A church built to serve Roman Catholics in East Oxford is to celebrate its centenary with a special Mass.

SS Edmund and Frideswide Church in Iffley Road first opened its doors on July 11, 1911.

Today, the Archbishop of Birmingham, The Most Rev Dr Bernard Longley, will preside over a mass of thanksgiving.

The church is known locally as Greyfriars due to the Capuchin friary attached to the church. Worshipper and reader Bernadette O’Reilly has put together a booklet on the history of the parish.

She said: “It wasn’t exactly a parish at the time it was originally built.

“It was built by the Jesuits who were responsible for the whole of Oxford.

“There was a little chapel at St Clement’s which didn’t hold a great many people, then they were given land and money to build a bigger church, which became SS Edmund and Frideswide.”

Originally the church served all the city’s Catholics east of the River Cherwell, most of whom had been worshipping in locations such as scout huts before it was built.

A Mass was also held on the anniversary of the first Mass in the church on Monday. The main celebratory Mass is at 7.30pm today.