For almost 900 years this church has stood here as a place of worship and prayer. Since 1546, uniquely in the world, it has had a dual function as both College Chapel and Cathedral.
Christ Church Cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in Oxford and one of the smallest cathedrals in the Church of England. Unusually for a cathedral, its centre stalls face inwards, in the ‘collegiate’ style.
You may like to look out for the stained glass windows. The Jonah window, for example, was painted in the 1630s by the Dutch artist Abraham van Linge. Look out also for the large Victorian St Michael Window, which illustrates a scene from the Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible. And in the Latin Chapel, as well as visiting the Shrine of St Frideswide, you will see the St Frideswide Window, by the famous pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. Finest of all is the Becket Window in the Lucy Chapel, dating back to 1320. Not only is the glass of particularly high quality, but this is one of very few images of Becket to survive.
The Shrine of St Frideswide, our patron saint, lies at the heart of the Cathedral. And don’t miss the Chancel with its remarkable stone vaulted ceiling, created in 1500 and considered to be one of the finest examples of its type in any English cathedral.
