A £14m Story Museum is to be created near Christ Church, to celebrate Oxford’s links with some of greatest authors of children’s literature.

The museum, expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors a year, will be set up in a Victorian building in Pembroke Street, off St Aldate’s.

A £2.5m donation from an anonymous donor has helped to secure the three-storey Rochester House on a 130-year lease.

A public appeal will now be launched to raise £11m to turn the building into a visitor attraction and teaching facility for schools.

The idea of a Story Museum was first put forward five years ago, with Oxford author Philip Pullman becoming its first patron.

Kim Pickin, the director of the Story Museum, said: “Dreams do come true. We’re absolutely delighted to have a real home at last. For the past few years, we have only really existed as a virtual entity.

“Rochester House has its roots in the Victorian era, when Oxford became the focus of a golden era in children’s literature, producing children’s stories that are known and loved across the world.

“It’s only a stone’s throw away from Christ Church and its famous links with Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter. Lewis Carroll himself would have known the building.

“The museum will be open and accessible to all ages.

“We’re sure the museum will make an important contribution to the local economy.”

It is hoped the groundbreaking museum will open by 2014, when Oxford is bidding to become Unesco’s World Book Capital for the year.

A feasibility study is being commissioned to investigate how best to incorporate innovative ideas for what will be the only museum in the world exploring all aspects of children’s stories.

There are plans for performance spaces and a small theatre for storytelling, puppet shows and visits by authors.

It is also hoped writings, treasures and memorabilia linked to Oxford writers such as JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Lewis Carroll will be displayed in the museum.

The building will also have galleries, a cafe, shop, education rooms. storytellers’ studio and offices.

Mr Pullman said: “The Story Museum will be a wonderful gift from Oxford, where so many stories have begun, to the whole world.

“The very idea of having a museum devoted to story is itself such a fantastical notion. No other city could have given birth to it.”

Fellow author Jacqueline Wilson said: “A museum devoted to encouraging children to read and enjoy stories is a wonderful idea.

“It’s especially fitting that it’s based in Oxford, which from Lewis Carroll onwards has been associated with brilliant children’s literature.”

l Oxford University was last night awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize – one of the highest accolades for higher education – for the excellence of its museums and libraries.

The announcement was made at a ceremony at St James’s Palace in London.

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