Church Of St Aldate

Church of St Aldate

This is a parish church with late Saxon origins and archaeological evidence of ecclesiastical use from that period. The building contains fabric from the 12th century onwards, with major rebuildings undertaken between 1832 and 1843 and again in the 1860s and 1870s.

The church is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with some ashlar, and has red tile roofs. The plan comprises a chancel with north and south aisles, a nave with north and south aisles, a west tower, a vestry, and additions from 1961 and 1999-2000.

The exterior displays the cumulative layers of the church's history. The east end has a triple-gabled frontage created by the reconstruction of the chancel aisles in 1862-3, while the chancel itself was extended in the 15th century, though it received a new window in 1862-3. The south chancel aisle dates from 1862-3. On the south side, the chancel shows evidence of 15th to 16th-century extension with a square-headed window of that period (later reworked). The south chancel aisle is two bays and dates from 1862-3, while the main south aisle consists of three bays dating from around 1334, extended westward by two bays (with a south porch) in 1862-3. The west tower, with clasping buttresses, a projecting south stair turret, and spire, was entirely rebuilt in 1873. A single-storey stone range of 1961 wraps around the south, west, and north of the tower. The north side features a single-storey vestry of 1862-3 against the west tower, a three-bay north aisle with an eastern bay added in 1832-4 and 15th-century windows (the easternmost reset), two bays of north chancel aisle from 1862-3, and a 15th-century chancel extension with a lancet window. A glazed entry building was added in 1999-2000. The roofs of the nave and south aisle were recovered in 1888.

The interior reveals the building's development over centuries. The nave is probably 12th-century, as is the western part of the chancel. A west tower was added in the 13th century and was entirely rebuilt in 1873 by John T. Christopher. The eastern three bays of the south (Dockington) aisle were added around 1334 and include a two-bay undercroft or crypt. The westernmost two bays were added in 1862-3, also by Christopher. The western two bays of the north aisle, originally separate from the nave, were built as a chantry in 1456. In the 15th or 16th century, the chancel was extended to its present length. In 1581 (as marked by a plaque at the west end of the aisle), the former north chantry was opened to the church by means of an arcade, creating the north aisle. The north aisle was extended eastward to the full length of the nave by Henry Jones Underwood in 1832-43. The north chapel here was remodelled in 1905 by A. Mardon Mowbray, architect. Christopher's reconstruction of 1862 also included north and south chancel aisles, separated from the chancel by newly-opened two-bay arcades, with the Decorated east window of around 1334 reset between the south chancel aisle and the chancel itself. A vestry was created in the angle of the tower and north aisle, new roofs were provided for the nave and aisles, new aisle arcades were constructed with columns of pink Aberdeen marble, and a new chancel arch was installed. In 1961, single-storey stone meeting rooms and domestic facilities were built around the base of the west tower; carvings allude to Oxford life and events. In 1982, a mezzanine floor was inserted in the north chancel aisle to create a meeting room. In 1999-2000, a glazed entry building was added off the aisle, opening on to the St. Aldate's frontage.

The interior is largely open, with a stage in the south aisle. Fittings include a 14th-century font, a screen of around 1926 designed by Miss Wybergh of Overton, Flintshire, to illustrate the Benedicite, and an oak screen of 1929 by P. S. P. Morter of Liverpool, funded by the motor-manufacturer W. R. Morris and incorporating automobile-related devices. Monuments comprise an alabaster effigy of John Noble, Principal of Pembroke College (died 1522), in the chancel; brasses to 17th-century undergraduates (reset at the west end of the nave); and a figurative wall monument of 1695 to John West, his wife, and daughter (reset high in the tower).

St. Aldate's lies within the medieval walled town of Oxford, on the west side of St. Aldate's Street, the main north-south thoroughfare. Although first documented in the early 12th century, archaeological evidence has firmly established an ecclesiastical presence here from the late Saxon period. John Blair has suggested that it may have originated as the central of three monastic churches. Over the medieval and early modern periods, the church underwent numerous alterations, although much evidence of these was removed during 19th-century restorations and re-orderings. The church was restored around 1815 by Daniel Evans, in 1832-43 by Henry Jones Underwood, and underwent more extensive works in the 1860s and 1870s under the evangelical rector A. M. W. Christopher, who employed as architect his cousin John T. Christopher. New meeting rooms and domestic facilities were added to the west end in 1961. In 1999-2002, a glazed entry was added to the north-east corner of the church, and the interior was re-ordered with the removal of pews and the installation of a stage.

St. Aldate's is one of Oxford's oldest churches and a major parish church standing in a prominent town-centre position. It contains a substantial amount of medieval fabric, and its importance is underscored by its first documentation in the early 12th century, supported by archaeological evidence establishing an ecclesiastical presence from the late Saxon period.