St Aldate's Church
The 12th-century parish church opposite [Christ Church](/places/colleges/christ-church/) and next door to [Pembroke College](/places/colleges/pembroke/) — Saxon roots, a 13th-century tower rebuilt in 1873, and a glass vestibule opening onto St Aldate's.
Walk past the glass front on St Aldate’s — added when the north wall was knocked through in 2002 — and you can usually slip in for a quiet ten minutes during the working day. It’s one of the few city-centre churches where the door reads as visibly open from the street.
St Aldate's is a Church of England parish church in the Deanery and Diocese of Oxford. It sits on the west side of St Aldate's opposite Christ Church, next door to Pembroke College.
A Saxon site
The site has been used for Christian worship dating back to the Saxon era; it may have been one of three churches within the monastic precinct of Saint Frideswide, whose shrine is across the road in what is now Christ Church Cathedral. The earliest surviving fabric is 12th-century — the nave and chancel are the central part of the building as it now stands. The south aisle was added in the 14th century and the north aisle in the 15th, both to accommodate the growing population of Oxford. The original 13th-century tower was entirely rebuilt in 1873.
During the 46-year ministry of Canon Alfred Christopher, from 1859 to 1905, the chancel aisles and vestry were added — the Victorian growth that pushed the building to its present footprint.
The 2002 remodel
In 2002 the church was substantially remodelled. The pews were taken out, the floor relaid in Jerusalem stone and wood, and the north wall was opened to create a glass vestibule onto St Aldate's — the reason the church reads as visibly open from the street rather than as a closed historic building.
Today
During University term up to 400 students attend the Sunday services. In vacation the congregation thins and tourists and visitors take a larger share. The building stays open through the working day; for service times check the official site.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
