Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Christ Church Cathedral
Cathedral Church of Christ
Crossing tower and spire from the cloisters
Coordinates: 51°45′00″N 1°15′17″W / 51.75°N 1.254722°W / 51.75; -1.254722
Location	Oxford, Oxfordshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Website	chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral
Architecture
Style	Romanesque, Gothic
Years built	1160–1200
Administration
Diocese	Oxford (since 1546)
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Dean	Martyn Percy
Subdean	Edmund Newey
Canon(s)	Graham Ward (Regius Professor of Divinity) Carol Harrison (Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity) Nigel Biggar (Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology) Sarah Foot (Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History)
Archdeacon	Martin Gorick

Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxford, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church at the University of Oxford. This dual role as cathedral and college chapel is unique in the Church of England.

The cathedral was originally the church of St Frideswide's Priory. The site was historically presumed to be the location of the nunnery founded by St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford, and the shrine now in the Latin Chapel, originally containing relics translated at the rebuilding in 1180, was the focus of pilgrimage from at least the 12th until the early 16th century.

In 1522, the priory was surrendered to Cardinal Wolsey, who had selected it as the site for his proposed college. However, in 1529 the foundation was taken over by King Henry VIII. Work stopped, but in June 1532 the college was refounded by the King. In 1546, Henry VIII transferred to it the recently created see of Oxford from Osney. The cathedral has the name of Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis, given to it by King Henry VIII's foundation charter.

There has been a choir at the cathedral since 1526, when John Taverner was the organist and also master of the choristers. The statutes of Cardinal Wolsey's original college, initially called Cardinal College, mentioned 16 choristers and 30 singing priests.

Christ Church Cathedral has been said to be the smallest cathedral in England, and although it once was, there are now smaller cathedrals, as several parish churches were elevated to cathedral status in the 20th century.