England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Oxford St Giles

The Parish

The city of Oxford, the capital of its county of Oxfordshire, actually sits on the ancient border of the county with neighbouring Berkshire. St Giles parish is merely one of 15 into which the ancient city is divided. St Giles largely forms the northernmost portion of the ancient mediaeval centre of the city. Oxford is, of course, famous for its university and other public buildings, the so-called city of dreaming spires. Oxford lies about 55 miles northwest of England's capital of London. The city stands on the conjunction of the Thames with a major tributary, the River Cherwell. The city of Oxford has ancient origins although its name indicates a Saxon foundation and is literally the place where oxen forded the Thames. It was this crossing point which eventually became the crossroads for the A40 & A34 roads which lead to Oxford's growth. Granted its market in the 12th century Oxford grew to become one of the major cities of southern England, at times rivaling London as a centre for the crown. Oxford is sited at around 60 metres above sea level, St Giles' church a couple of metres higher on the road headed northwards. Oxford's parishes were typically small, only covering the area of a few hundreds of metres in any direction. The city would have had a population of around 22,000 at the time of this transcript and St Giles parish was the second most populous at that time supporting almost 4,000 of that population. In Domesday times Oxford received 13 mentions, the King, himself, being the principal landowner. As an urban centre it was deficient in the usual agricultural features but still a great source of revenue for the crown.

The Church

St Giles' Church stands, appropriately enough, alongside St Giles Road. The building sits in a block of land between two diverging roads, that to the left headed for Stratford Upon Avon, that to the right headed for Banbury. The church is almost as ancient as the city itself, the first mention being in documents from 1138. This documentary evidence is backed up by Norman style windows in the nave and shafts in the chancel. Like most churches it was added to and changed over the centuries but much of the fabric is early to late 13th century. The Victorians, as usual, got to work and a major restoration of the 1850s saw much alteration and the complete rebuilding of the south chapel but at least there was reuse of the original materials. The church sits behind a low stone wall, and a curious feature is the footpath which cuts the church off from its graveyard. There are quite a few mature trees around the site so it is difficult to get adequate pictures.