University Church of St Mary the Virgin
The University's church on the High Street, with one of the best tower views in Oxford and a 13th-century spire.
Climb the tower for what many regard as the best view in Oxford — the Radcliffe Camera straight ahead, All Souls and the Bodleian to the north, and the High Street stretching east. Cheaper and quieter than the Sheldonian. The Vaults and Garden café in the church's old cellar serves a respectable lunch.
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the official church of the University of Oxford, sited at the southern edge of Radcliffe Square. The earliest part of the present building is the late-13th-century tower and spire, which is one of the oldest surviving examples of a tower-and-spire combination in England. The chancel was rebuilt around 1320, the nave and aisles in the late 15th century.
The church served as the assembly venue for University ceremonies until the Sheldonian Theatre was built in 1669, and it has remained in continuous use as the church for the University. The Anglican theologian John Henry Newman preached his Tractarian sermons here from 1828 to 1843. Earlier, the trial of the Oxford Martyrs — Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley — was held in the church in 1555 before their burning in nearby Broad Street.
The unusual Baroque south porch (1637) was added by Nicholas Stone for Archbishop Laud, with twisted Solomonic columns. The tower offers a paid climb to a viewing platform giving what is widely considered the best view of the central Oxford rooftops, with the Radcliffe Camera filling the foreground.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
