St Peter-in-the-East is a 12th-century church on

Queen's Lane Queen's Lane is a historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west. St Edmund Hall, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on the southern end of this street. Location At ...

, north of the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

in central

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. It is now deconsecrated and houses the college library of St Edmund Hall. The churchyard to the north is laid out as a garden and contains a seated bronze statue depicting St Edmund as an impoverished student.

History

A church existed has existed on the current site since the late 10th century. In the 11th century, it was replaced by a stone church, which is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of c1085: ''the church of St. Peter Oxenford holds of Robert two hides in Haliwelle...It was worth twenty shillings, now it is worth forty...'' The church is believed to be named after the 5th-century church of S. Pietro in Vincoli,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy.The Library: St. Peter-in-the-East
St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In the early 12th century, the church was renamed to differentiate it from the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey, which was built close to

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

. It was renamed St-Peter-in-the-East because of its location near the East Gate of the walled city of Oxford. The

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

parts of the current church were built around 1140 by Robert D'Oilly, who was then Governor of Oxford. The church passed to the Crown from D'Oilly's heirs. In 1266, King Henry III gave it to

Walter de Merton Walter de Merton ( – 27 October 1277) was Lord Chancellor of England, Archdeacon of Bath, founder of Merton College, Oxford, and Bishop of Rochester. For the first two years of the reign of Edward I he was - in all but name - Regent of England d ...

and as a consequence Merton College held the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living ...

for the church. The churches at

Wolvercote Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames. History The Domesday B ...

and

Holywell Holywell may refer to: * Holywell, Flintshire, Wales * Holywell, Swords, Ireland * Holywell, Bedfordshire, England * Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England * Holywell, Cornwall, England * Holywell, Dorset, England * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...

were originally

chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

of St Peter's. In the twentieth century, changes in the demographics of central Oxford, mainly as a result of the First World War, led to a significant decline in the size of the congregation and the church closed in 1965.

The present day

In the 1970s, St Peter-in-the-East was deconsecrated and renovated for its present use. The building now serves as the College library of St Edmund Hall.

Church building

The 12th-century church originally consisted of a crypt,

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

, and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, extending to just beyond the south door. In the 13th century, a north aisle was added to the nave. The church tower was added in the 14th century, and the nave was either heightened or reconstructed to connect with the tower. The windows are mostly 14th century and the door into the tower is 16th century. At the east end of the aisle there is a small chapel dedicated to St Catharine and St Thomas, constructed in the early 16th century The Lady Chapel (or North, Chapel) was built in the early 13th century. It was donated by

Edmund Rich Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an English-born prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury. He became a respected lecturer in mathematics, diale ...

, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, when he was a resident of the Hall that was subsequently named St Edmund Hall after him. The north window, dating from 1433, was donated by the vicar, Vincent Wyking. It contains some glass from that period and some from the 14th century. The east windows are two 13th century lancets.

Gallery

File:St Peter In The East on Queens Lane - geograph.org.uk - 1419206.jpg, The church, as seen from the Queen's Lane File:Teddy Hall Library in the snow.jpg, The Church in the snow File:St. Peter-in-the-East, Oxford; crypt showing bones and skull Wellcome V0014252.jpg, A nineteenth century drawing of the Norman crypt below St Peter-in-the-East File:The church of St. Peter-in-the-East, Oxford; section of the Wellcome V0014253.jpg, An etching of the side profile of the church, including the crypt below it File:St Edmund Hall, Oxford (Pic 5).jpg, The Broadbent garden, around the back of the church File:St Peter in the East.JPG, The church and the surrounding gardens

References

External links

St-Peter-in-the-East
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford, Saint Peter in the East 12th-century establishments in England Peter-in-the-East Peter-in-the-East St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford Peter-in-the-East Peter-in-the-East Peter-in-the-East