St Martin’s Church, SW end of Cornmarket Street
The original St Martin’s (or Carfax) church was built in the early eleventh century, but by 1820 it had become unsafe, and was demolished (except for its tower) and rebuilt.
The second church was demolished in 1896 as part of the Carfax Improvement Scheme, and again the original medieval tower was preserved
St Martin's at Carfax was the City Church where the Mayor and Corporation worshipped.
For more details about its history, including images of the two earlier St Martin's Church buildings that once stood on this site,
see this page on the Oxford Mayors website
In September 2025 Oxford City Council agreed to sell the freehold of Carfax Café and Carfax Churchyard Gardens, and the new owners, Goldmoney Inc., purchased it in order to create another entrance from Carfax to their proposed Clarendon Centre development. This entrance is not part of their initial planning application and will be created later.
Right: the surviving medieval tower,
which is Grade II listed (1047353)