History of Rosslyn Villa, Windmill Road
Rosslyn Villa was built near the top of Windmill Road in the 1880s, and its first occupant (listed in Valter’s Directory for 1889) was John Durran, a prosperous retired ironmonger with a shop in Oxford’s High Street. Its large garden used to stretch southwards over the site of a group of shops (Nos. 9A, 9, and 11), while on the other side its garage stood on the site of what is now numbered 4 The Parade.
Rosslyn Villa itself is now numbered 5 and 6 The Parade. Its original front door and staircase, and the dentist’s surgery upstairs, are very much as they were in the 1880s; but at ground level its large bay windows have been replaced by part of the flat shop front that runs all the way up to 1 The Parade.
The postcard below shows Rosslyn Villa in about 1912. It was still a handsome house, although Nos. 9 and 11 Windmill Road to the south had already been built in its garden to the south. Further south again are Nos. 13 to 23 Windmill Road, which were also built in the 1880s and were its original next-door neighbours.
At the time of the 1891 census, Rosslyn Villa was occupied by the retired ironmonger John Durran (57) and his wife Martha (65), both of whom originated in Warwickshire. His sister Elizabeth Durran and his cousin Elizabeth Law also lived with them, but rather surprisingly for such a large house, they had no servants.
Ten years later the composition of the household was exactly the same, except that John Durran was then described as a market gardener, working on his own account from home. Within six years of the 1901 census, all three Durrans had died, and were buried in Headington Cemetery on the following dates: Miss Elizabeth Durran (65) on 13 July 1903; Mrs Martha Durran (78) on 18 December 1903; and John Durran (76) on 14 February 1907.
Albert Griffin is listed at Rosslyn Villa in Kelly’s Directory for 1909, and presumably sold some of his garden for the development of Nos. 9 and 11 next door shortly afterwards. He was still living at the house in 1930, when it was numbered 7 Windmill Road. He died at the age of 77 in the London Road Hospital, and was buried in Headington Cemetery on 29 September 1934. He was described as a gardener at the time of his death, suggesting that he still looked after the market garden that had belonged to John Durran.
In 1935, there is no listing for the house, which was probably empty and being converted into a shop. The following year, it is part of "The Parade", with a chemist in No. 4 on the site of its garage, a butcher in No. 5, and a cooked meats shop at No.. 6. J.H. Dewhurst. It has remained a row of shops ever since, and by 1947 a dentist had opened his practice upstairs.
Brief history of this group of buildings
| 4 The Parade | Occupant of the site of Rosslyn Villa’s garage |
| 1936–1938+ | E.J. Francis, chemist |
| By 1943–1968 | Boots the Chemist |
| 1970–1976+ | Lander Wilson, carpet retailer |
| 1980s | SparPlas Windows |
| Up to 1992 | Zenith Windows |
| Mid-1990s | Good Returns (catalogue return shop) |
| c.2000–c.2002 | Storm ladies' clothing |
| By 2003–present | Frog Orange |
| 5 The Parade | Occupant of the left side of Rosslyn Villa |
| 1936–1983+ | J.H. Dewhurst Ltd, butcher |
| 1994 | Model Masters |
| Later 1990s | Goodies Secondhand furniture |
| 1999–2002 | Focus Electronics |
| 2002–present | Electric Aids |
| 6 The Parade | Occupant of the right side of Rosslyn Villa |
| 1936–1938+ | E.W. Liley, cooked meats |
| By 1943–1952 | Sanders Bros. (Stores) Ltd., grocers |
| 1954 | William Poulter Ltd, outfitters |
| 1956–1975 | Mrs Elsie I. Wenborn, footwear specialist |
| 1976–c.1979 | Baileys, shoe dealers |
| 1982 | Thameside Copiers |
| 1980s/1990s | Electrical Appliance Centre |
| 1990s–c.2003 | Asian grocer |
| c.2003–present | Thong Heng Chinese supermarket |
