All Saints Church is a former church on the north side of the High Street 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, on the corner of Turl Street. It is now the library of Lincoln College. This former church is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

History

The original All Saints Church was founded in 1122 on this site. However, on 8 March 1700, the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

of the church collapsed, destroying most of the building. There was an appeal for funds and the current building, seating 350, was completed in 1720. The building was designed by Henry Aldrich, the Dean of Christ Church.

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

is thought to be responsible for the tower and spire. Four of the original bells survived the collapse. The repairs to the church were very expensive and donations were received from most of the

colleges and also Queen Anne. In 1896, when St Martin's Church at Carfax was demolished (except for its tower), All Saints became the official City Church, where the Mayor and Corporation were expected to worship. In 1946 a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

which had been draped over the coffins of prisoners of war at Batu Lintang camp, Sarawak, Borneo was placed in the church together with two wooden memorial plaques; they were later moved to Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester on Thames. In 1971, All Saints Church was declared redundant and the City Church moved to St Michael at the North Gate. All Saints was then

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to ...

and offered to Lincoln College, located immediately to the north of the church. Since 1975, after conversion, the building has been Lincoln College's library.The Library

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, th ...

Library

The only major change to the interior of the church during its conversion into a library was the raising of the original floor by over four feet to provide space for the lower reading rooms. The upper reading room is known as the Cohen Room and has an elegant plastered ceiling. The decorations include the shields of the major donors who contributed to the cost of the 18th-century rebuilding. The lower reading room is the science library and the senior library, holding older books. The science section is named after a former Lincoln College

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Howard Florey Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey (24 September 189821 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Sir Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role ...

(1898–1968), instrumental in the development of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from '' Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum usin ...

, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The Library still has a full peal of eight bells, which are regularly rung by the

Oxford Society of Change Ringers 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 U ...

, founded in 1734. They are also rung for special occasions, such as the election of a new Rector of the College.

Headington

There is another All Saints Church in the suburb of

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. ...

to the east of central Oxford, on Lime Walk.All Saints Church, Lime Walk, HeadingtonHeadington History
It was consecrated in 1910.

References

Gallery

Image:All Saints Church Oxford.jpg, View of All Saints Church from the west along the High Street. Image:Jesus College engraving 1839.jpg, Engraving looking south along Turl Street, with the spire of All Saints Church in the background (1839). Image:All Saints from St Marys.jpg, All Saints Church from St Mary's, on the High Street. Image:All Saints from Turl Street Oxford.jpg, All Saints from Turl Street, looking south. {{Authority control 1122 establishments in England 1971 disestablishments in England Church of England church buildings in Oxford Former churches in Oxford Former Church of England church buildings Grade I listed buildings in Oxford Libraries of the University of Oxford Lincoln College, Oxford Religious buildings and structures completed in 1720 Grade I listed churches in Oxfordshire

History

Library

Headington

References

Further reading

Gallery