Holywell Music Room

• Theatre ID
  2086
• Built / Converted
  1748
• Dates of use
  • 1748: continuing
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Music venue (Concert room with occasional plays)
• Address
  The Music Faculty, St Aldates, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 1DB, England

Details

An open-platform, flat-floored concert room, used mainly for music and occasionally for plays and other entertainments which require no scenery. It nevertheless demands a mention here as the oldest surviving purpose-built concert hall in Europe. Externally a chapel-like brick box with a stone pedimented three-bay façe and later advanced single-storey extension containing the entrance. Slated roof. Quite plain internally. An apsed room with curving steps on either side of a platform. At the rear, behind the performance area is a 1790 John Donaldson organ.

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• Events
  • 1748 Use: continuing
  • 1748 Design/Construction:
    • Dr Thomas Caplin - Architect
  • Owner/Management: Oxford University, Wadham College
• Capacities
  • Original: 200
  • Current: 200
• Listings
  • Grade II*
• Dimensions
  • Building dimensions: Room is 21x10.01m (65 x 33ft) and 9.1m (30ft) high
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: c.4.6m