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St Cross Church is a former parish church, now a historic collections centre, in
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, to the northeast of the centre of the city. The church is on St Cross Road at the junction with Manor Road, just south of
Holywell Manor Holywell Manor is a historic building in central Oxford, England, in the parish of Holywell, Oxford, Holywell. It currently houses some of Balliol College, Oxford, Balliol College's postgraduate student population. It is on the corner of Mano ...
. Also close by is
Holywell Cemetery Holywell Cemetery lies behind St Cross Church, Oxford, St Cross Church in St Cross Road, Oxford, England, south of Holywell Manor on Manor Road, Oxford, Manor Road and north of Longwall Street, in the parish of Holywell, Oxford, Holywell. Histo ...
.


Church history

St Cross Church was once a dependent chapelry of St Peter-in-the-East on Queen's Lane, 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. The precise date of the church's foundation is not known, but it has been suggested that St Cross was first built around AD 890 by St Grimwald. However, archaeological investigations in 2009 did not show evidence of a pre-Norman church. The chancel arch is late 11th or early 12th century and the nave was built in about 1160. The tower and aisles were added in the 13th century, the upper stage of the tower was rebuilt in 1464 and the north arcade and aisle were rebuilt in the middle of the 15th century. A few of the windows are original
Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
; the remainder are Victorian
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
. The aisles were rebuilt again in the 19th century — the north (except for its west end) in 1839 and the south in 1843 — the latter to designs by the architect J. M. Derick. In 1876 the north aisle was extended by the addition of an organ chamber and
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...
designed by Henry James Tollit. In 1893 the church was restored under the direction of E. P. Warren, including the addition of new
clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
windows. The tower was repaired in 1908.
George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...
designed the west window of the north aisle, which was made in 1855. However, since then the window has been moved and, in Sir
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
's opinion, "garbled". Hardman & Co. made the east window of the chancel in 1874. St Cross church is a
Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. In recent years services were held once weekly until 12 October 2008, when the church was closed. Holywell Cemetery is behind the church and includes the graves of many notable people. They include the composer Sir
John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion (Stainer), The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some Angli ...
(1840–1901) who, while he was Professor of Music at
Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...
, was church warden at St Cross. The clockmaker John Knibb (1650–1722), who was
Mayor of Oxford The earliest recorded mayor of Oxford in England was Laurence Kepeharm (1205–1207?). On 23 October 1962 the city was granted the honour of electing a Lord Mayor. Notable figures who have been Lord Mayor of Oxford include J. N. L. Baker (1964 ...
in 1698 and 1710, is buried in St Cross with his widow and four of their daughters as is Sir
John Snell Sir John Snell (1629 – 6 August 1679), founder of the Snell Exhibitions at the University of Oxford, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of a blacksmith. He attended the University of Glasgow from 1642 to 1644. He joined the royalists d ...
, founder of the Snell Exhibition.


Historic Collections Centre

St Cross had a falling attendance for many years, and in February 2008 its Parochial Church Council decided unanimously to allow
Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...
to develop a purpose-built repository and research facility for the College's special collections and their users in the church. After the closure of the church in 2008, building work was undertaken to convert the building for use as an Historic Collections Centre for Balliol College. The church has not been deconsecrated; under the terms of the College's 999-year lease on the building, the chancel is maintained for occasional services. Some fittings and fixtures of the church have been removed, including the organ, which was relocated to a church in Ireland. Memorials remain in or as near as possible to their pre-2008 position. The font was relocated, with permission, from near the south door to the north side of the chancel step, to allow full use of the south aisle for one of the repository units. The bells remain in situ in the tower, but unringable, after
Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the local authority for the city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Oxford has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974, Oxford has been a non-metropolitan district, wi ...
refused permission for their removal. The work was completed at an estimated cost of £3.3 million and opened in 2011. In May 2008, the Shirley Foundation contributed £1m towards Balliol College's Historic Collections Centre to be housed in St Cross Church. This contains: the College's own administrative records; extensive personal papers of former Masters, Fellows and students; manuscript books, mostly from the College's medieval library; early printed books including
incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...
; and other special items previously located separately, allowing expansion of the College Library's services on the main site in Broad Street. One manuscript book (Balliol MS 317) dates from circa 1170 and has been held by the College since 1276.RAB Mynors: Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Balliol College Oxford, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963. Many of the medieval books survive from the College's contemporary library, and the bulk of the collection is not formed of later antiquarian acquisitions as held by more recent foundations, although it is as large as some of these. This is the third library at
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
to be converted from a church, the others being All Saints on 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 ...
( Lincoln College) and St Peter-in-the-East, Queen's Lane (
St Edmund Hall St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the last ...
). A further two libraries were converted from convent chapels, those of the Society of the Holy and Undivided Trinity ( St Antony's) and the
Society of the Holy Child Jesus The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic sisters founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. History Born Cornelia Peacock in Philadelphia, she was raised a Presbyter ...
( Linacre). The Centre has modern research facilities. As a central Oxford church it has other Balliol College connections.
John Snell Sir John Snell (1629 – 6 August 1679), founder of the Snell Exhibitions at the University of Oxford, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of a blacksmith. He attended the University of Glasgow from 1642 to 1644. He joined the royalists d ...
, the benefactor of the post graduate scholarships connecting the College and
Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
, was buried in the Church in 1679. In its cemetery are buried the Masters James Leigh Strachan-Davidson (died in office 1916) and Arthur Lionel Smith (died in office 1924).


In fiction

* The marriage of
Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...
' fictional detective
Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...
to Harriet Vane took place in the church on 8 October 1935 in the novel ''
Busman's Honeymoon ''Busman's Honeymoon'' is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and her fourth and last to feature Harriet Vane. Plot introduction Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane marry and go to spend the ...
''.


See also

* St Cross College, Oxford


References


External links


Archives and manuscripts at the St. Cross Historic Collections Centre



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
Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Cross Church, Oxford 9th-century establishments in England 2008 disestablishments in England Former churches in Oxford Grade I listed buildings in Oxford
Cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
Former Church of England church buildings Libraries of the University of Oxford St Cross College, Oxford 2011 establishments in England Balliol College, Oxford Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford Archives in Oxfordshire Grade I listed churches in Oxfordshire 890 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 890s 9th-century church buildings in England