St Michael at the North Gate Church Tower - Oxford

St Michael at the North Gate Church Tower - Oxford

Archaeology

Situated on the northern wall of the old city of Oxford this tower dates from the early to mid eleventh century. It is stone and shows signs of reworking but wonderfully illustrates some classic saxon stone features. The tower is square, unlike the round towers seen in East Anglia where stone was less common.

Looking at the work we can see it is made up of loose stones, not bricks, but at the corners major stones are used but in an alternate horizontal and vertical fashion ('long and short work') which differs from the later Norman practice. Half-way up the tower is a window/door that would possibly have been used to display relics.

Stuart Lee

c. 1040

English

2010-07-14