Carfax is the junction of St Aldate's (south), Cornmarket Street (north), Queen Street (west) and the High Street (east) in Oxford, England. [1] It is considered to be the centre of the city. The name "Carfax" derives from the Latin quadrifurcus via the French carrefour, both of which mean "crossroads". The Carfax Tower, also known as St Martin's Tower (the remaining part of the City Church of St Martin of Tours) is a prominent landmark and provides a look-out over the town.
St Martin's Tower, popularly called "Carfax Tower", is on the northwest corner of Carfax. It is all that remains of the 12th-century St Martin's Church [2] and is now owned by Oxford City Council. It was the official City Church of Oxford, [3] where the Mayor and Corporation were expected to worship, between about 1122 and 1896, when the main part of the church was demolished to make more room for road traffic and All Saints' Church in the High Street became the City Church for 75 years. All Saints then became the library of Lincoln College, and St Michael at the North Gate became the City Church.
The tower is 74 feet (23 m) tall, and the City Council stipulates that no building in central Oxford may be built higher than it (a rule broken by the Blavatnik School of Government). [4] It is a Grade II listed building. [5]
The tower still has a ring of six bells: five recast from the original ring by Richard Keene of Woodstock in 1676 and one cast by Keene two years later. [6] They are rung on special occasions by the Oxford Society of Change Ringers.
There is a clock that chimes the quarter hours on a pair of bells cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough in 1898. [6] The clock's current dial and surroundings were designed by Sir TG Jackson and installed in 1898. In 1938–39 the clock mechanism was replaced with an electric one made by Gents' of Leicester. [7]
One can climb to the top of the tower for a view of the Oxford skyline. [8] The tower is open November –February: 10:00 –15:00, March: 10:00 –16:00, April –September: 10:00 –17:00 and October: 10:00 –16:00. [9]
The St Scholastica Day riot of 1355 began with an altercation in the Swindlestock Tavern (now the site of the Santander Bank on the southwest corner of Carfax, between St Aldate's and Queen Street) between two students and the taverner.
In 1865 William Henry Butler, who had been Mayor of Oxford in 1836, was buried in St Martin's churchyard in the grave of his first wife Elizabeth Briggs and their two infant daughters. In 1900 the church was demolished to make way for road improvements and as a consequence the grave and tombstone were forgotten. It is probable the tombstone was made by either John Gibbs of Oxford (father of Butler's second wife) or one of Gibbs's employees. The tombstone is still in situ and can be seen behind the tower. There is a campaign to protect the tombstone for posterity. [10]
Comparable to St Mary the Great for the University of Cambridge, Carfax plays a role in the disciplinary regulations of the University of Oxford. For example, the university requires some students to reside within six miles (9.7 km) of Carfax. [11]
Garsington is a village and civil parish about 8 kilometres (5 mi) southeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire. "A History of the County of Oxfordshire" provides a detailed history of the parish from 1082. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 1,689. The village is known for the artistic colony and flamboyant social life of the Bloomsbury Group at Garsington Manor when it was the home from 1914 to 1928 of Philip and Ottoline Morrell, and for the Garsington Opera which was staged there from 1989 to 2010.
Charlbury is a town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Witney in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of Wychwood Forest and the Cotswolds. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,830.
Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2021 census recorded a parish population of 3,521, up from the previous 3,100 in 2011.
Bodicote is a village and civil parish in North Oxfordshire, approximately 2 miles (3 km) south of the centre of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,126. The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist is a Grade II* listed building, with the chancel arch dating back to the 13th century.
The High Street in Oxford, England, known locally as the High, runs between Carfax, generally seen as the centre of the city, and Magdalen Bridge to the east.
Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named after its bell, Great Tom. It is over Tom Gate, on St Aldates, the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford, which leads into Tom Quad. This square tower with an octagonal lantern and facetted ogee dome was designed by Christopher Wren and built 1681–82. The strength of Oxford architectural tradition and Christ Church's connection to its founder, Henry VIII, motivated the decision to complete the gatehouse structure, left unfinished by Cardinal Wolsey at the date of his fall from power in 1529, and which had remained roofless since. Wren made a case for working in a Late Gothic style—that it "ought to be Gothick to agree with the Founders worke"—a style that had not been seen in a prominent building for a hundred and fifty years, making Tom Tower a lonely precursor of the Gothic Revival that got underway in the mid-18th century. Wren never came to supervise the structure as it was being erected by the stonemason he had recommended, Christopher Kempster of Burford.
St Aldate's is a street in central Oxford, England, named after Saint Aldate, but formerly known as Fish Street.
Charlton-on-Otmoor is a village and civil parish about 9 miles (14 km) NE of Oxford and 6 miles (10 km) SW of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The village, one of the seven "towns" of Otmoor, is on the northern edge of the moor on a ridge of Cornbrash. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 449.
St Laurence's Church, Combe Longa is the Church of England parish church of Combe, Oxfordshire, England. The parish is part of the Benefice of Stonesfield with Combe Longa.
Woodeaton or Wood Eaton is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Oxford, England. It also has a special needs school called Woodeaton Manor School.
Idbury is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) southeast of Stow-on-the-Wold in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlets of Bould and Foscot. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 240.
Church Hanborough is a village in Hanborough civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire.
Claydon is a village and former civil parish, now in Claydon with Clattercot, in the Cherwell district, in Oxfordshire, England. The village is about 6 miles (10 km) north of Banbury and about 417 feet (127 m) above sea level on a hill of Early Jurassic Middle Lias clay.
Wigginton is a village and civil parish about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The village is beside the River Swere, which forms the southern boundary of the parish. A Channel Four documentary, Hitler's British Girl, investigated the possibility that Unity Mitford gave birth to the son of Adolf Hitler in Hill View Cottage, Wigginton.
Great Haseley is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. The village is about 4.5 miles (7 km) southwest of Thame. The parish includes the hamlets of Latchford, Little Haseley and North Weston and the house, chapel and park of Rycote. The parish stretches 6 miles (10 km) along a northeast — southwest axis, bounded by the River Thame in the north, Haseley Brook in the south and partly by a boundary hedge with Little Milton parish in the west. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 511.
The Parish Church of Saint Peter ad Vincula, South Newington is the Church of England parish church of South Newington, a village about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The church is one of only 15 in England dedicated to St Peter ad Vincula, after the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.
Fritwell is a village and civil parish about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) northwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 736.
Sandford St Martin is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire about 7 miles (11 km) east of Chipping Norton and about 12 miles (19 km) south of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 209.
William Henry Butler was an English wine merchant and Mayor of Oxford.
The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church of Bampton, West Oxfordshire. It is in the Archdeaconry of Dorchester in the Diocese of Oxford.
