Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Christ Church Cathedral stands in central Oxford beside the college of the same name. It is the seat of the Bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the diocese, yet it also serves as the chapel for Christ Church, a unique arrangement in the Church of England. The building began as a nunnery and parish church destroyed in the St Brice’s Day massacre of 1002. By 1122 it had become an Augustinian priory, which Cardinal Wolsey suppressed in 1524 to found his new college. When Wolsey fell from favour, Henry VIII took over the project and preserved the church. In 1546 the cathedral moved from Osney Abbey to Christ Church, where it remains today. The cathedral’s history is visible in its architecture, from late Norman nave and choir to later Perpendicular additions and a large ten-part rose window. The Latin Chapel houses the shrine of St Frideswide, Oxford’s patron saint, a focus of pilgrimage from the 12th to the early 16th century. John Wesley and Charles Wesley were ordained here while still Anglicans. The cathedral is one of the smallest in the Church of England, yet its musical life is extensive. The Christ Church Cathedral Choir, directed by Peter Holder, consists of twelve adults and sixteen boy choristers from the cathedral school. Visitors enter through the west end to find the four-manual Rieger organ installed in 1979. The nave leads to the choir stalls and the Latin Chapel with its 14th-century Becket Window. A ring of twelve bells includes historically important examples from 1589 and around 1410, while Great Tom, the Bourdon bell, sounds nightly. Stained glass ranges from 14th-century work to a 2023 memorial window by John Reyntiens. The nave also contains memorials to George Berkeley and Robert Burton.