The Vines, Oxford facts for kids
The Vines is a historic house located on Pullens Lane in Headington, a part of Oxford, England. It was the very first house built on the west side of this lane. The land it stands on used to belong to the Morrell family, who were well-known local brewers. The house itself is made from red bricks with special stone decorations.
Building The Vines
The house was built between 1889 and 1890. It was designed for Professor Sydney Howard Vines (1849–1934). Professor Vines was a famous botanist, someone who studies plants. He was a professor at the University of Oxford.
The person who designed The Vines was a Victorian architect named Harry Wilkinson Moore (1850–1915). He was known for his beautiful building designs during that time.
In 1923, the house got a new name: The Vineyard. This name was chosen because of its first owner, Professor Vines, whose last name sounded like "vines" from a vineyard.
A Home for Nurses
In 1948, a group called the United Oxford Hospitals bought The Vineyard. They changed its name again, calling it Pollock House. This new name honored the house's most recent owner before the hospital bought it.
From 1948 to 1956, Pollock House was used as a training school for nurses. These nurses worked at the Wingfield-Morris Orthopaedic Hospital, which is now known as the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.
Later, from 1958 until about 1976, the house became a place for night nurses to rest. It was called the hospital's Night Nurses' Home.
University Life and Today
After its time as a nurses' home, the house became part of Oxford Brookes University. It was used by the university until 2004.
Today, the house has gone back to its original name, The Vines. It is now home to Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford (SCIO). SCIO is the United Kingdom center for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).
Nearby Buildings
Close to The Vines, also on Pullens Lane, is another building called Cotuit Hall. This building is now part of EF International Academy. Before that, it was a student residence hall for Oxford Brookes University.
Interestingly, Cotuit Hall was also designed by the same architect, H. W. Moore, who designed The Vines. It was built a couple of years later, in 1892. In the past, Cotuit Hall was known by a different name: Napier House.
