North end of Hertford College (formerly Nos. 28–30)
The above picture shows the new northern section of Hertford College, which was built in two phases, in 1901 and 1923
The photograph on the left shows Phase I, the 1901 development, with No. 28 Broad Street on the corner rebuilt. Nos. 29 and 30 are still shops, and remained so until 1923
The old part of Hertford College is in Catte Street within the old city wall; the new part is on the east side of Broad Street, outside the wall
Nos. 28, 29, and 30 Broad Street that stood on this site were the only houses in Broad Street that lay in St Peter-in-the-East parish. The parts of Hertford that occupy the site of 28 and 30 are jointly Grade II listed (List Entry No. 1199235), while the former octagonal chapel at 29 in the middle is listed separately (List Entry No. 1369642)
On 8 June 1895 Jackson’s Oxford Journal reported that the city’s Property & Estates Committee
had considered an application from Hertford College asking if the Corporation were willing to entertain a proposal from the College for the immediate acquisition by them of the whole interest of the City in the block of buildings extending from the Indian Institute to St. Helen’s-passage, and comprising Nos. 28, 29, and 30, Broad-street, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, New College-street, and a workshop in the rear of No. 4, New College-street, and recommended the Council to part with this property to Hertford College in exchange for other property of equal value, to be hereafter approved by the Council.
No. 28 Broad Street (Clarendon House to the south) was demolished by Hetford College in 1901 , which built new four-storey college accommodation on the site, linking it 1914 to the rest of the college by the “Bridge of Sighs”
No. 29 Broad Street (once the octagonal chapel of Our Lady at Smith Gate, built in 1521 and known as the Round House) was incorporated into the college in 1923 and heavily altered in 1931, but its shape can still be discerned today
No. 30 Broad Street (a small shop to the north) was demolished by Hertford in 1923 and rebuilt as four-storey accommodation. This brought the height of Hertford up to that of the Indian Institute, its semi-detached neighbour at 31, 32, 33, and 34 Broad Street to the north