University Church of St Mary the Virgin

St Mary's possesses an eccentric Baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street, and a spire which is claimed by some church historians to be one of the most beautiful in England. Radcliffe Square lies to the north and to the east is the southern end of Catte Street. The 13th-century tower is open to the public for a fee and provides good views across the heart of the historic university city, especially Radcliffe Square, the Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose College, Oxford and All Souls College. ==History==

A church was established on this site, at the centre of the old walled city, in Anglo-Saxon times; records of 1086 note the church as previously belonging to an estate held by Aubrey de Coucy, likely Iffley, and the parish including part of Littlemore. In the early days of Oxford University, the church was adopted as the first building of the university, congregation met there from at least 1252, and the upper storey housed books bequeathed by Thomas Cobham, Bishop of Worcester, which formed the first university library. Early provosts of the college were inducted into their stall in the church, and until 1642 fellows were required to attend services on Sundays and holy days. was repugnant to William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, who in the 1630s initiated the erecting of a separate building for these ceremonies. This project was cut short by the fall of Laud and the outbreak of the English Civil War, but after the Restoration, it was revived and carried through by John Fell, Dean of Christ Church, who commissioned Christopher Wren to erect what became the Sheldonian Theatre. Thereafter, the church was reserved for religious worship only. During his time in Oxford, John Wesley often attended the university sermon, and the "Almost Christian" sermon on 25 July 1741. Following his denunciation of the spiritual apathy and sloth of the senior members of the university in his sermon "Scriptural Christianity" on 24 August 1744, he was never asked to preach there again — "I preached, I suppose, the last time at St Mary's", he wrote in his journal, "Be it so; I have fully delivered my soul." In 1828, John Henry Newman became vicar and his sermons became popular with undergraduates. From the present pulpit John Keble preached the assize sermon of 14 July 1833, which is traditionally considered to have started the Oxford Movement, an attempt to revive catholic spirituality in the church and university. The influence of the movement spread and affected the practice and spirituality of the Church of England. By 1843, Newman became disillusioned with Anglicanism and resigned from St Mary's, later joining the Roman Catholic Church. ==Architecture==

In the later 15th and early 16th century, the main body of the church was substantially rebuilt in the Perpendicular style, but the oldest part of the present church is the tower, which dates from around 1270. The Decorated spire with its triple-gabled outer pinnacles, inner pinnacles, gargoyles and statues was added in the 1320s. Only one of the twelve statues is original, the others were by George Frampton and erected around 1894. The original statues can now be found in the cloister of New College. The tower is plainer, having long three light bell openings with intersecting tracery. The architect is unknown, though the master mason in 1275 was Richard of Abingdon. , viewed from the High Street. Bullet holes in the statue were made by Oliver Cromwell's troops. The south porch was built in 1637 and was designed by Nicholas Stone, master mason to Charles I. It was a gift from Morgan Owen, chaplain to Archbishop Laud. It is highly ornate, with spiral columns supporting a curly pediment framing a shell niche with a statue of the Virgin and Child, underneath a Gothic fan vault. The style was too close to Roman baroque for the puritans of the day and the porch itself was used as evidence in Laud's execution trial, citing its "scandalous statue" to which one witness saw "one bow and another pray". The gate piers are original and the wrought iron gates are early 18th-century. Stained glass There are remnants of 15th-century stained glass in the tracery lights of the east window, and 17th-century shields in the de Brome Chapel. The east window and the second from the east in the south aisle are from the 19th century and were designed by Augustus Pugin, an English architect, designer, artist and critic principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival style of architecture. The west window in the nave is from 1891 and was designed by C. E. Kempe. The memorial window to John Keble is by Clayton and Bell in 1866. ==Organ==

organ of 1986, one of only two by this maker in Great Britain The church has a classical organ built by the Swiss firm of Metzler Orgelbau in 1986, one of only two by this esteemed maker in Great Britain. (The other is in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge.) This instrument was inspired by a previous instrument, originally built for the church by the famed organ builder "Father" Smith in 1676. Much altered over the years, the last remains of this original organ (besides some fragments of ornamental casework and, possibly, part of one stop) were destroyed by a fire shortly after the Second World War. The Metzler organ replaced this instrument's successor – an organ by J. W. Walker & Sons that was contained in the restored old case, originally by Smith but extensively rebuilt in a 'gothic' style in 1827 by Plowman. The pipework and case of this organ are now in St Mary's Church, Penzance, Cornwall. The unstained oak case of the Metzler organ is based on the original Smith design and incorporates a few carved wooden pipe shades that remained after the 1827 case rebuild and later fire. It still lacks certain decorative carvings from the original design by Bernhardt Edskes, most notably the large scrolls beneath the pedal towers on the four corners. • Koppeln: I/II, I/P, II/P ==Present==

