Clarendon Shopping Centre

The centre is in central Oxford,{{cite book | title=The Encyclopaedia of Oxford | publisher=Macmillan | chapter=Clarendon Centre | year=1988 | page=94 | isbn=0-333-39917-X | editor-last=Hibbert |editor-first=Christopher |editor-link=Christopher Hibbert }} located to the west of Cornmarket Street and to the north of Queen Street. It is accessible from both of these streets and is L-shaped. There is also an entrance on Shoe Lane, off New Inn Hall Street. On the opposite side of Cornmarket is the more historic Golden Cross shopping arcade, located in the medieval courtyard of one of the coaching inns of Oxford, leading to the Covered Market. At the western end of Queen Street is the Westgate Shopping Centre, which was extensively redeveloped and extended in 2017.{{Google maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Clarendon+Centre/@51.7525247,-1.2599764,18z/data=!3m1!5s0x4876c6a56642866f:0xeb134eba1f3fc4d8!4m5!3m4!1s0x4876c6a5637e2bdb:0x10123d581a7b4925!8m2!3d51.7525214!4d-1.2588767 |title=Clarendon Centre, Oxford |access-date=7 September 2019}}

File:1885 Clarendon Hotel Oxford ad Harpers Handbook for Travellers in Europe.png

Formerly on this site was the Clarendon Hotel on Cornmarket Street, which grew from two former coaching inns, the King's Head and the Star.{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/cornmarket/west/52_clarendon.html |title=52 Cornmarket Street (site of former Star/Clarendon Hotel) |last=Jenkins |first=Stephanie |date= |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724033323/http://oxfordhistory.org.uk/cornmarket/west/52_clarendon.html |archive-date=24 July 2017 |url-status=live}} The hotel was a Georgian building,{{cite journal |last1=Pantin |first1=W. A. |author-link1=William Abel Pantin |title=The Clarendon Hotel, Oxford: Part II. The Buildings |journal=Oxoniensia |volume=XXIII |pages=84–129 |url=http://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1958/pantin.pdf |date=1958 |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802025427/http://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1958/pantin.pdf |archive-date=2 August 2019 |url-status=live }} though beneath it was a vaulted wine cellar,{{cite journal |last1=Jope |first1=E. M. |author-link1=Martyn Jope |title=The Clarendon Hotel, Oxford: Part I. The Site |journal=Oxoniensia |volume=XXIII |pages=1–83 |url=http://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1958/jope.pdf |date=1958 |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802025325/http://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1958/jope.pdf |archive-date=2 August 2019 |url-status=live }} which was the oldest in Oxford.{{cite book |title=Oxfordshire |series=The Buildings of England |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |date=1974 |isbn=978-0-300-09639-2 |publisher=Penguin Books/Yale University Press |page=24}} The hotel closed in 1939;{{cite news |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/7992134.oxford-hotels-facade-hid-its-true-history/ |last=Chipperfield |first=John |title=Oxford hotel's facade hid its true history |date=12 April 2010 |work=Oxford Mail |access-date=7 September 2019}} Woolworths purchased it in that year; it was used as an American Servicemen's Club, and then as offices, before being demolished in 1954. The demolition was later criticised, although a report by Thomas Sharp in 1948 had recommended the building should be retained.{{sfn|Sharp|1948|p=71}}

The area was the site of an early archaeological study in the 1950s.{{cite book| title=Oxford: The Buried City | url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordburiedcity0000hass | url-access=registration | first=Tom | last=Hassall | publisher=Oxford Archaeological Unit | year=1987 | isbn=0 904220 09 5 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordburiedcity0000hass/page/6 6], [https://archive.org/details/oxfordburiedcity0000hass/page/34 34] }} Architectural excavations, by W. A. Pantin and E. M. Jope, took place during and after the demolition. During these, it was discovered that the wine cellar dated back to the twelfth century, and the "complete framework of a sixteenth century timber-framed house" was behind the fascia, among other architectural discoveries. Pantin made the argument that, had this been known before demolition, the building could have been saved:

{{blockquote

|text=Outwardly, the Clarendon seemed just a pleasant but rather undistinguished late Georgian building, so that it could be argued at the time of the discussions and inquiry about its demolition that it was not a building of historic or artistic importance. […] If only we had known a few years ago what we now know about the Clarendon, we could have put forward a much better case and a much better scheme for at least its partial preservation and adaptation.

}}

The dig also revealed wares dating back to Saxon Britain, including eleventh-century pottery and a thirteenth-century aquamanile.

