The Saxon Tower at St. Michael at the North Gate

The Saxon Tower, which was built approximately 1000-1050 CE, was once a component of the old church of St. Michaels Northgate. It was frequented by the Oxford elite because it was located in the heart of the city. The church has been built and renovated numerous times over the years, but the tower has remained intact. Climbing the 97 stairs to the top of the tower is like taking a mini-tour of England’s history. The King James I Charter of 1612, as well as a collection of rare silver, are housed in the treasury on the first floor. A cell door from the old Bocardo Prison, which consisted of chambers above the North gate, can be found farther up the steps. This is the entrance to a cell that may have housed the Oxford Martyrs, the prison’s most famous inmates. The intensely pious Queen Mary I (of “Bloody Mary” infamy) rejected England’s new Anglican religion in favour of the country’s old Catholic faith in the 1550s. Opponents of the transition were imprisoned and frequently killed. Bishop Hugh Latimer, Bishop Nicholas Ridley, and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer were all imprisoned at Bocardo Prison in 1555 for refusing to relinquish their Protestant religion. All three would be burned at the stake right outside the north city wall, confirming their reputations as Anglican martyrs. Today, from a vantage point that has seen it all, the top of the tower provides a panoramic view of Oxford’s modern metropolis.