Oxford University is facing its own Cornmarket fiasco after a £500,000 project to repair Radcliffe Square ran into trouble. Workmen have had to return to dig up cobblestones, just five months after work was thought to have been completed in the square which forms the heart of historic Oxford. It has emerged that mistakes during the repair of the cobbles led to the puncture of asphalt damp-proofing. This has resulted in water pouring into an underground library and bookstore directly below.
The original construction company went into administration, so the university has brought in a local company Ashlar Construction to put things right in the Grade-II listed square. With students and academics fearful that the resumption of repair work would result in weeks of disruption and noise, the story will reawaken memories of the repaving of nearby Cornmarket. The project to resurface Cornmarket cost the city and county councils about £5 million - double the original estimate. Work was finally completed only last June after years of disruption. Although Radcliffe Square is mainly owned by the university, both Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council each contributed £146,000 to the project.
The cobbles and Yorkshire paving in the square were first laid in the 18th century into loose bedding material. Over time the surface became increasingly wobbly and uneven. The university said it employed a Midlands company C. J. Pearce to undertake the work, finding it to be "a firm with experience of working in historic locations". The repair work involved taking up each of the surviving cobbles and paving stones and painstakingly relaying them on a solid base. Work began last year and was planned in six phases to reduce disruption. It should have been completed by last Christmas but it ended up dragging on until June.
University spokesman Barbara Hott said: "Some mistakes have been made by the original company. Now a different firm has been brought in and are getting on with the work." She said some of the money set aside for the project had been retained until the work was completed.
Click for Bodleyworld's next item or for the Underwater Library Sub-index.