The new Woolworths branch was designed by Sir William Holford, who sought to build a "Woolworths worthy of Oxford" after previous designs were rejected; Holford's design was also rejected by Oxford City Council, but the decision was overturned by Harold Macmillan,{{cite web |url=http://www.woolworthsmuseum.co.uk/1950s-hugeq.htm |website=Woolworths Museum |title=Twice around the block |author= |date= |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608055241/http://www.woolworthsmuseum.co.uk/1950s-hugeq.htm |archive-date=8 June 2017 |url-status=live }} who was the Minister of Housing and Local Government at the time. The store was ceremonially opened on 18 October 1957 by the Mayor and Mayoress of Oxford; the former complimented the building. The branch was five times larger than its predecessor—indeed, when it opened, it was the biggest in Europe{{cite book |last=Morris |first=James |title=Oxford |publisher= Faber and Faber |year=1965 |pages=52, 110}}—and contained a deluxe cafeteria, offices, a roof garden and a multi-storey car park.{{cite web |url=https://wooliesbuildings.wordpress.com/category/oxfordshire/ |website=Woolies Buildings – Then and Now |title=Oxford – Store 189 |author="Sabrina" |date=2014 |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705121822/https://wooliesbuildings.wordpress.com/category/oxfordshire/ |archive-date=5 July 2019 |url-status=live }} While the store was open, the ceremony of "beating the bounds" of the parish of St Michael at the North Gate required the participants to pass through the store. The store closed in 1983.

The Clarendon Centre was built on the site in 1983–84, designed by Gordon Benoy and Partners, and built by property company Arrowcroft.{{cite news |work=The Daily Telegraph |title="Arrowcroft in £40m Oxford shops project" |url=http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/BjNBN5 |date=22 March 1983 |access-date=21 September 2019 |page=22 |last=Kinloch|first=Bruce|url-access=subscription}} The centre was financed by the pension fund of the National Westminster Bank. It initially had {{convert|127000|sqft|m2|order=flip}} of retail space, with Littlewoods as a {{convert|50000|sqft|m2|order=flip|adj=on}} anchor store. There were more than 20 other shops,{{cite news |work=The Daily Telegraph |title=Oxford centre pre-let |url=http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/BjNBk6 |date=23 October 1984 |access-date=21 September 2019 |page=17 |author=|url-access=subscription}} with shops signed up prior to construction including Dolcis, Etam, Chelsea Girl and Dixons. The centre was developed in two phases, with the first being the section connecting Cornmarket Street to Shoe Lane.

The frontage of the old building on Cornmarket Street was retained, including the ornate "W" mark above a door. For the frontage onto Queen Street, the former Halfords shop was demolished;{{cite news |work=Aberdeen Evening Express |date=25 February 1985 |author= |title="Firm blamed in court for shop collapse" |page=7}} Halfords would later open within the centre, in a unit facing Shoe Lane.{{cite news |work=Oxford Mail |date=3 December 2001 |author= |title="More jobs at Dixons" |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6604631.more-jobs-at-dixons/ |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921204902/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6604631.more-jobs-at-dixons/ |archive-date=21 September 2019 |url-status=live }} In January 1984, one person was killed and another seriously injured when a collapse occurred at the Queen Street demolition site for the centre.

The centre was completed in 1984, being already fully let in October of that year, before it was completed. Writing in the "Oxford Diary" column in The Times in January 1984, A. N. Wilson labelled the newly built centre as "the most grotesquely horrible building I have ever seen";{{cite news |title=Oxford Diary: Expiring dreams |last=Wilson |first=A. N. |author-link=A. N. Wilson |date=9 January 1984 |work=The Times |page=8}} in 1985, a reporter for The Observer described the centre's "phoney unfunctional pipes" and Bavarian marble floors.{{cite news |title=Oxford fights for its history |work=The Observer |date=17 February 1985 |last=Owen |first=Lyn}}

File:ClarendonCentreOxford.jpg

In 1998, as the first step of a renovation of the centre, the Littlewoods store gave up {{convert|10000|sqft|m2|order=flip}} of space adjacent to Cornmarket Street, to create space for a new store;{{cite news |work=Estates Gazette |date=28 February 1998 |page=46 |last=Roberts |first=Jane |title=Pru digs deep for Oxford St}} this was later filled by Gap, after the landlord, Gartmore Group, wanting to make the centre more fashion-focused, rejected a larger bid from the electronics retailer Comet.{{cite news |work=Estates Gazette |date=4 April 1998 |page=41 |last=Roberts |first=Jane |title=Gap wins bid war for Oxford shop}} Following the £5m renovation (which also involved new lighting and doors, and redecoration), the centre (now described as having {{convert|150000|sqft|m2|order=flip}} of retail space) was sold to an investment partnership in July 2000, for £80m. H Samuel and French Connection were other new stores following the renovation.{{cite news |title=Shopping centre sold for 80m |author= |date=7 July 2000 |access-date=21 September 2019 |work=Oxford Mail |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6630939.shopping-centre-sold-for-80m/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921204900/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6630939.shopping-centre-sold-for-80m/ |archive-date=21 September 2019 |url-status=live }}

