Oxford All Saints was one of the original medieval parishes of the city, the church being situated on the corner of High Street and Turl Street. In 1427, when Lincoln College was founded, All Saints was united with the neighbouring parishes of St. Mildred and St. Michael at the Northgate to form a collegiate church for the new College. The church of St. Mildred was demolished, and the parish's lands divided between the two remaining parishes. Furthermore, from then onwards, all the ministers at both All Saints and St. Michael's were chosen by Lincoln College.
In 1700 the spire of the old church of All Saints (a picture of which may be found in PAR189/11/PR3/1) suddenly collapsed, seriously damaging the church. Rather than repair it, a new church was built. This church is the only 18th century church in the city, and it is thought that both Henry Aldrich, the then Dean of Christ Church, and Nicholas Hawksmoor both had a hand in designing it.
In 1895, after the church of St. Martin, which had long had a special link with the City Council, was demolished, the parishes of All Saints and St. Martins were united. All Saints church was renamed 'St. Martin and All Saints', and became the City Church of Oxford.
During the 20th century, fewer private residents lived in the centre of Oxford, and St. Martins and All Saints drew ever smaller congregations. As a result, from the mid-1950s onwards there were proposals to close the church down. Finally, in 1971, the church was declared redundant. The parish was amalgamated with St. Michael at the Northgate (the two parishes had already shared the same incumbent since 1943), and the church was converted into the library of Lincoln College, which function it still performs.
Most of the records of Oxford All Saints were originally deposited with the Bodleian Library in 1967, with further deposits made there in 1978 and 1982 before their transfer to Oxfordshire Archives. Further deposits were made directly with the Archives as Acc 3026 in January 1990, as Acc 3047 in February 1990 and Acc 6801 in.October 2019. Appendixes II and III respectively list the contents of each deposit, and provide a concordance of old and new references.
Recatalogued by Robin Darwall-Smith in November 1996, with additions by Alison Smith in January 2020.