The Examination Schools, Oxford

Sir Thomas G Jackson won a competition in 1875 to design the Examination Schools, to be built on the site of the old Angel Inn. Examinations were previously held in the Old Schools next to the Bodleian Library but the replacement of oral examinations with written examinations in 1850 meant that more space was needed. Jackson rejected the Gothic style in favour of an eclectic mix of English and Italian Renaissance which became known as ‘Anglo-Jackson’. The main entrance, in the form of a Venetian window, faces the High Street. The central three-storey clock tower, the Tower of the Orders, in the open courtyard facing Merton Street is purely for show and has no doorway.Sir Thomas G Jackson won a competition in 1875 to design the Examination Schools, to be built on the site of the old Angel Inn. Examinations were previously held in the Old Schools next to the Bodleian Library but the replacement of oral examinations with written examinations in 1850 meant that more space was needed. Jackson rejected the Gothic style in favour of an eclectic mix of English and Italian Renaissance which became known as ‘Anglo-Jackson’. The main entrance, in the form of a Venetian window, faces the High Street. The central three-storey clock tower, the Tower of the Orders, in the open courtyard facing Merton Street is purely for show and has no doorway.