The Ashmolean

Elias Ashmole donated a good deal of his collection of manuscripts and artefacts to the University of Oxford to become the Ashmolean Museum, which claims to be the oldest museum in Great Britain. After moving from it's original site on the upper floor of the Bodleian labrary it has had a few reincarnations to form it's current metamorphosis in 2009 when it re-opened after massive renovation.
I have been granted permission to use a tripod, provided I ensure, by signing a waiver, that any images will not be for commercial use. I have already looked around this site - see here and I will have the chance to wander more freely as "I will have a piece of paper in my hand" authorising and legitimising my presence.
The atrium and escalators are fast becoming iconic views of this new Ashmolean, there is a very pleasant cafe area with views over roofs of Oxford, indeed there is a roof terrace that might be worth a look at. The objects d'art are beautifully presented and in the main there is no restriction on the use of cameras within the exhibition halls.

A straightforward choice

I have been granted permission to photograph the Holywell Rooms, I had the choice of either paying the hire charge or allowing them to use any photograph I take - I didn't investigate the hire charge! Handel and Haydn have both played at this venue which has a seating capacity of 250.
I have been surprised at the level of access I have been allowed to all of the venues I have requested, so far I haven't been refused anything that I've asked for. However this place has surprised me more than the others; to gain access I thought I would have to report to the entrance (or somewhere similar) and would then be accompanied around the building, not so. I am to report to Wadham College Lodge, where I will be given the key that I will be asked to return after I have finished. What was it Blanche duBois said? "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers".

In the summer of 1998, the Holywell Music Room celebrated its 250th anniversary. The oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe, it opened its doors to the public for the first time in 1748. Designed by Thomas Camplin, Vice-Principal of St. Edmund Hall, the building was probably the brainchild of William Hayes, then Professor of Music at the University. The project was funded by public subscription (established in 1742). The room continued as a concert venue throughout the eighteenth century and until 1836, from which time it was used for a number of other events, including auctions and exhibitions. By the 1870s, it was being used for weekly rehearsals by the Oxford Philharmonic Society and its future as a musical venue was further secured after 1910 when the Oxford University Musical Union obtained a lease on the building. The Holywell was restored and refitted in 1959-60 and since that time has been the location for many hundreds of recitals and concert series featuring prestigious visiting musicians as well as many local groups and student performers.

While Wadham College owns the Holywell Music Room, the use of this room is divided between the Faculty of Music and the College. The Faculty makes use of the room during University Term Time and Wadham during vacations, with each using its own discretion regarding policy and charges.  – source University web-site here 

Reprinted by kind permission of the Oxford University music faculty

The Holywell is a very nice place to listen to music, though the range is limited to chamber and small ensemble pieces. I have been to many concerts here mainly piano music as well as jazz, there is a resident Steinway and harpsichord.

The entrance is designed on classical lines is another shot to help situate the feeling of the place. The box office is appositely named, it is small and the perspective here of the entrance will be worth a look. The view into the auditorium from the Hall entrance is very balanced and I will look from the back of the Hall which is raked at a significant angle. As with other performance venues that I am looking at the perspective from the stage - an elevated platform - of the Hall is one that will try and capture. I have never been in the "Green Room"and that will provide another perspective.

My overriding memory of the Holywell is one of contemplative calm, despite the passion of the music, which I would expect to able to convey in what I suspect will be an empty facility for my purposes.

Susan Hampshire painted our toilets

The Playhouse Theatre opened in Beaumont Street on 20^th October 1938 and has become one the foremost theatres in England. The actors who have entertained from this stage are amongst the most feted stars of the English stage in the times since that opening night. It has played a significant role in the cultural life of not only Oxford city life but also that of the University, with OUDS productions, Oxford Theatre Guild (the leading amateur group in the city) and the Oxford Operatic Society as well as a great deal of national touring groups. I was fortunate enough to be a sponsored theatre critic whereby I received two complimentary tickets to any professional theatre outside the “West-End” and visited the Playhouse many times as part of that role. I have been given permission to take some photographs after contacting their management who appear to have placed no restriction on where I go; I will find out soon when I meet Hester.

Of interest for recording this building would be the foyer – it is the first experience when coming to the theatre and is therefore likely to affect the experience of the evening. It is small and, as with all amenities, the management have taken every opportunity to “market” themselves to raise funds. The ticket desk shares the space with programme sellers, a confectionary counter and a coffee/bar area – I will try and depict this. The second major experience in the theatre is the perspective or viewpoint of the audience member; the theatre was completely renovated in 1990/1 and has very good all round viewing. The stage area, through the proscenium arch, is one that I would hope to be able to capture as well as the aspects from the side-lines and changing areas. The Stage Door (I’m not sure if there is one) and theatre staff offices.

Susan Hampshire was an ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) in 1954 and, as most people will know, an ASM is likely to get any job, I think though, she was provided with a brush for the purpose – I suspect the facilities have been renovated more than once since then. 

The Custodian

The building that Gilbert Sheldon commissioned for “the enactment of university business” cost him £14,500 and was the first commission of Sir Chistopher Wren who was the then Savilian Professor of Astronomy at the University; though what the real estate that the Sheldonian Theatre occupies now is worth can only be guessed at, being as it is, part of the wider property portfolio of Oxford University. The original plan was that Sheldon would deposit some seed money - £1000 and then others would jump in, well no-one did and so he stood the cost himself; he did become Chancellor of the University soon after, he was already the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The design brief was to develop the ceremony of the university, to aggrandize the pomp and circumstance to celebrate it's position at the heart of learning for the establishment, the country, early Empire and the ruling class that comprised it's natural entrants. I have witnessed of how successful this is at first hand when, as do all Oxon students, my wife received her degree there (my wife is not a member of any of the aforementioned categories above!), as well as attending many music concerts.

Apart from highlighting the architectural features that were designed to meet the challenges set to reveal the above, there are other interesting aspects to the building that I shall try and capture, such as the roof support structure. Wren had originally designed a set of columns to support the roof which was vetoed by the University as dance - a principle design consideration then, but no longer a requirement now I think - would have been limited, this gave Wren an issue as the length of the required beams would have been longer than any trees in England at seventy feet or more. Wren turned to his fellow Savilian Professor of Geometry John Wallis, who devised what was then the largest unsupported roof structure in the world. The roof has been replaced, but the supporting structure is still extant. This roof offers a view of the “Dreaming Spires” which, depending on time and weather, might offer an interesting perspective. Additionally there is Roger Streater’s (Serjeant painter to Charles II) ceiling painting (32 panels) depicting the “Truth descending upon the Arts and Sciences to expel Ignorance from the University” painted in 1668/9.

Another potential point of interest is the organ. Wren did not envisage a permanent organ in the original design and one was added about twenty years later, the first of three naturally aspirated organs. When, in 1989, the latest of these, designed by “Father Willis” was deemed unfit for purpose Robert Venables QC donated a “digital” organ, which comprised some eighty speakers and the ability to mimic other famous organs such as Salisbury Cathedral, Pembroke College Cambridge and St-Clotilde in Paris and all with the press of a few push buttons. This gift, said by Venables to be “the most difficult donation of money” he ever made caused a considerable consternation and significant debate from music aficionados at the time.
To gain permission to photograph inside the the Sheldonian I made contact through the "contact" email address of the Sheldonian, the response came from custodian@sheldon... I thought that the address was interesting when I first saw it, I now feel it entirely apt that this Grade 1 listed building should have a custodian. I like that.
I have been granted two hours, so my list of shots need to be explained early and clearly to the custodian in order to make best use of the short time.