Geograph - photograph every grid square

These are three of the 13 carved stone heads that sit atop stone piers outside the Sheldonian Theatre. Link There are a further four heads on piers outside the History of Science Museum next door. Link

Historic England refers to the 13 heads outside the Sheldonian Theatre as ‘the Caesars’ Link and the four heads outside the museum as ‘giant heads of the Caesars’. Link On the other hand, the University of Oxford refers to the ‘Sheldonian Emperors’ and the ‘Broad Street Heads’, Link the latter presumably for the entire group of seventeen heads.

The heads and their stone piers, the wall and railings outside the Sheldonian Theatre comprise a group that has had Grade I listed building status since 1972. Link The Sheldonian Theatre itself has had Grade I listed building status since 1954. Link

An interesting history of the Broad Street Heads, prepared by the university’s School of Geography and the Environment, is available online. Link