Boswells of Oxford

[5] Boswells started up in business manufacturing and selling luggage and trunks, and it is believed their wares were taken on Captain Cook's trip to explore the Southern Hemisphere.

The store building, Boswell House, with the address 1–4 Broad Street, was constructed in 1929, with its main entrance opposite Balliol College and close to the spot (marked with a cross in the middle of the road) where the Oxford Martyrs were burnt at the stake in the 16th century; the building incorporated the Martyrs' Bastion from the former city wall.

[5] It replaced small shops on the site of Treadwell Passage, an alley which had been notorious in the 19th century.

[6] In 1958 it was joined to the Oxford Drug Company building at the north end of Cornmarket Street, providing a side entrance to the department store.

[citation needed] In 2015, the store expanded upstairs to create a new tearoom and customer toilets, and in 2018 added a takeaway cafe.