this church an oath to maintain the rights and privileges of the University.

The situation of

ST. PETER'S IN THE EAST,

though so near the main street, is pleasingly retired, and the church itself possesses claims to particular notice. It is, indeed, in some respects, more curious than any of the other parish churches of the City; and it is confessedly one of the most ancient, if not the most ancient, among them. It is even thought to have been the first church built of stone in these parts of the country; and, although it has since undergone many alterations, a considerable part of the original building yet remains for the inspection of the antiquary. In our concise view of the academical history of Oxon, mention was made of St. Grymbald, as having been one of the professors placed by Alfred in the University, then recently restored. By this St. Grymbald the church of St. Peter is said to have been built, towards the end of the 9th century, chiefly as a place of resort for Scholars. Of St. Grymbald's edifice, the chief part, or what is considered to be the chief part, now remaining forms the chancel of the present structure; the other portions, according to Hearne P, having been rebuilt during the reign of Henry V.

The length of this venerable building is 115

P Hearne says, "the only remaining portion;" but the peculiarity of structure which marks the tower, inclines to believe it also coeval with the chancel. Nay, may not the whole shell of the original edifice, the aisles excepted, be yet standing, and the various pointed windows of the nave, &c. have been merely insertions of a later date?

feet, and the breadth 42 feet. It principally consists of a nave, with a north aisle, a chancel, and an aisle extending northwards from the chancel; which aisle is supposed to have formerly been a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At the west end of the north aisle is a square tower containing six bells. This tower diminishes upward, and displays on each face of the upper part a small pointed window. It is not embattled, but is finished by a parapet pierced with quatrefoils: a similar parapet appears on the chancel, and also on the porch. The style of the chancel is, of course, Saxon, of which style a small window on the southern side, and another of larger size on the north, are choice specimens. The east end of this interesting remain is flanked by turrets, one on each side, of a square form below, cylindrical above, and terminated by cones of rude masonry 9. Between the cones the eastern wall rises into an elevated pediment. Pointed windows, some of them not inelegant in form and decoration, of various magnitudes, are inserted in different parts of the building. And although, to common observers, the whole exterior of the church may appear unsightly, and displease from its ruggedness and want of uniformity, no person, of a cultivated mind and taste, will contemplate without veneration those portions, which, after having borne the pelting storms of nearly a thousand winters, still remain, to evince, by their solidity and their embellishments, the skill in masonry, the invention, the taste, and, what is a still more grateful theme of contemplation, the piety, of our

9 The latter is, however, partly hidden from view by a clumsy fabric of stone, appropriated to the uses of a vestry.

Saxon ancestors in the days of the illustrious Alfred.

Entering the church, through the porch mentioned before, which is adorned by two canopied niches, we find several objects of curiosity. The windows of the north aisle yet contain much painted glass. In one of them is a fantastical symbol of the Trinity, in others figures, armorial bearings, &c. The font is supported by a sculptured representation of the forbidden tree, beneath the foliage of which appear figures of Adam and Eve, the whole being painted in imitation, in miserable imitation, of nature. The reading desk and pulpit are on the left of the entrance into the chancel. To the pulpit there are two entrances, one of which, used only by the University preachers, leads through a pillar. Over the pulpit is inscribed, If any man speake, let him speake as the oracles of God. On the partition between the nave and the chancel is placed an organ, which from the parochial records appears to have been set up in 1768, in the place of a former one. The church is commodiously pewed, and has a gallery at the west end.

In the chancel, which is both spacious and lofty, and has a finely ornamented roof, are two fine clusters of Saxon columns. The Saxon windows also, mentioned before, are here seen unobscured. The arch of that on the south is supported on one

A former font appears to have been really curious. It was of a cylindrical form, and was adorned with figures of the twelve Apostles placed round it in stalls under canopies. "These figures," says Hearne," after they had rested in their situation here for "500 years or more, were carried away by a sacrilegious church"warden, and placed at the well on the north side of the church." The well is now stopped up, and the figures are gone. Peshall's Oxford.