The cross base, carved with Old Testament scenes, is thought to belong to the cross that the Jewish community of Oxford was ordered to erect in 1268 in recompense for the disruption of the Ascension Day procession as it passed through the Jewish Quarter. The processional crucifix was allegedly trampled and broken in what became referred to as the Ascension Day Riot. It is hence known as The Jews Cross. Initially ordered to stand opposite the synagogue, instead the cross was sited in the courtyard of St. John the Baptist Church on Merton Street. It was removed in 1291 with the construction of Merton College Chapel.
A drawing of the cross base in the Oxfordshire History Centre collection from 1892, ref: POX0079146, is annotated: “Base of a cross formerly built in buttress of S Lucy’s Chapel, now in Sacristy in N Transept, Sketch showing subjects: Adam & Eve and Abraham & Isaak.” Suggesting the cross base was reused as building stone in the fabric of Christ Church Cathedral but later recovered and put on display within. Since 2021 the cross base has been exhibited at the Museum of Oxford.
This is part of the Series: HWT01/01 Glass Plate Negatives And Inkjet Prints; within the Collection: HWT01 Henry W Taunt Collection
Source: Historic England Archive
Photographer: Taunt, Henry William
Curator: Birks, Moira
Base, Cathedral, Christian Religion