Jeel Scholarship Fund
Building a Better Future
Christ Church Oxford
On our approach to Christ Church Cathedral, we passed the following message carved in stone slabs on the ground “My sword I give to Him, that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage.”
It was early morning when we arrived at Christ Church, and, by mistake we went through the memorial garden gate. On our right was the 175 acres of Christ Church meadows with the light mist hovering on the horizon. To this day if you are classed as a “scholar” ie high achiever, while studying you are allocated a bigger room – and given the right to graze your cattle on the meadows. A reminder of our farming roots at a time when we were closer to nature and our livestock.
The porter (in bowler hat) on the correct entrance to the Great Quad greeted us and determined our authenticity. He advised us to return in thirty minutes when the Cathedral would be open for morning prayers. It’s possible he used the time to check we were bona fide pilgrims. We attended morning prayers and holy communion noting how the Bible readings had progressed through our week on tour. The Archdeacon took both services, and he welcomed us and showed us some of the artifacts.
The patron saint of Christ Church and Oxford is St. Frideswide. She was born a princess, the daughter of the king and queen of Wessex in 703Ad. She is associated with a well whose water is curative. There is wonderful stained-glass window to commemorate her in the Cathedral. There is also a medieval stained-glass window dedicated to St. Thomas Becket – though the panel was defaced in the sixteenth century, so the face of the martyr is missing. Another window celebrates the Archangel St. Michael in a scene from Revelations.
Christ Church is a small cathedral in a large diocese drawing on the wider city as well as the university. Its four Canons are also university professors. The college is the largest and wealthiest at Oxford. (This might explain the cost of goods in the shop). The site dates back to an Augustinian monastery in the twelfth century. The Chancel vaulted ceiling is impressive with eight stars and twelve stone lanterns – added to the building in the fourteen hundreds. Looking up you feel heaven bound. It is breathtaking.
In 1542 the Cathedral was spared of ransacking by Henry VIII. In 1681 Wren was commissioned to build a bell tower. The biggest bell is Great Tom and the Great quad, centred on a fountain with a statue of Mercury, is affectionately known as Tom quad. George Gilbert Scott in the 1870s renovated part of the south choir aisle wall and removed seventeenth century screens and restored mullions. It is thought to be one of his more emphatic remodelling’s. Gilbert Scott must never had had a rest day as we find his work on display so often on our pilgrimage.
Christ Church is world renowned, and this is reflected in whom is commemorated there – philosopher John Locke; theologians Charles and John Wesley; Cardinal Newham; Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) amongst others. There is an extensive list of famous people who studied there and some who are dear – my deceased husband’s daughter Charlotte and her husband Stephen – he was a sidesman at the Cathedral in the 1980s. They made Richard, her father so proud on the day they married there – it was the best day of his life.
Another memorable visit and spiritual enlightenment – at some stage we may be more Christ like.