University Church of St Mary the Virgin            

 The University Chuch of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew. It is situated on the north side of the High Street, and is surrounded by university and college buildings.

St Mary's has one of the most beautiful spires in England and an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street. Radcliffe Square lies to the north and to the east is Catte Street.

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 by the early 13th century it was the seat of university government and was used for lectures and the award of degrees. Around 1320 a two storey building was added to the north side of the .

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 erected around 1894.