The centre's layout was slightly modified in 2001, when the former Etam and Halfords units were merged to accommodate a relocated and enlarged Dixons store. Then, on Saturday 7 August 2004, Littlewoods, the original anchor tenant, closed, notice of the closure having been given on the preceding Tuesday; contemporary reports suggested the closure was due to financial underperformance and another retailer's interest in the unit.{{cite news |title=Retailers vie for city sites |author= |date=6 August 2004 |work=Oxford Mail |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6563705.retailers-vie-for-city-sites/ |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921205826/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6563705.retailers-vie-for-city-sites/ |archive-date=21 September 2019 |url-status=live }} The unit was subsequently taken by Zara, on a fifteen-year lease.{{cite news |work=Retail Week |title=Zara portfolio to reach 29 UK stores with new openings for Oxford and Inverness |author= |url=https://www.retail-week.com/zara-portfolio-to-reach-29-uk-stores-with-new-openings-for-oxford-and-inverness/1711864.article |date=24 September 2004 |access-date=21 September 2019 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230081234/http://www.retail-week.com/zara-portfolio-to-reach-29-uk-stores-with-new-openings-for-oxford-and-inverness/1711864.article |archive-date=30 December 2011 |url-status=live }}

File:Clarendon Centre (Shoe Lane entrance), September 2019.jpg

In 2012, a plan was put forward to extend the centre floorspace by 10%: replacing the section near Shoe Lane with a three-storey extension, to house H&M.{{cite news| title=Oxford's Clarendon Centre grows to 'defend itself' | url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9594025.oxfords-clarendon-centre-grows-defend-itself/ |last=Ffrench |first=Andrew | access-date=8 September 2019 | newspaper=Oxford Mail | date=16 March 2012 }} Prior to construction of the extension, archaeologists carried out an excavation beneath the site to discover remains of occupation from the 17th century and earlier.{{cite news | title=Shoppers pop in to see what lies beneath Clarendon centre at archaeology day | url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9857055.Shoppers_pop_in_to_see_what_lies_beneath_Clarendon_centre_at_archaeology_day/ | access-date=18 October 2019 | newspaper=Oxford Mail | date=6 August 2012 | author= | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220635/http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9857055.Shoppers_pop_in_to_see_what_lies_beneath_Clarendon_centre_at_archaeology_day/ | archive-date=3 March 2016 | url-status=live }} The new H&M store opened in 2014.{{cite news |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15783670.rival-oxford-shopping-centre-says-westgate-is-boosting-trade-rather-than-stealing-it/ |last=Ffrench |first=Andrew |work=Oxford Mail |title=Rival Oxford shopping centre says Westgate is boosting trade rather than stealing it |date=22 December 2017 |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914192516/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15783670.rival-oxford-shopping-centre-says-westgate-is-boosting-trade-rather-than-stealing-it/ |archive-date=14 September 2018 |url-status=live }}

Following the reopening of Westgate Oxford in October 2017, the branch of Zara within the centre moved to the Westgate, vacating its unit in the Clarendon.{{cite news |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17429701.shops-coming-and-going-the-changing-face-of-oxford-shopping/ |title=Shops coming and going – the changing face of Oxford shopping |last=Ffrench |first=Andrew |date=13 February 2019 |access-date=8 September 2019 |work=Oxford Mail |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214163650/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17429701.shops-coming-and-going-the-changing-face-of-oxford-shopping/ |archive-date=14 February 2019 |url-status=live }} The site was taken over by TK Maxx, who opened their store on 30 May 2019, to queues of shoppers.{{cite news |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17673815.tk-maxx-oxford-clarendon-centre-store-queues-for-opening/ |title=TK Maxx Oxford: Clarendon Centre store queues for opening |last=Jones |first=Harrison |work=Oxford Mail |date=30 May 2019 |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608042901/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17673815.tk-maxx-oxford-clarendon-centre-store-queues-for-opening/ |archive-date=8 June 2019 |url-status=live }} The conversion of the store retained the stone in a stockroom marking the boundary of the parish of St Michael at the North Gate, which is supposedly the oldest of the boundary stones; the ceremony to mark the boundary still passes through the centre.{{cite news |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17675639.beating-of-the-bounds-still-going-strong-in-oxford-city-centre/ |first=Indya |last=Clayton |title=Beating of the bounds still going strong in Oxford city centre |work=Oxford Mail |date=31 May 2019 |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608133012/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17675639.beating-of-the-bounds-still-going-strong-in-oxford-city-centre/ |archive-date=8 June 2019 |url-status=live }}

The centre has twenty-three stores and food outlets as of November 2019, including those intended to open in the near future. These included TK Maxx, H&M and Gap Outlet.{{cite web |url=https://www.clarendoncentre.co.uk/stores/ |title=Stores |access-date=18 November 2019 |website=Clarendon Centre}} In total, the centre has {{convert|145000|sqft|m2|order=flip}} of space.{{cite web |url=https://www.lothburyim.com/our-funds/lothbury-property-trust/top-10-assets/#subsubmenu-anchor |title=Lothbury Property Trust: Top 10 Assets |website=Lothbury Investment Management |access-date=9 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107094556/http://www.lothburyim.com/our-funds/lothbury-property-trust/top-10-assets/#subsubmenu-anchor |archive-date=7 November 2016 |url-status=live }}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Sharp |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Wilfred Sharp |title=Oxford Replanned |year=1948 |publisher=The Architectural Press |location=London }}

• [http://www.clarendoncentre.co.uk/ Clarendon Centre website]

{{Shopping centres in Southeast England}}

Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1984

Category:1984 establishments in England

Category:Shopping malls established in 1984

Category:Shopping centres in Oxford