About St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Littlemore
St Mary and St Nicholas is a Church of England parish church in Littlemore. The church is a grade II listed building and was founded by John Henry Newman (1801-1890), later Cardinal Newman of the Roman Catholic Church, and more recently, Saint Newman.
When he became Vicar of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford in 1828, he discovered that Littlemore was a distant part of his parish, without a church and school of its own. The church was consecrated in 1836, fourteen months after the foundation stone was laid by his mother, Jemima, who died before it was finished.
The church had originally been built as a chapel of ease in the parish of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford. In 1847, Littlemore became its own parish, and the chapel was renamed the Church of St Mary and St Nicholas.
In 2020, the church building was transformed into a beautiful, warm and welcoming sacred community space with a bespoke kitchen, toilets, a new heating system, new lighting, and a new AV system.
It is now offered as a well-equipped and adaptable space for community or social groups, public or private events, family activities, music groups, and embodied worship groups.
St Mary and St Nicholas Church is part of the new benefice of Littlemore with Sandford-on-Thames.
Getting there
By car
Leave the Oxford Ring Road at the Littlemore Roundabout. (This roundabout is between Cowley Roundabout, from which Tesco’s and the BMW Car factory are visible, and Heyford Hill Roundabout, where Sainsbury’s is situated.) After about 100 meters, you will see St Mary and St Nicholas Church as you enter the junction of Sandford Road, Oxford Road, and Cowley Road, Littlemore. Please be aware that St Nicholas Road has restricted parking at times. For details, please see the notice boards on St Nicholas Road.
By bus
There is a bus stop opposite the church, and regular bus service is provided from Oxford. Alternatively, visitors from Oxford may catch one of the more frequent buses to Rose Hill, just inside the Oxford Ring Road, and walk the half mile or so to the church, passing below the Ring Road through a pedestrian underpass.
