and Cornmarket to the east, with Ship Street almost opposite.
Sir Thomas Robert Tighe Chapman, 7th Baronet, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, the last of the Chapman baronets of Killua Castle in County Westmeath, Ireland. For many years he lived under the name of Thomas Robert Lawrence, taking the name of his partner, Sarah Lawrence, the mother of his five sons, one of whom was T. E. Lawrence, 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
Drayton is a village and civil parish in the valley of the Sor Brook in Oxfordshire, about 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 242.
Harry Wilkinson Moore, FRIBA (1850–1915) was a Victorian and Edwardian architect. He was the son of Arthur Moore (1814–1873) and Mary Wilkinson (1821–1904), and a nephew of the architects George Wilkinson and William Wilkinson.
Chalfont Road is a road in Walton Manor, north Oxford, England.
Rawlinson Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England.
Frenchay Road is a residential road in Walton Manor, North Oxford, England.
Harry George Walter Drinkwater (1844–1895) was an English architect who practised in and around Oxford. His work included several churches and public houses.
Blackhall Road is a road running between Keble Road to the north and Museum Road to the south in central Oxford, England, dating from the late 19th century. It is named after Black Hall, dating from at least 1519, fronting onto St Giles', and now part of St John's College. Houses in the road were leased by St John's College between 1865–75.
Walton Well Road is a road, about 400 metres long, near the centre of Oxford, England. It provides a link from central Oxford to Port Meadow.
Aristotle Lane is a road in north Oxford, England.
Hayfield Road is a residential road that runs north-south in Walton Manor, north Oxford, England.
Bradmore Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England.
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