Medieval Jewish Sites in Oxford, England

Oxford, England. Dead Man's Walk, Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

Oxford, England. Dead Man's Walk, Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

Oxford, England. Lasker Rose Garden, Oxford Botanic Garden. Memorial plaque on site of second Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Medieval Jewish  Sites in Oxford, England
by Samuel D. Gruber

On August 6, 2019, Jewish-Heritage-Europe.eu reported on the reburial of bones discovered at the site of the first medieval Jewish cemetery in Oxford, England, which was established c. 1190. The cemetery now lies under Oxford's Magdalene College (founded 1458), famed for its choir school. In 2013, I wrote about the installation of an earlier plaque in the second Jewish cemetery across the road under the Botanical Garden

A recent visit to Oxford allowed me to visit these and other sites related to the medieval Jewish settlement there, which extended from about 1075 until the expulsion of all Jews from England in 1290. There are no significant visible physical remains of the Jewish past, but there are echoes. These have been amplified in recent years by the efforts of researchers and cultural heritage professionals. This has led to the creation in 2013 of an excellent guide to Oxford's Jewish heritage by Victoria Bentata and Pam Manix, which is available on-line as a pdf from the Oxford Jewish Heritage website and in a hard copy at the Oxford Visitor's Center.

There are also a few historical markers around the city, and the location of the two Jewish cemeteries - long since built over - are indicated with recent commemorative markers.

Because of centuries of good English record keeping, and meticulous property and tax records dating to the Norman and Angevin periods, we know exactly where many Jews owned property, and the names of many Jewish residents. These are displayed in detailed maps of Medieval Jewish Oxford on the Oxford Jewish Heritage website. 

Throughout England, beginning in the 19th century, such records have been correlated to the detailed Ordinance Survey maps of English towns, so that we have as good or better sense of Jewish settlement patterns - at least for wealthier Jews - in Norman and Angevin England than of any place else in medieval Europe. This is certainly the case of Oxford.

Oxford, England. Carfax Crossroads and St. Aldate's Street (former Great Jewry Street). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Oxford, England. Bear Lane off St. Aldate's Street (former Great Jewry Street). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Oxford, England. Plaque on side of Town Hall facing Bear Lane off St. Aldate's Street (former Great Jewry Street). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

In Oxford, Jews settled around Great Jewry Street, what is today St. Aldate's, where the Town Hall is located. At the top of the street at the Carfax Crossroads was the house of Aaron son of Isaac. In 1141 King Stephen ordered this house was burned down as a threat to other Jews, in an successful effort to extort large sums of money from the community so he could fight his cousin and rival for the throne, Empress Matilda. We know, too, that David of Oxford, a very wealthy financier, lived in a stone house on on Great Jewry, now the site of the Town Hall. Other Jews lived nearby, and the synagogue was located down the street on part of what is now Christ Church College Tom Quad. A similar situation--and Jewry--existed in Winchester, where the financier Licoricia of Winchester lived. Licorcia married David of Oxford (more on her and the Jewry of Winchester in another post).

Jewries were not ghettos. There was not, as far we know, enforced enclosure of Jewish communities in England. It is possible some communities lived in closed gated areas for protection.

Oxford, England. Museum of Oxford. Display of varied medieval material. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

The Museum of Oxford, also called Discover Oxford, is located in the Town Hall. It is undergoing renovation and expansion, so only a small part of its collection was on view. Normally, this includes material excavated under the Town Hall, some of which may date to the period of Jewish occupation. Most of the items in the temporary exhibit, however, all appeared later, and in any case, like most every objects of medieval Jews, any of these could have been owned and used for Jews or Christians.

The only object the might be from one of the medieval Jewish houses is a stone cresset lamp which was part of the immovable architecture of a house, excavated in the 1890s. An oil soaked rope or other type of wick would be set in oil in the basin and this would burn as interior lighting. This lamp is a rare survival what was probably a relatively common functional architectural element houses, especially stone houses, of the well-to-do. I have never seen one on a synagogue--but it is possible that this type of lighting was used in synagogues and other public buildings, too.

Oxford, England. Museum of Oxford. Medieval cresset lamp found during 1890s excavation beneath Town Hall. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

The museum also has some basic information on the town's medieval Jewish population--especially its best known characters--as part of its educational presentation to a general public. I suspect this will all be expanded in the new exhibition.

Oxford, England. Museum of Oxford. Information on medieval Oxford Jews. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Oxford, England. Museum of Oxford. Information on medieval Oxford Jews. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Oxford, England. Museum of Oxford. Information on medieval Oxford Jews. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Perhaps the highlight of the Jewish route in Oxford and the most notable extant topographical feature of the Jewish past is the long walkway outside the city walls known as Dead Man's Walk that allowed Jews to transport bodies from the Jewry for burial without passing through the city streets. Originally bodies were taken to London, the site of the only Jewish cemetery. Then, after 1190, when burial was allowed in Oxford, and the Jewish Community purchased a water meadow outside the city which was consecrated as a cemetery. According to Pam Manix of Oxford Jewish Heritage, “It ran 300 feet along the road – roughly from Magdalen Bridge to where the Porters’ Lodge [of Magdalene College] now stands.

Oxford, England. Dead Man's Walk, Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

Oxford, England. Dead Man's Walk, Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

In 1231 this land was given by Henry III to the Hospital of Saint John, and only a small parcel of wasteland, approximately on the site of  the Lasker Rose Garden at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens across the road from Magdalene College, was allowed for Jewish burial. A granite plaque was installed giving the history of the site was installed in 2012.

In 2016 bones from the first cemetery were found during construction work at Magdalene College. These were reburied in a new grave at the College, and a plaque was installed in the ground of the Magdalene's St. John Quad close to the site of the discovery. A ceremony was held re-interring the bones, and dedicating the plaque, and commemorating the medieval Jewish community.

Oxford, England. Magdalene College. St. John's Quad, location of plaque commemorating the first Jewish cemetery in Oxford. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

 Oxford, England. Magdalene College. Dedication of commemorative plaque on June 20, 2019,  marking the location of the first Jewish cemetery in Oxford. Photo: Magdalene College website.

Oxford, England. Magdalene College. Commemorative plaque marking the location of the first Jewish cemetery in Oxford. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

Oxford, England. Magdalene College. Commemorative plaque marking the location of the first Jewish cemetery in Oxford. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019

The second cemetery was opened after 1231 across the road, from the first just outside the East Gate of the Old City Walls. After 1290 the land was also part of St. John's Hospital--which may have also used the site for burials. The University of Oxford Botanic Garden opened on the site in the early 17th century as a 'physic garden', at which time bones were dug up between 1621 and 1633.  There was a marker set to the right of the gate to the Gardens in 1931 noting the cemetery use of the site. Rabbi Eli Brackman has written about the history of this plaque and the significance of its Hebrew and English inscription.

In 2012 the Oxford Jewish Heritage Committee erected a more prominent  memorial to the medieval Jewish community.This was originally laid flat in the ground, but has now been elevated and is higher and set an an angle to allow greater visibility and better legibility.

Oxford, England. Lasker Rose Garden, Oxford Botanic Garden. Memorial plaque on site of second Jewish cemetery. An earlier plaque from 1931 can be seen in the background on the wall next to the Botanic Garden gate. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Oxford, England. Oxford Botanic Garden. Danby Gateway, 1633. Cemetery memorial plaque from 1931 can be seen  on the wall to the right of the gate. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.