A plaque has been unveiled at Oxford Castle to St Frideswide, the city’s patron saint.

The honour is part of the castle’s timeline, which tells the tale of the Oxford’s development and events which occurred on the historic site.

The timeline dates originally started in 1009, when the Saxon town of Oxford was attacked by the Danes, but it was decided to mark the very beginning of the city, with the founding of a monastery by St Frideswide circa 700AD.

Debbie Dance, director of Oxfordshire Preservation Trust which has compiled the timeline, said: “The plaques all mark big events that have happened in Oxford and hinge on 1066 because it is a date that everyone knows.

“The year 1009, when the Saxons attacked Oxford, is actually when the history of that particular site begins but we thought we should have something on the timeline about when Oxford itself started.”

St Frideswide, founded a monastery on the banks of the River Thames in 700AD and it was from that monastery which the city developed.

Mrs Dance said: “St Frideswide is hugely important because she is our patron saint and all schoolchildren learn about her.

“It is because she chose here to found her monastery that we have Oxford as it is today.”

The timeline marks 15 key events in the city’s history, starting with St Frideswide and going up to 2006, when Oxford Castle was opened to the public.

Other events marked include when Robert D’Oilly started building the castle, the completion of St George’s Church and Crypt in the castle site, and the escape from the tower of Empress Matilda.

It also remembers the castle’s history as the county gaol, with the earliest recorded use being in 1239, up to the final public execution on the site in 1863 and the closure in 1996.

Mrs Dance said: “You get the idea of the various things that have occurred on the site and how many things have happened.

“We all know about the university, but not so much about the city and this is a way of making that accessible.”

The plaque was unveiled by Mrs Dance with the help of pupils from Pegasus School, Blackbird Leys, who followed the plaque unveiling with a performance of their Christmas play, Oxford Saints.

The timeline was paid for by Oxford Preservation Trust as part of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the castleyard project.

The scheme included the castleyard, mound, heritage centre and key learning centre, with the new part funded by a donation from the Barnsbury Charitable Trust.

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk