Oxford (England) -- History; University of Oxford -- History
Probably, also, D'Oigli founded a church, dedicated to S. Mary Magdalen,
situated just without the North Gate, and intended to supply the
spiritual wants of travellers and dwellers without the walls. The church
was on the site of the present Church of S. Mary Magdalen; but no trace
of the original work has been left by the early Victorian restorers. It
passed with the Church of S. George to Osney Abbey, and then with its
patron to the successors of the canons of S. Frideswide's, the prebends
or canons of Christ Church.
D'Oigli probably built also the Church of S. Michael at the North Gate
and S. Peter's within the East Gate; and as for his restorations, they
may have included the parish church, S. Martin's, and also S. Mary's and
S. Ebbe's, which latter may possibly have been built in the time of
Edward the Confessor.
How very literally S. Peter's guarded the east may be gathered by
inspecting the two turrets at the east end of the church. There were
small openings in these whence a watch could be kept over the streams
and the approach to East Gate.
Whether the crypt of this church, as we now have it, dates entirely from
D'Oigli's time is a moot point. It may be that it does, but the actual
masonry, it will be noticed, the ashlar work, capitals and arches, are
superior to that of the Castle and S. Michael's. The plan of the
original crypt of S. George's in the Castle shows that it had, in
accordance with the general rule of eleventh-century work in this
country, an apsidal termination. The crypt of S. Peter's, as built in
D'Oigli's day, was, it is suggested, no exception. It had an apsidal
termination which did not extend so far towards the east as the present
construction. But, as happened again and again in the history of
innumerable churches and cathedrals at
[Illustration: S. Peter's in the East]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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