The Oxford Music Hall 14/16 Oxford Street

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The Oxford Music Hall 14/16 Oxford Street

The Oxford Music Hall on the site of The Boar And Castle

Above - The Oxford Music Hall.

The Oxford Music Hall Frontage with Dan Leno and George Robey on the Bill. In 1857 the music halls began to invade the west end. The first was Weston's in Holborn on the site of the Seven Tankards and Punch Bowl Tavern, the success of which encouraged Charles Morton to look for his own west End site. He found the old coaching inn, the Boar and Castle in Oxford Street, at the junction with Tottenham Court Road, long obsolete since the coming of the railways, but still with its old courtyard which was relatively easily converted into a music hall. Renamed The Oxford, Morton's new music hall opened in 1861, and the first London Pavilion, on the site of another old coaching inn, was founded in the same year.

Text from Bright Lights, Big City by Gavin Weightman.

Right - The Oxford Music Hall Frontage with Dan Leno and George Robey on the Bill.

Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed here in 1863, 1879, 1890, 1891.

In 1926 the site and building was sold, and the Oxford Theatre was demolished to make way for a Lyon's Corner House. Oxford Music Hall London, built in Oxford Street and opened by Charles Morton in 1861. This became a very prosperous Theatre of Varieties. It was taken over by C.B. Cochran and made into a theatre in 1917, in which year he produced The Better 'Ole, a musical play by Bruce Bairnsfather, the famous war cartoonist, which ran for 811 performances. In 1921 the theatre was rebuilt and modernised. It opened with a revue, The League of Notions, followed by Mayfair and Montmartre. In 1926 the site and building were sold, and the theatre demolished to make way for a restaurant.

Right - In 1926 the site and building was sold, and the Oxford Theatre was demolished to make way for a Lyon's Corner House.

Left - Programme for The Oxford 1917 - Generously donated by Mr. John Moffatt - Click for details.

Text from The Oxford Companion to Theatre (Second edition).

The Oxford's Auditorium The great gay glaring hall and balconies were crammed in every part; there was barely standing room in the crowd, which was chiefly made up of men; business men, clerks, & others, of no very refined aspect...

...Socially speaking, the audience were a good deal higher than those I have seen in similar Halls at Islington and elsewhere. One result of this was, that the women present were whores, instead of respectable wives and sweethearts. Therefore, another result was, that there was nothing wholesome or genial in the folk's enjoyment: they drank their grog staring gloomily or lewdly grimacing; and the worthless dread of your neighbour which halfeducated respectability creates kept them silent and selfish. At Islington, for instance, the whole audience, men and women, joined heartily in the chorus of well-known songs, to the amusement of the singer; here, on the other hand, the popular favorite 'Sam Collins' did all he could to persuade the people to sing the chorus of his ditty, and yet scarcely a voice responded.

Text from the Arthur Munby, Diary, 1862

Left - The Oxford's Auditorium.

Three Stages of Development on the site of the Oxford Music Hall.

The Oxford Music Hall on the site of The Boar And Castle The Oxford. Morton, who had had a big success with the Canterbury, and had noticed that Weston was being successful with a hall in Holborn, decided to invade the West End. He took over the Boar and Castle Inn, at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, an old coaching house dating back to at least Jacobean times, and probably further, built a music-hall on the site, and opened it as the Oxford on 26 Mar. 1861. The first bill included Madame Parepa (Mme Carl Rosa) and Santley, as well as a host of other singers, which showed that Morton was pursuing the plan adopted at the Canterbury of offering his patrons good music.

Left - The Oxford Music Hall on the site of The Boar And Castle.

Sims Reeves was offered his own terms to sing at the opening, but declined. When first built the Oxford was the finest music-hall in London. It was 94 ft. long and 41 ft. high, lighted by 28 crystal stars, which were later superseded by four chandeliers uspended from the roof with smaller ones in the galleries. An immense mirror fixed at the back of the stage reflected the whole hall, in which food and drink were served at that time, while the 'tums'were performed on a platform stage. It was burned down on 11 Feb. 1868, but was rebuilt and reopened on 9 Aug. 1869 under the control of Syers and Taylor.

Lyons Corner House on the site of The Oxford Music Hall

s It was burnt down again on 1 Nov. 1872 and reopened on 17 March of the following year, much enlarged. In 1891 it passed under the control of a company which ran the Tivoli and the London Pavilion, and so became one of what were known as the Syndicate Halls. It was rebuilt and modernized, the new foundation stone being laid by Charles Morton on 15 Aug. 1892, the opening taking place on the following 31 Jan. It was a most successful hall, at which all the great stars appeared. On its act drop was a painting of Magdalen College Tower, which was also emblazoned on its programmes. It ran Saturday matinees, at which, for 6d., all the old stars could be seen and sometimes a new one spotted, for George Robey and Harry Tate both made their debuts at one. It was a typical music-hall, where men could stand at the bar, order a drink, and watch the show. It finally became a theatre.

Text from The Oxford Companion To Theatre (second edition) 1957.

Left - Lyons Corner House on the site of The Oxford Music Hall.

The golden age of light music began with the proliferation of light orchestras in the resorts and spas of Europe from the late 1800s. This lasted until World War 2 and beyond; nowhere more so than in Britain. For example during the 1920's the Lyons chain of restaurants spent no less than £150,000 each year on their orchestras and engaged virtuoso violinist Margaret Holloway to lead its ladies orchestra at the Oxford Street Corner House. The Piccadilly Grill Room orchestra's 160 recordings enabled its leader, De Groot, to afford a Stradivarius violin.

Right - The site is now occupied by a Virgin Megastore.

Oxford Circus in 1894

Above - Oxford Circus in 1894