Oxford’s cathedral has a unique dual role in the Church of England. Christ Church Cathedral is the College Chapel as well as the cathedral church for the Diocese of Oxford, and welcomes worshippers from Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and beyond.

The site has been a place of worship for more than a thousand years. A monastery was founded here early in the eighth century by St. Frideswide. Records show Henry I granted a charter to an Augustinian priory in 1122. Although no evidence of the earlier buildings remains, parts of the 12th-century structure are still visible in the Cathedral today.

Wolsey suppressed the priory in 1524 and work began on the building of Cardinal's College – with part of the west end of the church removed to make space for Tom Quad. After Wolsey's fall, the college was re-designated as ‘King Henry VIII’s College'. In 1546, the priory church became both the cathedral for the newly formed Diocese of Oxford, and the chapel of the new college of Christ Church.