St Cross Church, Oxford
Encyclopedia
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to the northeast of the centre.
The church is located on St Cross Road
St Cross Road
St Cross Road is a road in Oxford, England. It connects South Parks Road to the north and Longwall Street to the south, where it also adjoins Holywell Street....
just south of Holywell Manor
Holywell Manor, Oxford
Holywell Manor is a building in central Oxford, England. It currently houses the majority of Balliol College's postgraduate population. It is located on the corner of St Cross Road and Manor Road, next to St Cross Church, which has become the College Historic Collections Centre.- History :Balliol...
. Also close by is Holywell Cemetery
Holywell Cemetery
Holywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, north of Longwall Street.-History:...
.
Church history
St Cross Church was once a subsidiary place of worship connected to St Peter-in-the-EastSt Peter-in-the-East
St Peter-in-the-East is a 12th century church on Queen's Lane, north of the High Street in central Oxford, England. It forms part of St Edmund Hall, one of the Oxford University colleges. It is now deconsecrated and houses the college library for graduates and undergraduates...
on Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane is an historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west.At the south-eastern end of Queen's Lane is a junction onto the High Street...
, north of the High Street
High Street, Oxford
The High Street in Oxford, England runs between Carfax, generally recognized as the centre of the city, and Magdalen Bridge to the east. Locally the street is often known as The High. It forms a gentle curve and is the subject of many prints, paintings, photographs, etc...
in central Oxford. The original date of the church's foundation is not known precisely, but it has been suggested that the St Cross was first built around 890AD by St Grimwald. The bottom of the tower and aisles were added in the 13th century. In recent years, services were conducted once a week, until 12 October 2008, when the church was closed.
Holywell cemetery lies behind the church and contains the graves of many well-known people. One such is that of composer Sir John Stainer who, while he was Professor of Music at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, acted as church warden at St Cross Church.
Current use
Since the closure of the church building work has been taking place to convert the building for use as a historic collections centre for Balliol CollegeBalliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. The college has obtained a 999 year lease for the building although the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
will be maintained for occasional services. The various fittings and fixtures of the church have been removed including the organ which has been relocated to a church in Ireland. The bells remain in situ, and unringable, after permission for their relocation was refused by Oxford City Council. The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2010 at an estimated cost of £3.3m
In fiction
- The marriage of Dorothy L. SayersDorothy L. SayersDorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
' fictional detective Lord Peter WimseyLord Peter WimseyLord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a bon vivant amateur sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries; usually, but not always, murders...
to Harriet Vane took place in the church on 8 October 1935 in Busman's HoneymoonBusman's HoneymoonBusman's Honeymoon is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. It is the fourth and last novel to feature Harriet Vane.-Plot introduction:...
.
External links
- St Cross Church, Oxford
- St Cross Church — Panoramic Earth Travel Information (picture by Peter Watts)
- Photographs of conversion building work at St Cross Church(Balliol College Archives & Manuscripts on Flickr)
- Photograph from FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...