SJE Arts Oxford

About SJE Arts Oxford

SJE hosts a wide range of events – choral, orchestral, opera, piano, chamber, jazz, folk, pop, poetry reading. Most are promoted by outside organisations and groups, a few by SJE Arts.

The Grade I listed church of St John the Evangelist was designed by Victorian architect George Frederick Bodley as a place of worship for an Anglican religious order, the Society of St John the Evangelist. Known affectionately as the ‘Cowley Fathers’, the monks of the order carried out their ministry in the poorest parts of this district.

In the 1980’s, the few remaining fathers relocated to their London base. The mission house on Marston Street, adjoining cloister and the church were taken over by St Stephen’s House – an Anglo-Catholic theological college and Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford. St Stephen’s House ordinands, graduate and PGCE students make regular use of SJE for worship.

Plain chant was an important part of the Cowley Fathers’ worship and the design and simplicity of decoration of the church reflected this need with a superb acoustic. Especially good for choral, it’s a space that works well for almost every kind of performance with the exception of heavy drumming.

Getting to SJE Arts Oxford

SJE Arts is at St John the Evangelist Church on Iffley Road, between Marston Street and James Street, opposite the University Sports Ground. It is a ten-minute walk from Magdalen Bridge.

By Bus:

Bus No 3 travels up Iffley Road, stopping directly outside the church (James Street stop). A number of other buses including 1, 5 & 10 stop at the James Street bus stop on Cowley Road, a short walk along Marston Street to Iffley Road and SJE.

By Car:
St John the Evangelist, Iffley Road, Oxford OX4 1EH

For some events SJE Arts offers car parking in a close by private car park for £6 per car. Availability will show up on theirwebsite. They will need a registration number when booking. One of the car parks is adjacent to the church with direct entrance, ideal for the physically impaired. The other is located in Marston Street.

There is also a small public car park at the bottom of St Clements and one behind Tesco Metro, Cowley Road. Both are a short walk from SJE. Some on street parking is available on Iffley Road and in the nearby side streets after 6:30pm.