Jericho landmarks
Oxford University Press
Illustration: Norman Pollock
The old front entrance to Oxford University Press (OUP) is on Walton Street. This imposing portico looks as though it might lead into one of the colleges, and one suspects that many tourists who snap away at it are under that illusion.
Printing for the University was originally carried out in the Sheldonian Theatre and later in the Clarendon Building in Broad Street. But as the operation expanded so OUP had to move to these premises in Jericho which were built over the period 1826-30. The arrival of OUP was a major stimulus to housing development in Jericho. And the Press has also been one of Jericho's major benefactors—one of the early 'Master Printers' was Thomas Combe who financed the construction of St. Barnabas Church.
Originally this building housed only printing presses, it was only after 1865, that it included the publishing operation. Nowadays the situation is completely reversed: the Press building no longer houses book printing operations -- only the offices of the publishing company. It does, however, retain a small printing enterprise, Oxuniprint (which prints the Jericho Echo).
The official front entrance to the Press is now in the smart new extension in Great Clarendon Street.
See also the entry in the Jericho Sketchbook
