St Cross Church Holywell Oxford

2008
Balliol College is proposing to undertake a development at St Cross Church in Oxford which
would see the conversion of the large majority of the church to the college's archive store. OA has
been commissioned by Montgomery Architects, on behalf of Balliol College, to undertake an
assessment of the historical significance of the church and an assessment of the impact of the
proposed development on the building. The purpose of this assessment will be to allow the
planning and Diocesan authorities a more informed consideration of the proposal.
St Cross is a Norman church that has been greatly altered and most of the existing fabric is of 19thcentury
date. The principal surviving medieval fragments include the chancel arch, possibly parts
of the chancel walls, the lower part of the tower including a west doorway and arches to the north
and south aisles. As well as the building itself the church is also of significance for its large
cemetery (although this is distinct from the church and the ancient churchyard) with the graves of
several notable figures including Kenneth Grahame, and for its prominent location which has
made the church a familiar landmark.
The church is no longer actively used and it requires a new use (which preserves a small
consecrated area) to ensure it is maintained and to give it a viable future. The current proposal to
convert the church to an archive store will have both direct and indirect impacts on the building
(detailed below) but it would be a good option and the impacts would not affect the most
significant elements of St Cross. The exterior of the building should remain entirely (or very
largely) untouched so the building's setting and significance as a familiar landmark would be
unchanged. In addition the important graveyard should also remain unaffected by the
development. The oldest and most significant elements of the building are within the chancel and
this area will remain consecrated and outside any direct impact of the development. The medieval
doorway and arches in the lower part of the west tower will be within the development but they
will remain visible and largely unaffected.
The wall monuments will all remain in-situ and visible (albeit from a narrow corridor) and several
of the most important features which identify this as a church will also remain visible. These
include the tower and the rope of the Sanctus bell as well as the decorated, late Victorian nave roof
and the painted crucifix at the east end of the nave. The nave will be narrowed (detailed further
below) by new shelving to either side but it will essentially remain as a tall open space and the
view through to the chancel will remain.
Other benefits of the development include the fact that public access to the building will survive
and the fact that Balliol College is such a well established institution. There is no danger of this
being a commercial venture which folds after some years and leaves the church disused once more.
An archive store which preserves historical documents would also appear to be an entirely
appropriate use for a building that is in the region of 900 years old.
The main element of the development would be to insert book stacks into both aisles as well as the
edges of the nave and the vestry. These would be largely free-standing so the development would
not have extensive direct impacts on the building. The main direct impact would be the potential
removal of subsurface features (eg burials) from the aisles and outer edges of the nave to allow the
raft foundations for the book stacks. A geophysical survey has provided an indication of a series
of sub-surface anomolies, some of which are likely to be vaults or burials, concentrated in the
north aisle and the northern part of the south aisle. Another brick vault is apparent in the south
aisle (visible after the removal of pews) and several slightly sunken areas, also in the southern half
of the building also suggest the possible presence of other graves or burials here. Therefore there
are likely to be burials or features across much of the nave and aisles.
The foundations for the archive units will comprise concrete rafts at a maximum depth of 300 mm
on permanent shuttering. These rafts are designed to span over the anomolies shown on a
geophysical survey of subsurface features with limited ground disturbance in the south aisle and
none in the north aisle. The removal of pews and floorboards from the north aisle has exposed an
existing void in this area c.300 mm deep. Therefore the raft and shuttering should be
accommodated in this area but the recently exposed void in the south aisle has a higher ground
level and the foundation rafts will require a maximum excavation of 150 mm below the current
surface.
The other principal direct impact of the development is the removal of several visible features.
These include a late Victorian organ, a Victorian font from the south aisle (which will be
repositioned to the north of the chancel arch), and fittings from the vestry (again Victorian). In
addition there are six floor memorials which would be impacted by the proposed bookstacks.
These would either have to be removed to allow for the foundations of the controlled environment
units or covered over for standard shelving.
The main indirect impacts of the development would be the controlled-environment units filling
each of the 19th-century aisles and the bookstacks extending into the nave on either side. The four
arcade columns either side of the nave would be largely obscured and the visual integrity of the
nave would be diminished. Other indirect impacts would result from the fact that although the
stained glass and wall monuments would remain in the aisles it would only be possible to view
them from within an 87.5cm corridor immediately adjacent to the wall. It may therefore be
difficult to read some of the higher monuments and it would no longer be possible to stand back
and gain a good overall impression of the stained glass.
Both the direct and indirect impacts are considered to be relatively minor and they can be partly
mitigated by recording and archaeological investigation during the works.
2009
Balliol College is proposing to undertake a development at St Cross Church in Oxford which would see the conversion of the large majority of the church to the college's archive store. OA has been commissioned by Montgomery Architects, on behalf of Balliol College, to undertake a programme of archaeological recording of features within the floor which have been exposed by the removal of pews and floorboards. Features exposed within the cleared areas were to be expected in a church of this size and date. On the south side of the nave, some dark areas of soil were visible, representing possible grave cuts, as well as part of a possible raised brick vault. Immediately west of this, and beside the west tower foundation, an inscribed slab and another possible brick vault were exposed. The north side of the nave featured several slabs, some of which are inscribed, and a possible stone burial chamber at the east side. Other exposed features include 19th and 20th century utilities and very occasional displaced human remains and coffin fixtures. Throughout the exposed areas, the ground is very uneven, suggesting more undetected burials from various periods. The foundations for the new archive units will comprise concrete rafts at a maximum depth of 300 mm below the existing floor level, on permanent shuttering. In some areas of proposed development, voids are as shallow as 220mm, raising issues concerning the impact of the development on the archaeology of the church.
2010
Balliol College is undertaking a development at St Cross Church in Oxford, which will see
the conversion of the large majority of the church into the college's archive store. OA was
commissioned by Montgomery Architects, on behalf of Balliol College, to carry out a
watching brief during the programme of ground works. OA had previously been
commissioned to undertake an Historic Assessment of the church (February 2009) and a
programme of Archaeological Recording of features within the floor which had been exposed
by the removal of pews and floorboards (November 2009). Features exposed were to be
expected in a church of this size and date. However, the foundations for the new archive
units need concrete rafts at a maximum depth of 300 mm below the existing floor level, on
permanent shuttering. In some areas of proposed development, voids were as shallow as
220mm, which raised issues concerning the impact of the development on the archaeology of
the church.
Subsequent ground works involved the removal of limestones slabs in the central aisle and
the west side of the south aisle and the lowering of the floor surface to a depth of 300mm in
these areas. A trench 1500mm wide running north south underneath the tower needed to be
reduced by 700mm. Another smaller trench, 300mm deep, was cut around the south west
exterior of the church.
An archaeological watching brief was maintained for the duration of these ground works,
during which at least seven more burials were exposed as well as human remains in the
trench on the south west exterior. Mortar floor packing was exposed the south aisle and 19th
and 20th century services activity in the area of the font in the west end of the south aisle.
Two test trenches were excavated archaeologically into the area of the proposed service
trench under the tower to investigate potential significant archaeological activity. A
watching brief was maintained during the removal of the remainder of the trench, during
which an adult skeleton, thought to be medieval, was exposed, excavated and re-buried
within the church. Partially articulated human remains, previously disturbed, were found in
the narrow trench dug from the west exterior to the south exterior