About Oxford Town Hall

Oxford Town Hall is an historic building built in the late Victorian era. 

The present Town Hall is the third on the site. The foundation stone was laid in 1893 by the Mayor Thomas Lucas and without mention of the first builder - a Mr A Chappell of Lambeth - who was declared bankrupt in October 1893.
 
The present design by Henry T Hare was built by Messrs Parnell and son of Rugby for £94,116.
 
The official opening of the Town Hall was on Wednesday 12 May 1897, by HRH the Prince of Wales Edward VII. 

To read more about the history of the Town Hall please read the article on the Oxford Mail website.

Town Hall Room Layout

You can download a plan of the Town Hall's room layout below:

 Town Hall Room Layout (488kB PDF)

To find out more view a Virtual Tour of Oxford Town Hall. This tour includes:

• the Lord Mayor's Parlour
• the Civic Plate collection 
• the other public rooms, including the magnificent Main Hall, that are available for hire 

Image Library

Oxford Town Hall Print Available

A limited edition print of Oxford Town Hall is now available. Visit the Virtual Archive website to buy a print online. More information can be found in the document below:

 Oxford Town Hall Print Information (2MB PDF)

Paintings Collection

The Town Hall has a long history dating back to the 11th century. During this history the City of Oxford has been gifted many artefacts such as the large collection of civic plate or the wide range of paintings, drawings and prints, many of which can be found on display in Oxford Town Hall.

Please see details of the paintings displayed in each of our rooms or corridors in the documents below:

Assembly Room (436kB PDF)
Council Chamber (418kB PDF)
Council Chamber corridor (751kB PDF)
Court Room corridor (393kB PDF)
Entrance foyer (81kB PDF)
Jury Room (405kB PDF)
Panel Room (356kB PDF)
Old Library (139kB PDF)
St. Aldate's Room (202kB PDF)

Conservation Management Plan

Oxford Town Hall Conservation Plan Part 1 - Main Text (4MB PDF)
Oxford Town Hall Conservation Plan Part 2 - Gazetteer (1.1MB PDF)

Page last reviewed 6 March 2012