Originally built around 1000–1050, with the tower from 1040 still in existence, the church claims to be Oxford's oldest building. It was constructed of
Coral Rag. The church tower is
Anglo-Saxon. The
Oxford Martyrs were imprisoned in the
Bocardo Prison by the church before they were burnt at the stake in what is now
Broad Street nearby, then immediately outside the city walls, in 1555 and 1556. Their cell door can be seen on display in the church's tower. St Michael at the North Gate is the current
City Church of Oxford, which is the church where the Mayor and Corporation of Oxford are expected to worship. The title was originally held by
St Martin's Church at
Carfax, and then by
All Saints' Church in the
High Street after St Martin's Church was demolished (except for its tower) in 1896. City Church status passed to St Michael's when All Saints' Church was declared redundant in 1971 and was subsequently converted into the library of
Lincoln College. The parishes of St Martin's and All Saints are now amalgamated with St Michael's. A ceremony, called "
beating the bounds", is held each year on
Ascension Day to mark out the boundary of the parish. Led by the vicar, parishioners process around the old boundary stones of the parish; the vicar places a cross in chalk on each, and then church wardens hit the stones with wands made of willow, shouting "Mark, mark, mark!" as they do so. According to
Margaret Murray (writing 1934), there was a
sheela na gig figure at St Michael at the North Gate which had a tradition of being shown to brides on their wedding day. ==People==