Nos. 74–78: The Taylorian
The Taylor Institution (or Taylorian) forms the east wing of the Ashmolean Museum. It is jointly Grade I listed with the Ashmolean (ref. 1485/523A). It was built in 1841–5 to the designs of Charles Robert Cockerell by Baker & Son of Lambeth. The drawing below dates from about 1900. On the right is the entrance to Wyatt's Yard, and part of No. 73 St Giles
The building is named after Sir Robert Taylor, an architect who died in 1788 and bequeathed a considerable sum
“to the chancellor and scholars of the university of Oxford and their successors, for the purpose of applying the interest and produce thereof in purchase of freehold land within, or if possible, to be made within, the jurisdiction of the said university, for the erecting a proper edifice therein, and for establishing a foundation for the teaching and improving the European languages, in such manner as should from time to time be approved by the said chancellor and scholars, in convocation assembled.”
Taylor's son contested the will, but when the son died in 1834 the money went to the University. The University Registrar, Philip Bliss, had the idea of combining the building with new University Galleries. He launched a competition in 1839 for a “Grecian” design, which Cockerell won.
Gardner's Oxford Directory for 1852 had this to say of the Taylorian when it was still very new:
The entrance to the Taylor Institute … is adorned with four detached Ionic columns, with a block of the entablature over each, bearing elegantly sculptured figures, emblematical of European languages; and on the bases are engraved the names of the most famous literary characters of the countries which they represent, viz., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain….
The Taylor Institute comprises five excellent lecture rooms, a spacious library, with a professor's apartment and lodgings for the librarian. The institute has been opened under the auspices of a professor of European languages, and two teachers in French and German; tutors in Spanish, Italian, and other modern languages will be added from time to time, as the funds will allow a gradual increase in the means of endowment. The classes are open to all members of the university.
William Tuckwell states in Reminscences of Oxford that the Taylorian was built “on the site of a lofty edifice, once a mansion, afterwards decayed, and let out in poverty-stricken tenements”. Robson's Commercial Directory for 1839 lists the following businesses in the five small shops at 74–78 St Giles' Street that had to be demolished in 1841:
Wyatt's Yard
(The entrance was between 73 and 74, but as the yard itself actually lay behind Nos. 60–73, it survived until 1891. It was given the spare number 74 after the demolition of Nos. 74-–8 in 1841)74: John Cox, Tailor
75 ) Thomas Tomkins, Broker
76 )Thomas Grimsley, SculptorGateway
77 ) ?
78 ) Robin Hood InnBeaumont Street