A Story of Stone Libraries and the Canterbury Quad

IN OXFORD, THE CANTERBURY

Quadrangle at St John’s College is one of the city’s most illustrious architectural ensembles. As the eminent architectural historian Howard Colvin once pronounced: “It is difficult to envisage St John’s without the Canterbury Quadrangle.” Like other Oxford architectural icons – Magdalen’s tower and New College’s chapel – it has become emblematic of St John’s, its architecture representing a compelling synthesis of historic medievalism and the more cosmopolitan tenor of Renaissance classicism, which had taken root at the court of Charles I.

The conservation of Canterbury Quad by Wright & Wright Architects, combined with new design, represents the final phase in an ambitious 10-year redevelopment programme for St John’s, which also involved the remodelling of its historic library buildings and the design of a new Library and Study Centre. With considerable experience of working in the Oxford milieu – ongoing projects include a Passivhaus library opening later this summer at Corpus Christi College and teaching facilities for All Souls College – Wright & Wright’s design approach balances historical and contemporary elements within an evolving architectural narrative. New and old combine to generate unexpected synergies and sensitively reanimate historic assemblages of buildings.

HISTORY

Founded in 1555, St John’s was established by Thomas White, Master of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, at a time of intense political and religious upheaval. As Protestantism was reestablished, the College came to prominence through the patronage of William Laud, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury under Charles I. Laud was an influential figure in church and state, who enjoyed the confidence of the monarch. President of St John’s between 1611 and 1621, he added a grand new quadrangle, the Canterbury Quad, which persuasively proclaimed his ideals of royalism and High Anglicanism. To mark its completion in 1636, a lavish banquet was held for Charles and his consort, Queen Henrietta Maria, whose statues by French Huguenot sculptor Hubert Le Sueur adorn the Quad at its east and west portals.

The Civil War abruptly put an end to such extravagances and Laud, who had hitherto adroitly negotiated the treacherous currents of Jacobean politics and religious affairs, was accused of treason and beheaded at the Tower of London in 1645. He is buried in St John’s
chapel, along with College founder Thomas White. The Canterbury Quad remains largely as Laud left it, a ceremonial space of great subtlety and sophistication, one of the most impressive Baroque set pieces in England.

Laud also left his books and manuscripts to St John’s and his legacy formed the basis of the College’s world-renowned library and special collections. The library has
always been at the physical and intellectual heart of St John’s. Old Library was first constructed in 1596 and subsequently extended by Laud as part of the Canterbury Quadrangle. Over the centuries, the College’s accumulation of historic manuscripts, printed books and personal papers has grown into an inestimable cultural resource, attracting significant scholarly engagement from around the world, as well as donations from alumni and other benefactors.

Both Old and Laudian Libraries remained intact as part of the now Grade I listed Canterbury Quad, occupying the upper floors of its south and east ranges respectively, but over time, internal and external remodelling contrived to compromise the original architecture. Library resources were also dispersed to other sites and the northwards expansion
of St John’s in the mid-20th century shifted the College’s centre of gravity away from Canterbury Quad, which became more a haunt of tourists than students. The College’s redevelopment programme was designed to address these disparities and plan for the future.

A 10-YEAR PROJECT

Unifying both the collection and the buildings that house it, Wright & Wright’s new Library and Study Centre opened in 2019. A state-of-the-art archive increases storage provision while a dramatic new reading room forms a tranquil enclave for study and contemplation. The new building is both an end in itself and a component in a larger formal and spatial sequence, creating an active connection between Canterbury Quad and the more modern parts of the College to the north, strengthening links between different eras.

Within Old and Laudian Libraries, Wright & Wright restated key elements, rationalised circulation, improved access and upgraded study facilities. Readers’ desks were reconfigured to create more privacy and new, bespoke furniture added, together with improvements to lighting, fire protection and security. The pivotal space at the intersection of the two historic libraries was remodelled as an exhibition and display area with bespoke vitrines, and the enfilade of rooms on the ground floor of Old Library reinstated as teaching spaces. A beautifully detailed staircase of oak, bronze and stone connects the Laudian Library with a refashioned entrance area on the ground floor, which in turn links through to the new Study Centre.

The exemplary conservation of the historic spaces is the result of close and productive relationships with Historic England, the City Planning and Conservation officers, the College community and specialist conservators who, together with the Wright & Wright project team, questioned and challenged all decisions to ensure they would achieve the best possible outcomes. This team included stonework specialists Szerelmey, specialist joiners at Owlsworth IJP, and NBJ, as well as decorative arts conservators Cliveden Conservation.

Overall, the phased programme of work has taken around a decade, with the final chapter completed in September 2023, involving the conservation and restoration of Canterbury Quad. Here, the repair and replacement of its historic stonework presented very specific technical and aesthetic challenges within the wider context of St John’s 17th century architecture. Designed to proclaim the unity of church and state, for which both Archbishop Laud and Charles I would pay with their lives, the Quad’s east and west fronts each comprise an arcade of round arches on Tuscan order columns, supporting an upper floor lit by Gothic windows. An elaborate frontispiece is framed by pairs of Doric and Ionic columns, surmounted by curved pediments.

Following a comprehensive survey of the historic fabric, it was found that the Tuscan columns required replacing. Extensive technical analysis revealed that, over time, the 2.5m-high stone shafts had developed numerous fissures, some serious. The columns were carved from local Bletchingdon marble, but this proved unavailable as the original quarry had closed. Wright & Wright worked with a team of stone experts, including a petrologist, quarry consultant and stonemason, to source a suitable stone for the replacement columns, eventually alighting on Swaledale Fossil, a carboniferous limestone from a quarry near Barnard Castle in County Durham.

SET IN STONE

The design process involved extensive laboratory testing for resistance to compression, weathering and frost, to achieve the reassurances that would satisfy the College, Oxford planners and Historic England. As it was for the 17th century master masons who first gave shape to Canterbury Quad, the quality of stone was a critical consideration.

“Our use of materials reflects an understanding of their inherent characteristics which informs the structure, function and meaning of our buildings,” says Wright & Wright founding partner and project lead, Sandy Wright. “We look at what materials can do, and we also embrace a culture of craft and making. How things are made influences our architectural response, and the creation of signature details captures and enhances the spirit of the place.”

Following testing, it was decided to cut the stone for the bases and capitals on-bed and the shafts off-bed. Even though the shaft stone was off-bed, it is far stronger, so will last much longer. Containing myriads of tiny fossils, the Swaledale limestone also polishes up to a supremely smooth finish. The intricate surface pattern of lustrous fossils animates the columns and enriches the architecture of the Quad, extending St John’s long tradition of skilled working in stone.

The language and historic significance of the site’s stonework also inspired a specially commissioned bas relief by contemporary artist Susanna Heron on the main external wall of the neighbouring Study Centre. Executed in panels of creamy Clipsham limestone, Heron’s design abstracts and transmutes the Baroque floridity of the Quad in a compelling modern language. Ornate, organic motifs ripple across the stone panels, casting a changing constellation of shadows over the wall.

Enduring for centuries, slowly transforming with the patina of age, the use of stone at St John’s epitomises the edict of John Ruskin: “When we build, let us think that we build forever.” Combining old and new in a richly resonant dialogue, Wright & Wright’s restoration of Canterbury Quad represents the final phase in St John’s recent evolution, putting Archbishop Laud’s historic Quad back at the very heart of college life.