Oxford No. 31 / Oxeneford

There are thirteen entries for Oxford [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SP5106/oxford/] [accessed 9 November 2016], two of which mention a church in each. The Victoria County History (Oxford, vol. 4, 1979) notes: "The chapel of St. Mary at Smith Gate, later known as the Octagon chapel, existed by the later 14th century when the vicar of St. Peter-in-the-East paid the city a quit-rent of 4d. for it, [...] apparently as an encroachment on the waste. Although it seems to have been outside the wall, the chapel was probably connected with the defences of the gate, and in 1366 was described as the little tower of Smith Gate with the statue of the Virgin on it. [...](The chapel was rebuilt c. 1520, reputedly by William de Hyberdine of Canterbury College, [...] but was disused in 1537 when a reredos and other statues were taken from it to the church of St. Peter-in-the-East".