The Building of St Edward's School: A Chronology (1870 - 2020)

P AGE N O : 103 girls,. Initial costing for both the extension and conversion of the existing building comes in at £770,000 (£2,795,100 today); the builder will be J.B. Leadbitter & Co at a reduced price of £622,000 (£2,257,860 today) The four residencies purchased by the School during the 1990s cost a total of £442,000 (£1,531,860 today), two other houses in the Woodstock Road cost a further £507,000 (£1,840,410 today) (Oxley, 2015) An unfavourable report, following a routine inspection by an Environmental Officer from the Oxford City Council in January 1989, identifies problems in the School’s Kitchen areas and recommends some actions to be taken immediately. The remaining recommendations also need addressing and will require considerable expenditure. The chief areas of concern include replacement non-slip floors, tiling, improved lighting, mechanical ventilation and extraction, segregation of food preparation areas, replacement of all wooden/formica surfaces with stainless steel and improved toilet and rest areas for staff. Even with the considerable expenditure needed, the Senior Environmental Health Officer considers that only the minimum standards can be achieved in the present buildings. The ‘School would be better advised to consider structural alterations and rebuilding and thereby achieve significant improvements’. The School Caterers are asked to provide proposals together with estimates of costs involved (Governors’ Meeting, February 1989). Following these reports the estimated cost involved in refurbishment of the whole kitchen area and beyond is expected to be £200,000 (£726,000 today) and could take up to three years to complete with considerable disruption (Governors’ Meeting, June 1989) Further meetings held with the Senior Environmental Health Officer showed a considerable improvement had taken place and that the existing facilities ‘would suffice as an interim solution’. In the longer term the plans for demolishing the existing kitchens and constructing anew would prove acceptable. New equipment already purchased has cost £41,000 (£148,830 today) School Governors review the possibility of development on the field adjacent to the Boat House at Wolvercote (Governors’ Meeting, February 1989). Prospects of the development on School land is considered very unlikely ‘on the Wolvercote field, land east of the canal or the golf course’. The City Council has designated an Interim Green Belt which includes all the School’s playing fields, land east of the canal, and the Wolvercote field (Governors’ Meeting, March 1989). School initiates action to pre empt the Oxford City Council so as not to include all the School’s playing fields in the Green Belt provisions. This would then allow the School to build in the future if circumstances dictated (Governors’ Meeting, March 1989) The School’s first all-weather sports field moves a step closer with a £150,000 (£544,500 today) private donation by an O.S.E. Total costs will be £330,000 (£1,197,900 today) (Governors’ Meeting, February 1990) School investigates the possibility of purchasing the Northern House School site in South Parade immediately adjacent to the Music School and ‘The Hollies’ buildings. The 1.08 acre site is valued at £2,000,000 (£7,260,000 today) The School, after taking expert advice, decides not to proceed with the possibility of the development of School land. However it is agreed that ‘The Red Lion site on the Woodstock Road should be monitored in case there is any potential advantage to the School’ (Governors ‘Meeting, March 1990) Planning permission for the all-weather surface sports field still not received (General Purposes, September 1990) School acquires 30 Oakthorpe Road for £152,000 (£510,720 today). As the School already owns 28, 32 and 34 Oakthorpe Road there is now a possibility of developing the rear gardens of all these properties (General Purposes, June 1990)