From Castle to Council House



Overview

This short course in Oxford will examine the English house in all its forms, from the barons castle to the humble cottage and high-rise flats of today.

We will discuss:

  • the jettied half-timbered structures remaining today in such towns as Canterbury and York;
  • the introduction of brick buildings displaying classical influence in the 17th century at all social levels;
  • the Palladian influence in the 18th century on mansions and town development such as Bath, Edinburgh, Brighton and Cheltenham;
  • the battle of styles between the classical and gothick revival; and
  • and the rise of the brick terraces in the industrial towns of the 19th century.  

The course concludes with a look at:

  • Metroland and Southern Electric middle class urban expansion;
  • post war prefabs; and
  • the success and failure of high-rise development from Roehampton to the present day London Docklands where warehouses have been turned into our modern 'domestic castles'.

Programme details

Course starts Thursday 23 April 2026

This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Thursdays, 2-4pm.

Week 1: Introduction: definition and range of buildings to be studied. The Castle, manor house and timber-framed cottage

Week 2: The Tudor Renaissance

Week 3: Inigo Jones and the rise of the merchant class.

Week 4: The Fire of London: from timber framed houses to brick terraces.

Week 5: Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor and Archer, and the Baroque house

Week 6: Palladian simplicity: the rise of the spa town, Bath and Cheltenham

Week 7: The Gothick and Chinoiserie: from Horace Walpole and John Nash and beyond

Week 8: Victorian expansion; from town centres to suburbs

Week 9: The rise of Metroland and the inter-war suburbs

Week 10: Post war development: from prefabs to high rise. New Towns or green-belt expansion?

Certification

Academic credit

Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)

Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.

Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.

Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.

If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.

Digital certificate of completion 

Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course fee (with no assessment) £300.00
Assessment and accreditation fee £60.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. See details of our concessionary fees for short courses.

Tutor

Dr Hubert Pragnell

Hubert Pragnell has been a part-time tutor for OUDCE since 2003. He trained in fine art at the Ruskin School of Fine Art in Oxford, as well as holding a masters degree, and doctorate in history from the University of York. He is a tutor in history of architecture and has written and illustrated a number of books on British architecture. He has a special interest in buildings including industrial from the 16th to the 20th century. He enjoys painting especially landscapes and architectural subjects.

Course aims

  • To introduce the student to the development of British domstic architecture so as to be familiar with styles and period of buildings encountered in both town and country.
  • To familiarise the student with the basic domestic building types.
  • To place them in the context of period and style.
  • To understand how patronage, private or public finance, and availability of material may have affected the design.

Teaching methods

Teaching will be by power-point supplimented by duplicated notes and diagrams.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have been given the opportunity to:

  • be familiar with key style, features and materials in building;
  • put buildings seen into a rough period;
  • know something of the circumstances and patronage governing the development of specific buildings or domestic house development.

Assessment methods

Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.

Assessment

The summative assessment for this course is a piece of coursework of 1500 words on an aspect of the course. 

There is also a formative assessment of 500 words, to be submitted during the course.

 

 

Application

How to enrol

Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.

How to register for accreditation and assessment

To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. 

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.

If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

 

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support