You are visiting an ancient church that has been a place of Christian prayer and worship for at least nine hundred years.
We welcome you and thank you for your prayer and your offerings which contribute to the peace and maintenance of this church – a place where in the stillness of prayer and in the sacraments men and women can be in touch with God.
The first undoubted reference to a church in Elsfield comes from a charter of Robert d'Oilley in the time of William the Conqueror (1066-1087). All through the 12th century, Elsfield was referred to as a chapel of Headington.
In the 12th century Augustinian canons had replaced the secular canons of the Priory of St Frideswide in oxford and they owned the church at Elsfield and were responsible for the chancel.
The pillars of the chancel arch, their capitals and bases, suggest a late 12th century date and show a strong resemblance to those in the nave of the canons' church, now Oxford's cathedral at Christ Church, which was being built between 1160 and 1180.
The present church, begun in the last quarter of the 12th century, was mainly built in the first half of the 13th century between 1200 and 1250. The chancel arch appears to be contemporary with this phase of building.
The Early English style of architecture can be clearly seen in the lancet windows of the north and south walls of the chancel and in the fine lancet windows of the west wall of the nave.
The masonry patter of the paintings on the side walls of the chancel is contemporary with the building of the chancel; and like the masonry pattern over the west wall, which has a good scroll or border at its top, has been dated c.1225.
There were changes in the later middle ages, such as the making of the east window with its elegant flowing tracery, in the 14th century; and again later, the square headed windows in the south wall of the nave. More important, in the later middle ages there was the addition of what must have been a chantry chapel opening out of the eastern part of the north side of the nave, a doorway being where the present vestry door is. Two arches were still visible in 1837, before restoration work was carried out on the north wall.
The painting on the east wall of the chancel is perhaps 15th century work which covers the 13th century plaster, and the brocade pattern formed the background to the two statues which stood on either side of the window, the remains of the brackets of which can be seen in the wall.
The Low-Side window on the right of the chancel is a feature generally associated with the 14th century. A wooden shutter, which could be opened to light the reading shelf, was originally here and the two holes for the hinges on the right and the place for the fastening of the shutter on the left can still be seen.
The piscina, a perforated stone basin for the washing of the chalice and paten, on the south side of the chancel near the altar, is probably 13th century.
The altar rails are dated 1672 and the altar and credence table are also of this period. The mosaic of the Last Supper behind the altar was made in 1860 and is the work of Salviati, who also made the reredos behind the high altar in Westminster Abbey.
The pulpit is Jacobean and was made in the early 1600's.
The tub-shaped font is c.1200.
There are two bells, one of which is inscribed 'Michael Derbie made me 1654'.
The porch door is probably 300 to 400 years old.
Outside the church are two Mass dials on the south side of the west buttress of the church.
The present church at Elsfield is dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury. Thomas Becket was the son of Norman settlers. In 1155 Henry II made him his Chancellor, but in 1162 he was elected Archbishop of Canterbury. From that time onwards Becket adopted a very austere style of life, resigned his chancellorship and soon found himself in open opposition to Henry on the rights of the Church.
He escaped to France, remaining in exile for six years, from 2nd November 1164 until a reconciliation was effected between him and Henry and he returned on 1st December, 1170.
Becket was assassinated in his cathedral in the late afternoon of 29th December 1170. He was canonised by Pope Alexander III on 21st February 1173. In the year 1220 Becket's remains were translated to their place in the choir – the Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral – on 7th July, and it became one of the principal pilgrimage centres of Christendom. It was on this same date, 7th July, the feast of the Translation of St Thomas, in 1273, that the church at Elsfield was consecrated and dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury by Reginald, Bishop of Cloyne, on behalf of the Bishop of Lincoln. Oxford at that time formed part of the Diocese of Lincoln.
It is interesting to note that as the result of Hugh of Avalon, Bishop of Lincoln 1186-1200, being canonised in 1220, the tomb of St Hugh at Lincoln became second only to that of St Thomas of Canterbury as a place of popular devotion.
This church then, the building of which had begun when St Hugh was Bishop of Lincoln and which continued through the episcopacy of Bishop Grosseteste (1235-1253), was a product of the 13th century. It was the time of the foundation of the University of Oxford and of the coming of the friars.
Throughout the middle ages the advowson of Elsfield belonged to St Frideswide's Priory, Oxford. At the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII the advowson passed to Cardinal College and then to Henry VIII's College. Under Mary Tudor it was assigned to Cardinal Pole. From the latter part of the 16th century the advowson has been held by the lords of the manor of Elsfield and the present owners are Christ Church.
The list of parish priests goes back to one Nicholas before 1233, and continues down to the present day; and now, more than seven centuries later, this church continues as a place where we can meet with God in prayer and sacrament.
July 1981, Anthony de Vere, Vicar
Reprinted with revisions, February 2001, Tony Price, Vicar