40 Walton Crescent

The ‘shabby Victorian villa’ in which the compilation of the second OED Supplement began in the late 1950s. The building was initially shared with the secretary to the panels of the translators of the New English Bible, with one of the editors of another of the Press’s English language reference books, the Oxford Illustrated Dictionary, and with the family of an OUP caretaker (Brewer 2007b: 152-3).

As Burchfield expanded his dictionary empire, OUP renovated the house for him and the dictionary project gradually took over the whole building. By 1969, fifteen Supplement staff occupied office quarters here and enjoyed the use of a Dictionary Common Room, a Quotations Room, and a Photocopying Room. (Photo from OED archives.)

Last updated on 11 April 2019