MSc in Historic Conservation – Oxford walkabout 2026

On the last teaching day of semester, Historic Conservation MSc students went on walkabout in
central Oxford, looking at a variety of recent (and not so recent) repair and renovation projects
across the city and University.

We began at 35 Holywell Street, an early-17th century building belonging to Wadham College, where

the application of an impermeable cement render during the 1960s has caused severe decay to the
original timber frame. Chris Cox, Wadham’s Estates Manager, took us up on the scaffolding to
explain the sustainability-focused renovation currently being undertaken.

Outside the Holywell Music Room, Oxford’s historic chamber music venue. Built in 1742 and now
also owned by Wadham, the Music Room underwent a major conservation programme in 2009.

Harris Manchester College, a venerable Nonconformist institution that migrated from Manchester to
Oxford during the 1890s. The chapel, designed by Manchester architect Thomas Worthington,
features gorgeous stained glass made by Morris & Co. to designs by Edward Burne-Jones. A recent
renovation by Jessop & Cook Architects installed new lighting and audio-visual systems and
improved access provisions while respecting the restrained sumptuousness of the original Arts and
Crafts interior. The project team, who won a coveted Oxford Preservation Trust Award in 2025,
included Brookes MSc alumna Aline Bronkhorst.

One of the carved bench-ends, which feature a delightful cornucopia of birds, beasts, flowers and

foliage.

In the Museum of Natural History, built from 1855 to designs by Thomas Dean and Benjamin
Woodward. The interior, glazed and iron-framed in the manner of a particularly lavish Victorian
railway station, underwent a comprehensive 2014 programme of cleaning and repair overseen by
architects Purcell and conservation studio Eura. The columns were laser-cleaned, with the wrought-
iron ornament cleaned by hand and the glass-tiled roof relaid. (The latter had afterwards to be fitted
with a protective film, as the newly-cleaned glazing admitted too much light and made internal
temperatures intolerably high).

Keble College, once viewed by an eminent art historian as ‘the ugliest building in the world’, is now
recognised as Oxford’s supreme masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture. The chapel, designed
(like the rest of the college) by William Butterfield and opened in 1876, is modelled on the 13th -
century Basilica of St Francis at Assisi in Italy, and epitomises the Anglo-Catholic spirituality and
Romantic medievalism of its time. Butterfield’s rich palette of decorative materials includes mosaic,
stained glass, encaustic tile, coloured inlay, brass, wrought iron, alabaster and polished marble as
well as his characteristic brick polychromy.

Taking a breather in the main quadrangle.

Our final visit was to Trinity College, where the 17th -century Hall and Senior Common Room recently
underwent a redecoration and adaptation scheme that garnered another of last year’s OPT awards.
Project architect Andrew Dawson showed us around the site.

Our thanks go to everyone who helped to make our site visits possible, both yesterday and
throughout the year. This course could not exist without the generosity of conservation
professionals who give their time to help educate the next generation of practitioners. You can find out more about the MSc Historic Conservation here.