Christ Church: Oxford from Saxon times to today

Statue of St Frideswide, Christ Church cathedral, Oxford

Christ Church is a wonder – a site of worship for 1300 years, home to a feisty Saxon saint, a doomed cardinal’s legacy project and a boy wizard’s stomping ground.

Travel back in time via the spectacular Tudor dining hall, ancient shrine, Charles I’s chair and rare medieval stained glass windows to get a potted history of not just the college, or Oxford, but England itself.

Itinerary:

We will start in the glorious Christ Church meadows, then visit the college, including:

  • the spectacular Tudor dining hall

  • Tom Quad where King Charles I mustered his troops during the Civil War and Alice in Wonderland grew up

  • the famous steps where Harry Potter was filmed

  • ancient cloisters where monks once roamed

  • Christ Church cathedral where we will see St Frideswide’s shrine and a range of remarkable stained glass from medieval times to the Pre-Raphaelites

Christ Church's tudor dining hall, built by Cardinal Wolsey before Henry VIII refounded the college in 1546
Detail from Vyner stained glass window in Christ Church cathedral Oxford, by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris

  • Due to Christ Church’s rules, I can take up to five people on a full tour, or 11 people on a more limited tour.

  • This tour costs £150 plus £10 per person in entrance fees.

  • Availability will depend on whether Christ Church is open to visitors, which it is most days but can close, sometimes with short notice. The hall is closed for lunch so we will need to visit either in the morning or the afternoon but not over lunch time. Please contact me and we can discuss scheduling.

The 'No Peel' door in Christ Church Oxford, sign of anti-catholic sentiment in the college in the 19th century
The Jonah window in Christ Church cathedral Oxford, designed by Abraham van LInge in the 1630s