Architecture - County of Oxford Court House

The Oxford County Court House is a robust masonry structure featuring large rough-faced masonry blocks and massive round arched entrances with short polished columns, prominent voissoirs and arts and craft detailing.

This style of architecture was strongly influenced by the Romanesque revival occurring in the 1880's. The style was strongly influenced by American architect H.H. Richardson (1838-1886) and is often referred to as Richardsonian Romanesque.

The overall design of Oxford County Court House can be attributed to the Councilors and Clerks needs, concerns of the Court and the original architectural plan by R.T. Brookes.

Brookes was an American architect from Detroit who was obviously influenced by Richardson's work. One can see a direct correlation between Richardson's Allegheny County Court House in Pittsburgh and Oxford County's Court House. Although the Oxford County Court House is not as massive in scale as the Allegheny County Court House, it is reflective of Richardson's innovative ideas.

The Oxford County Court House is constructed of reddish coloured brown sandstone which is believed to have come from the "Owen Sound" quarry located in Dufferin County, a few miles from Orangeville. The stone was most likely transported by train to Woodstock, then by horse and dray to the site.

There is an overall emphasis for the Court House to admit as much natural light into the interior of the building as possible. This presents an interesting contrast of a massive and heavy exterior compared to a light and open interior.

R.T. Brookes was fired on 18 August 1890 because of inferior building practices. The architectural firm Cuthbertson and Fowler were hired two days later. Cuthbertson was from Woodstock and Fowler was from Toronto. They did not change the overall design of the building to any great extent, but seemed to place greater importance on attention to detail. Their additions or alterations to the Court House can be found on the Supplement to the Specifications and on their Report regarding additional charges for construction.

There is little evidence through the documentation as to who is responsible for the sculpture and ornamentation of the building; whether it was the sculptors themselves or the architects. It should be noted that the sculptures and the two finials on the centre gable roof did not exist in the original plans.

The architects and sculptors may have been influenced by the third Toronto City Hall, which was completed the year Cuthbertson and Fowler took over from Brookes. It was considered to be a prime architectural example and was located close enough for people working on the Oxford County Court House to have seen it. Fowler resided in Toronto and therefore would have been very familiar with the new Toronto City Hall

Even though there was a great deal of turbulence in the building of the Court House, the residents of Oxford County can be proud of the structure as it stands today. The Court House has undergone very little change and is considered to be one of the finest examples of the Richardsonian Romanesque style in the Province.

Source Material

Additional Resources
(available from the Oxford County Library)