The Holywell Music Room, which is part of Wadham College, Oxford, was one of the earliest purpose built concert venues in the world and the first in Europe.

[1] Prior to the advent of concert halls, recitals would happen at private aristocratic venues, royal courts, or in churches.

[2] It was built in 1748, probably under the direction of William Hayes[3] and it was designed by Dr Thomas Camplin, the vice-principal of St Edmund Hall.

He was the most frequently performed composer during 1788–1791; at short notice he was unable to attend a planned visit to the venue while in Oxford in 1791.

[9] The building cost £1,263 and 10s, equivalent to approximately £2.5 million in 2018,[note 1] and included chandeliers that had previously been hung in Westminster Hall for the Coronation of George IV and were subsequently donated to Wadham College.