
Carfax Tower
Surviving medieval church tower at the old central crossroads, with quarterboys and rooftop views.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Carfax Tower in Oxford goes back to a February day in thirteen fifty-five, when two university rectors sat drinking in the Swindlestock Tavern on the corner below and decided the wine was not good enough. It follows the taverner, the town and the scholars, and the church bell that once hung over this crossroads. Best heard on the south-west corner, by the plaque on the bank wall.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
St Michael at the North Gate
Saxon stone lookout tower of rubble walls, with a martyr's cell door and rooftop city views.
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
Medieval university church with a baroque porch, twisting columns and a contested Virgin and Child.
Christ Church
Tudor college and cathedral behind a Wren-designed gate tower whose great bell tolls nightly.
St Mary's Church, Iffley
Richly carved Norman parish church with a medieval anchoress's cell site beside its sanctuary.
Magdalen College
Medieval college with a soaring bell tower where choristers sing to the dawn crowds every May Day.
Christ Church Cathedral
Norman and Gothic cathedral chapel holding the rebuilt medieval shrine of a Saxon princess saint.