Historic Buildings

Securing the Fabric and Future of St Mary & John, Cowley Road, East Oxford

The renewal project at St Mary & John has been evolving since 2018 (before the pandemic). The project has since matured into a vision of shared space and meaningful relationships with our neighbours. Initial guidance (2018) came from the Regeneration Team of the Diocesan’s Churches Conservation Trust, who helped organise an open day. Attended by some 400 people, the feedback was overwhelmingly in favour of retaining St Mary & John as a living church while developing its potential as a community resource. In 2022, we commissioned market research and an options study. This was helpful in profiling our neighbourhood and in confirming the need and potential for the church as an inclusive place of refuge for all. Subsequently we commissioned Clews Architects Ltd to conduct feasibility studies for us. We appointed them as the Project Architects. Our project will: Preserve and protect the historic Grade II listed building by saving our structurally damaged tower so it remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for future generations. Celebrate and share the church and community’s rich heritage through engaging, inclusive interpretation, telling the story of its architecture, people, and place in the Cowley Road. Engage the whole community with heritage events, storytelling, school activities, exhibitions, and tours that bring the building and community’s history to life. Improve accessibility and welcome through better and safer facilities, we currently do not have a disabled toilet. Inspire learning and connection by building stronger relationships with schools, community groups, and heritage organisations. Ensure sustainability by creating a strategic plan for ongoing use and care that keeps the building at the heart of worship, culture, and community life for the next 25 years and beyond. Our vision is for St Mary & St John to be a living heritage space — rooted in history, open to all, and serving East Oxford as a place of welcome, learning, and inspiration.