Reading the article by Debbie Waite about the new Discover Oxford’s Architecture leaflet made me think about what might have been.

I notice that Christ Church Cathedral is mentioned but not the college. What if Henry VIII hadn’t taken umbrage at Cardinal Wolsey’s inability to get him a divorce and thereby put a stop to the completion of the building? The college would almost certainly have been completed with the turrets at the corners, the tower and the hall roof-line as they were originally intended, plus the building of the cloisters and the chapel. This chapel was, no doubt, meant to be more than a match for the one at King’s at Cambridge.

One thing is certain: had the college been completed, the cathedral we have today would not be there. On the other hand, would the original cathedral – the chapel of Osney Abbey, in its day said to be the most beautiful building in the country – have been allowed to survive?

With the castle, this would have made a most impressive western exit from the city; but then, the castle may have gone too far into decline to be saved. Had it been preserved it would have meant finding another western exit to take the place of New Road.

Mentioning the cloisters in Tom Quad made me wonder why someone hasn’t proposed building them. Adding them would give a far better balance to the quad, as well as saving the students from getting wet when moving between stairs. There must, surely, be an architect who can produce a design that fits with what is there and an addition wouldn’t result in any damage to the existing structure.

DERRICK HOLT, Fortnam Close, Headington, Oxford