On 12 January, while looking forward to the exciting development of the Staverton Road site, Univ looked back at the long and interesting history of Stavs.

In the late 1960s, after procuring some of the buildings and land between Woodstock and Banbury Roads, Univ decided to create an annexe in north Oxford. The site was developed between 1970 and 1974.

Four new brutalist accommodation blocks were designed by Sir Philip Dowson for the site: Greenwood, Bennet, Skirlaw, and Percy. The former two were intended for single students, and the latter for couples.

With nearly 50 years of history, the Life at Stavs event focused on the experience of three different generations of students. Ian Owen (1971, Physics), Sara George (1993, Oriental Studies), and Beth MacNamara (2017, History and Politics) shared their experiences and responded to questions from the audience, before a short “History of Univ North” from Robin Darwall-Smith (1982, Classics), the College Archivist.

You can listen to, or download, the panel discussion and Robin’s talk below and view the accompanying slides in this PDF (which opens in a new window).

For another personal account of life at Stavs, you can read about Steve Hasler’s (1973, Chemistry) time in north Oxford here.

Find out about all things “Univ North” on our dedicated University College, North Oxford page.

Published: 9 February 2021

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