, with Brasenose College to the left (west), All Souls College to the right (east), the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre and the Divinity School to the left of centre background, and the Radcliffe Camera centrally The current vicar of St Mary's is the Revd Canon Dr William Lamb. The assistant priest is the Revd Hannah Cartwright. Robert Howarth is the director of music and the organist is James Brown. The churchwardens are Karen Melham and Nicholas Hardyman. There are three Sunday services, at 8:30 am, 10:30 am & 3:30pm. During university terms, services are enhanced by the choir of the University Church and by many notable visiting preachers. The church is open to visitors throughout the year from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (July and August 9:00 am to 6:00 pm), except on Christmas Day. On Sundays, the tower does not open until after the morning services. A German Lutheran service is held on the first Sunday of each month (except January and August). ==List of vicars==

The following clergy have served as vicar of the church: • 1345–1348: Nicholas Misterton • 1349–1351: Robert de Tyrlington • 1351–1360: Nicholas de Bannebury • 1361–1379: Thomas Warde de Beronby • 1379–1384: John de Prestwold • 1384–1395: John de Ashfordeby • 1395–1413: John Treen • 1413–1438: John Plomer • 1438–1453: John Cothill • 1453–1461: William Scrivener • 1461–1466: Robert Careswell • 1466–1483: William Laughton • 1483–1485: Robert Offer • 1485–1487: Richard Ludwick • 1487–1488: William Westcott • 1488–1498: Clement Browne • 1498–1504: Edmund Wylsford • 1504–1527: John Roper • 1527–1534: William Appulby • 1534–1535: John Pitt • 1535–1551: George Sutton • 1551–1554: John Tonnery • 1554–1556: Hugh Hutchinson • 1556–1578: William Powell • 1578–1582: Stephen Rowsham • 1582–1583: Robert Cooke • 1583–1597: Simon Lee • 1597–1608: Richard Wharton • 1608–1622: John Day • 1622–1638: John Taylor • 1638–1639: John Horne • 1639–1646: Henry Eccleston • 1646–1648: John Duncombe • 1648–1650: James Tarren • 1650–1656: William Bragge • 1656–1676: William Washbourne • 1676–1693: Robert Kinsey • 1693–1700: William Walker • 1700–1720: Peter Randall • 1720–1754: Thomas Weeksy • 1754-1754: Charles Whiting • 1754–1758: Edward Blake • 1758–1765: John Trewen • 1765–1768: John Clark • 1768–1774: William Walker • 1774–1778: John Flemyng • 1778–1782: John Eveleigh • 1782–1790: Henry Beeke • 1790–1796: Daniel Veysie • 1796–1797: George Cooke • 1797–1800: James Landon • 1800–1810: Edward Copleston • 1810–1819: William Bishop • 1819–1823: William James • 1823–1828: Edward Hawkins • 1828–1843: John Henry Newman; later a Roman Catholic cardinal • 1843–1850: Charles Page Eden • 1850–1858: Charles Marriott • 1863–1875: John Burgon • 1876–1878: Drummond Percy Chase • 1878–1894: Edmund Ffoulkes • 1894–1896: Cosmo Gordon Lang; later Archbishop of Canterbury • 1896–1905: Henry Lewis Thompson • 1905–1923: Charles Augustus Whittuck • 1923–1927: George Chatterton Richards • 1927–1933: Frank Russell Barry • 1933–1938: Frederic Arthur Cockin • 1938–1947: Dick Milford • 1947–1961: Roy Stuart Lee • 1961–1971: Philip Montague Martin • 1971–1975: Ronald Gordon; later Bishop of Portsmouth and at Lambeth • 1976–1985: Peter Raphael Cornwell; later a Roman Catholic priest • 1986–2016: Brian Mountford ==See also==