In the early years of the society, specifically in the 1840s and 1850s, members used to make plaster casts of architectural features for the society. The resulting collection was housed in the Ashmolean.

In 1973 the Ashmolean decided that it needed the space for other purposes. A dealer offered £100 for the whole collection, and the City and County Museum also expressed an interest "as they [the casts] represent, with their documentation, two important aspects of local study: architectural details from the region; and the working of a 19^th century society." On November 5^th 1973 Professor Frere, the President, wrote to Mr Foster of Fletcher’s House to tell him that the committee had agreed to transfer the collection on permanent loan on condition that it would be kept undispersed; they also agreed that items could be made available to the Schools Loan Service.

Together with the casts, the society delivered a hand-list. This has never been cross-referenced with the casts, only one or two of which have been identified. It appears, however, that the casts have been photographed.

OAHS cast collection (OXCMS: 1975.238): brief description

There are 254 casts in the collection. The hand-list describes them by period: Norman 17, Transitional 10, Early English 62, Decorated 119, Perpendicular 45. They are by no means all from Oxford. The hand-list describes some of them in detail (e.g. Bears a knight armed in banded mail over which is an eyelas: his helmet has the visor raised, he wears genouillieres and jambs of plate, and obtusely pointed chausses, over which is seen the strap of the spurs. He supports a shield bearing — Or a Lion rampant azure — Percy of Alnwick.. The unoccupied corner of the spandril is filled by an oak leaf with a bunch of acorns. This of a spandril from the Percy Shrine in Beverley Minster. Other descriptions (e.g. String, Stanton Harcourt c. 1250) are less full.

The named locations where casts were made are: