38 C O N T E X T 1 1 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 0 access, and ensuring that the sense of pride and belonging for the people of the city was delivered. OPT rose to the challenge and the Castleyard scheme began to form. The HLF showed interest in the scheme which would open up the site for the first time in its history, tell Oxford’s story outside the university in the place where it happened, open a new learning centre and give local people a sense of pride in their past. It was agreed that OPT should have one third of the site, including St George’s Tower, the Crypt and the Mound. Aware of the pitfalls of entering into an agreement with a commercial developer, the developer and the county council entered into a development agreement which required repairs to the historic buildings to be carried out to an agreed standard with the work completed before the hotel and businesses could open. The value of this work, in turn, acted as the match funding for the HLF bid. Public, private and charitable sector views caused inevitable ups and down as competing pressures of time and cost occurred, and deadlines loomed. We learned to compromise and brought together a delivery team made up of archaeologists and architects, project managers and surveyors, English Heritage, the city council and the main partners. The Trevor Osborne Group built OPT a viewing platform on the top of St George’s Tower while the scaffolding was up for the stone repairs, and before the funds were certain.They built a tunnel under the prison’s D Wing to give disabled access to the crypt. A couple of false starts delayed this progress when underground archaeology was discovered. This is accessible today when people can go underground and walk through the surrounding archaeology. OPT waited our turn for the repair work to our buildings.We were successful in raising the HLF grant and other funds needed. We obtained listed building consent to take down part of the 19th century prison wall and the Mound, bringing together the remaining castle buildings once more. With the commercial development attracting a Malmaison hotel and Carluccio’s restaurant, we knew we must keep our standards high if heritage was not to be the poor relation. The D Wing cells where visitors read the story of early prisoners may look untouched to the eye, but they make an interesting contrast to a stay at Malmaison, where three cells make a bedroom with ensuite facilities. Outside, the Castleyard was designed as a high-quality performance space, much needed in Oxford (with its private college quads), where schools perform, theatre and music take place and which is now home to the city’s annual archaeology festival and the centre of OPT’s Oxford Open Doors, the third largest Heritage Open Day event in the UK in 2009. Oxford Castle moved into a new phase of its history when it was opened in 2006 by the Queen. The partnership between public, private and charity continues today as the county council continues to own the freehold of the site, and the developers have a long leasehold interest and manage the site (cleaning, repairing, marketing and running events). OPT has become a tenant, with the county taking responsibility for the structure of the buildings and the developers taking a service charge towards the costs of management. In a partnership with OPT, the visitor attraction is run by commercial operators Continuum, and the county provide a learning and access officer for the Key Learning Centre. Oxford Castle Unlocked’s visitor numbers exceed the 70,000 predicted annually, and the thriving education and lifelong learning programme alongside is on track to achieve our target of seeing every schoolchild in Oxfordshire visit us. Overall the site has attracted 334 jobs, 11 businesses and 5,400 learning opportunities. Oxford Castle has become a catalyst for the regeneration for the surrounding area, now known as Oxford’sWest End and supported by SEEDA, Oxford City Council, OCC and the university and colleges. This year OCC sold its 1960s office site alongside the Mound to a charitable trust, Science Oxford, and plans for a new science and education centre linking into the main castle site are coming forward. The history continues: a story of past, present and future, a history of partnership and collaboration, bringing together the best of private, public and charity sector. Formed in 1927, Oxford Preservation Trust is one of the earliest amenity societies. It owns and manages over 800 acres of land and buildings, runs an education programme including Oxford Open Doors, and carries out planning and project work. Debbie Dance is director of Oxford Preservation Trust. Left: Skating in the Castle Gardens, the former exercise yard (Photo: CharlotteWood) Right: St George’s Tower: part of Oxford’s Saxon defences, it is now open to the public (Photo: Rob Judges)
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