21: Aspire
The group of five shops numbered 19–23 High Street dates from the late eighteenth century, and the upstairs rooms were converted to Brasenose College accommodation around 1930.
No. 21 is a Grade II listed building (ref. 1485/322).
In 1772 a survey of every house in the city was taken in consequence of the Mileways Act of 1771. According to Salter, No. 21 was then in the occupation of a Mr Sheard, and its frontage measured 5 yards 0 feet 7 inches.
In 1851 Hester Sheard, the grocer here, was a widow of 48, living over the shop with her daughter and two sons: Thomas was her assistant, while Arthur was a hosier’s apprentice. They had one servant.
By 1881 Thomas John Walker Sheard, Hester’s son, had taken over his mother’s shop, and continued to live upstairs: he was then a widower of 52 living with his three children (all at school), his sister, a servant, and a lodger.
| Occupiers of 21 High Street | |
| 1839–1893 | Thomas Sheard (1839) Hester Sheard (to 1871) Thomas Sheard (from 1872) Grocer & tea dealer |
| 1894–1952 | Shepperd Brothers Robe makers [plus No. 20] |
| 1954–1972 | G. T. Jones & Co. Ltd Wine & spirit merchants |
| 1973–1976 | Gough Brothers (later taken over by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries) Wine shop |
| 2000 | Oslotuft Fashion |
| 2001–2007 | Essentuals (Toni & Guy) Hairdressing |
| 2007– | Aspire |