St Cross Church is a church in central Oxford, England, to the northeast of the centre. The church is located on St Cross Road just south of Holywell Manor. Also close by is Holywell Cemetery.
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St Cross Church was once a subsidiary place of worship connected to St Peter-in-the-East on Queen's Lane, north of the High Street in central Oxford.[1] The original date of the church's foundation is not known precisely, but it has been suggested that the St Cross was first built around 890AD by St Grimwald. The bottom of the tower and aisles were added in the 13th century. In recent years, services were conducted once a week, until 12 October 2008, when the church was closed.[2]
Holywell cemetery lies behind the church and contains the graves of many well-known people. One such is that of composer Sir John Stainer who, while he was Professor of Music at Magdalen College, acted as church warden at St Cross Church[3].
Since the closure of the church building work has been taking place to convert the building for use as a historic collections centre[4] for Balliol College. The college has obtained a 999 year lease for the building although the chancel will be maintained for occasional services. The various fittings and fixtures of the church have been removed including the organ which has been relocated to a church in Ireland. The bells remain in situ, and unringable, after permission for their relocation was refused by Oxford City Council[5]. The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2010 at an estimated cost of £3.3m[6]