CARFAX TOWER: THE CROSSROADS OF OXFORD LIFE

Leaving the Mitre Hotel, continue along the High Street until it meets the busy intersection at the very centre of Oxford.
Here, four major roads converge: Cornmarket Street, Queen Street, St. Aldate’s, and The High.
At the corner stands Carfax Tower, a tall square bell tower made of honey-coloured stone — the remains of the 13th-century St. Martin’s Church.
You can climb the tower (for a small fee) for panoramic views of the entire city — the same “dreaming spires” that enchanted Lewis when he first arrived.

Orientation cue: The tower stands slightly apart from the buildings around it, with a clock face and arched windows near the top.

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“Carry on up the High Street until you reach a cross-roads. Pause for a moment. In front of you is Carfax Tower, so-called from the French ‘carrefour,’ meaning crossroads. In contrast with the quiet Queen’s Lane, this area is one of the busiest places in Oxford.”

Carfax Tower — from the French carrefour, meaning “crossroads” — marks the official centre of Oxford.
For centuries, this has been where students, scholars, and townspeople have collided (sometimes literally) in the hum and bustle of daily life.
The tower once belonged to St. Martin’s Church, demolished in 1896, leaving only its belfry as a lookout and landmark.
C.S. Lewis would have passed through here almost daily — on his way to lectures, to meet friends, or to wander westward toward St. Giles and The Eagle and Child.
He often reflected on how Oxford’s geography mirrored the human condition: “Every road meets another, every choice leads somewhere else.”
Standing here, between the hush of Queen’s Lane and the clamour of Cornmarket Street, you feel the pulse of the living city — a place that never stops teaching.
The crossroads is symbolic too: for Lewis, it represents decision, discovery, and the meeting point between reason and faith.

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