Dome

View of the eccentric Baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street; The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew. A church has been on this site since Anglo Saxon times. It is situated on the north side of the High Street, and is surrounded by university and college buildings. St Mary's has one of the most beautiful spires in England and an eccentric baroque south porch (1637), designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street. The 13th century tower is open to the public--this is the oldest extant part of the church, the tower dating 1270 and the spire from the 1320's. St Mary's was the site of the 1555 trial of the Oxford Martyrs. The chancel was rebuilt around 1462, the nave and aisles were rebuilt around 1490, all in the Perpendicular style. Restorations were carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1856-1857 and 1861-1862 and by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson in 1894, the parapet and pinnacles are mostly Scott's work. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 6/27/2008)