In terms of Sharp's plans, this is probably his defining work. Certainly he developed an attachment to Oxford, moving his home and office there and remaining engaged in its planning issues for much of the rest of his life (particularly through a series of public inquiries on roads) that can only perhaps be matched by his association with Durham, where he was retained as a consultant until the 1960s.
Sharp's 'Prefatory Note' very explicitly recognised the political difficulties of preparing a plan for Oxford referring, for example, to 'the internecine struggle which still goes on in Oxford' (p.11). This became all too evident in 30 years of subsequent struggles of road proposals. It was clear also in competing ideas about how Oxford should evolve. Some argued that eastwards industrial expansion around Cowley should lead to the creation of a new civic and commercial centre and historic Oxford should become essentially a University quarter. Sharp opposed these ideas in typically forthright terms.
Described as 'largely a work of preservation' (although 'one piece of surgery is required to relieve the city from a pressure on its spinal column which will otherwise paralyse it') (p.16) the plan was, like Durham before, largely based upon an appreciation of its visual qualities. The emphasis was firmly on the appearance of Oxford and the character that derived from the way space was used, rather than the fabric of historic buildings. The visual relationships of Oxford and the progression through space were studied in great depth. This extended beyond the major set-pieces to include, for example, 'the Backs'. (The 'Backs' is a term usually associated with Cambridge however, in this plan Sharp extends its use to areas of collegiate development around quadrangles more generally, explicitly applying it to Oxford.) Many of the college buildings in particular already had statutory recognition as scheduled ancient monuments. Sharp identified further buildings of architectural value. His attitude towards relatively modest historic buildings was variable; Ship Street and Beaumont Street were regarded as important, whereas he was dismissive of St. John's Street. The differentiated approach was based on Sharp's analysis of the contribution of each of these streets to Oxford as a whole. Ship Street, as well as being picturesque, was a foil between college buildings and Cornmarket Street. Beaumont Street was regarded as important because it was unusually formal for Oxford. St. John's Street was part of an area generally proposed for redevelopment and expendable.
The emphasis east of Carfax was firmly on preservation, not only of buildings but also of a pleasant collegiate atmosphere. Thus a key priority was the removal of traffic from High Street, the principal route to the east that bisects the main college area. However, to facilitate this, drastic interventions were seen as necessary elsewhere. For example, extensive redevelopment was proposed one block west of Carfax / Cornmarket Street / St. Aldgate's Street. The most controversial part of the plan, though, was how to bypass the High Street; Sharp's one piece of surgery. Sharp's plan was to run a road around the south of the centre through the Meadows along the line of Broad Walk, a route he termed 'Merton Mall'. Deliberations over a series of competing schemes to relieve inner-Oxford of traffic were made in a series of highly controversial public inquiries between the 1950s and 1970s, through which time Sharp stayed personally involved. Ultimately most of the suggested road schemes were abandoned in favour of traffic-management.
This plan was a major and pioneering piece of townscape analysis, reprised in Oxford Observed, and indeed the term 'townscape' was used. The plan contains a Frontispiece and Tailpiece which effectively set out principles and components of townscape, using Oxford as an example. Together they totalled some 65 pages of analysis. They considered the magnificent; Sharp considered the High Street a 'great and homogenous work of art' (p.20), not due to the intrinsic quality of the buildings but because of the relationships between them. Nearby, the sequence of the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera and St. Mary's church 'a first class aesthetic experience... to be treated with awe' (p.32). He considered the experience of movement through space, one his fundamental principals of kinetic townscape, crucial to both of these experiences. His exposition of townscape also encompassed much more humble elements. For example, under the heading of 'trivia' he considered the importance of floorscape, demonstrating the significance of texture, and its erosion through use of Tarmac. However, in Chronicles of Failure Sharp stated that some of this text was introduced anonymously by H. de Croning Hastings.
The plan seems to have been effectively ignored, neither gaining approval nor rejection, or that, at least, was what Sharp subsequently asserted (Sharp, 1956).
Sharp, T. (1956). "Oxford Roads." Town Planning Review 27(3): 124-144.