The tower view
From the narrow walkway the Radcliffe Camera dome sits directly below you and the college spires run to the horizon; the finest view in Oxford.
Diliff — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Laurène Dorat — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rysa98 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · -wuppertaler — CC BY-SA 4.0
The best photograph in Oxford is not taken from any street. It is taken from a narrow walkway wrapped around this church's tower, high above Radcliffe Square, with the round dome of the Radcliffe Camera directly beneath your feet, the twin towers of All Souls to your right and the Bodleian and a dozen college spires running out until they dissolve into green countryside. The tower is the oldest part of the church still standing, work of about 1280, and the decorated stone spire above it followed in the 1320s. This church was the university's heart before the university owned a single building: its first assemblies met here, lectures were given and degrees awarded here, and its books and its cash chest were kept in a small stone house of 1320 that still stands beside the tower. Entry to the church itself is free, and the interior is calmer and roomier than the tourist-thick pavement outside suggests. Before going in, look at the south porch on the High Street: a Baroque doorway with twisted barley-sugar columns from 1637, entirely out of step with the Gothic building around it, and controversial enough in its day to be cited as evidence at the trial of Archbishop Laud, whose chaplain paid for it. Be honest with yourself, though: the interior earns ten minutes, and the tower is what you pay seven pounds a head for, with no concessions for children or students. The climb is 127 steps up a tight medieval turret stair, some of them worn and steep. Nobody under eight is allowed up, and eight-to-fifteens must be with an adult. The walkway at the top is roughly one person wide, so meeting someone coming the other way calls for a little negotiation, and on July and August afternoons you may queue at the bottom until the platform empties. The tower can shut in high winds and during services and university ceremonies. Tickets are sold, cash or card, at the small shop by the Radcliffe Square entrance; there is no online sale. Usual hours are 09:30 to 17:00 Monday to Saturday and from 12:00 on Sundays, extended to 18:00 in July and August, with last tower admission about forty minutes before closing. A cafe in the old Congregation House at the tower's base serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, but the well-known Vaults and Garden, which ran it for twenty years, moved out in late 2025 to nearby King Edward Street, so check what is open before you count on it. There are no toilets in the building; the nearest public ones are on Market Street by the Covered Market. From Oxford railway station it is a fifteen-minute walk, and there is no parking anywhere near the church, so drivers should use one of the Park and Ride sites on the ring road.
From the narrow walkway the Radcliffe Camera dome sits directly below you and the college spires run to the horizon; the finest view in Oxford.
The 1637 doorway with its twisted columns on the High Street clashes deliberately with the Gothic church and was cited as evidence at Archbishop Laud's trial.
A stone building of 1320 at the tower's foot that was the university's first meeting hall and library; its ground floor holds a cafe today, so check what is open.
High Street, Radcliffe Square, Oxford OX1 4BJ
Radcliffe CameraOxford's most famous building is one you cannot walk into. The Radcliffe Camera,1 minute walk4.6
Bodleian LibraryNobody has been allowed to borrow a book from this library since it opened in 162 minutes walk4.5
Sheldonian TheatreBefore Christopher Wren built St Paul's, he was an Oxford astronomy professor wi2 minutes walk4.8
History of Science MuseumIn the entrance gallery, behind glass that gives nothing away from a distance, s2 minutes walk4.3
Carfax TowerOxford runs on an odd rule: nothing new in the city centre may rise higher than 4 minutes walk4.5This one, clearly: it is taller, sits among the colleges and looks straight down on the Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian, while Carfax overlooks shopping streets. If you have children under eight, or anyone who dislikes tight spiral stairs, settle for the free church; the walkway at the top is no place for a fear of heights.
There is no online booking at all; tickets are sold on site only. In July and August expect to wait fifteen minutes or more since numbers at the top are limited, so go at opening time or in the last hour before final admission, and check the tower is actually open: it can close in high winds and during university ceremonies.