Polstead Road has 31 numbered houses. Sometimes, some houses have been subdivided. For example, in the 1950s, 28 Polstead Road consisted of two parts: 28a, where Joachim Benemann lived, and 28b. Some houses have also been used for businesses. Once, a dentist had his practice in number 28. Number 30 has never been a house in the usual sense; it is the St Margarets Institute, although the top-floor flat is now rented as accommodation. Many people have lived here—children, students, parents, or retirees—in one or more houses. Each house has its own history, and this section provides information about both individual houses and the street as a whole. The Polstead Road History Project (PRHP) is starting to collect information about each house.
Table of Contents
Introduction
A house is “a building for human habitation, especially one that consists of a ground floor and one or more upper storeys.” [Oxford English Dictionary, OED] It is, primarily, a structure built for people to live in. However, most buildings can also serve other purposes.
Nevertheless, being a residence is the second key feature of a house. Although families are the most common residents in a house, the residents may be lodgers, or the house may be divided into two or more parts. At least one house in Polstead Road was a hotel.
Since 1897, the houses on Polstead Road have seen many changes in use, housed numerous residents, been altered in various ways, and witnessed significant events, including two World Wars.
This section will undoubtedly grow to cover many aspects of being a house.
People and houses.
The mix of people living on the street reflects and is shaped by wider societal changes. For example, contrary to popular belief, our research shows that the houses were not primarily occupied by Oxford dons when they were built. The page by Kay Symons uses available census data to analyse who initially occupied the houses and how this changed during the first 20 years.
Another example is the shift from single houses to two households within one building, and then back to a single family occupying the entire house. Furthermore, subletting individual rooms to students or others seeking short-term rentals used to be quite common but is no longer prevalent.
Therefore, some pages in this section will examine how the street as a whole changes, rather than focusing on who has lived in which house or the stories linked to individuals or specific houses.
The main interest, however, will be in the individuals who lived in the street – or still live there.
There is a separate website section on people, and, additionally, some blog posts are centred on individuals. Joachim Benemann is an individual with a page in the people section; he lived at 28a Polstead Road when it was divided into two residences. Charles Clarke is another individual who is the subject of a blog post; he lived at 18 Polstead Road.
We will provide links associating people with houses to avoid duplication, and each section will include tables showing links to relevant other pages. The search facility also enables anyone to find references to a house or person.
Businesses
Although the street is in a residential district, it has hosted a surprising number of businesses. The obvious one, not officially part of the road but certainly on it, is the Anchor pub at 2 Hayfield Road. Their website gives an overview of its history, which predates the founding of Polstead Road. Our blog post on the early development of the road, as revealed in maps, includes the Anchor.
The Alliance Francaise was based in a house for some years, but it has now moved to number 30, Polstead Road – also known as the St Margaret’s Institute. Other businesses registered using the 30 Polstead Road address include English at Oxford, Daybreak the Limes Centre, and Polstead pre-school.
Other houses have independent small businesses registered using a Polstead Road address. Moreover, historically, at least one house has been a bed and breakfast, and at least one house has housed a dental surgery.
Individual houses.
As the project progresses, we will publish pages on each individual house. We have the indentures for each house, and other publicly available information can also be used. Eventually, we hope to collect stories from past and present owners who are willing to share them, and with their full agreement.
Events
We also hope to collect and publish information about events organised on the street, such as street parties and, more recently, how the street reacted to the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
Table of links
Individual houses may feature in many other pages. The table below links numbered houses to named people found on other pages.
| Number | Person - first | Person - last | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Charles | Clarke | A respectable rebel in 1903 |
| 19 | Samuel | Mowbray | Businessman, married, found dead in a locked bathroom with windows shut. Jury decided it was accidental. |
| 28 | Joachim | Benemann | A German person, married and lived there 1952-59. Spy? Nazi? Communist? Or none? |
