Near to this site stood the King’s houses later known as Beaumont Palace
King Richard I was born here in 1157 and King John in 1167
If you walk down Beaumont Street from the Ashmolean Museum towards Worcester College, you may come across a small pillar near the junction with Walton Street. It’s partly hidden by bushes, but you can just about see it in the image from Google Street View below (on the right side of the picture, next to the man walking on the pavement):
Originally built in the early 12th century by Henry I outside the north gate of Oxford, Beaumont Palace was partly dismantled following the Reformation. What remains of the palace was eventually torn down in the laying out of Beaumont Street in 1829.
All that’s left now is a pillar, and memories of times long past.
Imran Idris 