St Clement's Church originally stood at what is now The Plain roundabout, where the roads from London and Henley cross the River Cherwell at Magdalen Bridge.

[1] It served both the small community of Bruggeset ("Bridge Settlement") that surrounded it as well as the largely rural area that eventually became East Oxford.

The first written record mentioning the church was in 1122 when it was one of the royal chapels given to St Frideswide's Priory by King Henry I.

[2] One scholar suggests that there is a circumstantial case for the church being built in connection with a Danish garrison sometime between 1016 and the 1050s; this would explain its location close to a bridge and the dedication to St Clement which was unusual at inland sites at this time.

[3] Almost nothing is known of the appearance of the earliest church building, but recent scholarship suggests that a stone head now in the Ashmolean Museum may have originally been a brightly painted stone corbel from the 13th century church, suggesting that the earliest parishioners would have worshipped in a space rich in colour and carved stonework .

[4] In 1323, money was granted for the rebuilding of "the Church of St Clement beyond Petty Pont" (Magdalen Bridge)[2] Most of the building demolished in 1829 dated from this time.

[7] During the Siege of Oxford (1644-1646) the church and parish were literally on the front line between the Parliamentary forces on Headington Hill and the Royalists in the city.

It was reported that, as a consequence, "no parish suffered more severely" with whole streets being demolished to facilitate the building of fortifications or to prevent the enemy from taking cover.

In the early 1800s, slum clearances in Oxford saw St Clement's expand rapidly, with over three hundred new "houses being built between 1821 and 1824".

As the then rector, Revd John Gutch, was in his 80s, the decision was made to appoint a curate to assist him and to raise money for the new church.

St Clement's is an early example of the Anglo-Norman or Romanesque Revival style, although Pevsner describes it as "patently Georgian Norman".

The refurbishments were the work of Edward George Bruton (1826-1899), an Oxford-based architect who specialised in ecclesiastical commissions in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and were largely paid for by members of the wealthy Morrell brewing family[15] of Headington Hill Hall.

The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw several reordering exercises in the church building including the creation of a crèche and kitchen (1973), creating a dais in the chancel area (1984) and the installation of disabled access (2005).

[17] In 2020-22 the organ and several pews were removed to create a more flexible space and the kitchen was upgraded to allow for the preparation of hot food.

The first professional musician mentioned in the church records is a Mr H Pitts who was appointed as clarinetist in 1843 at an annual salary of £3 3s; the clarinet cost £3 15s.

[21] The cost of maintenance and changes in worship styles since the late 20th century led to the organ falling into disuse and it was removed in early 2020 by Michael Farley of Siddenham.

The striking east window (geographical north) at the front of the church shows ten scenes from the life of Christ.

[26] A memorial scroll inside the church lists the names of St Clement's men who died during the First and Second World Wars.

It supported the needs of older parishioners through direct financial assistance and made grants to organisations working to alleviate poverty within the Parish.

In 1956, senior pupils moved to the nearby secondary modern school, whilst the infants merged with the juniors at Cross Street until that, too, closed in 1958.

[34] The Cross Street site was subsequently acquired by St Clement's Parish Property for church and community use.

Most of St Clement's parish records have been deposited in the Diocesan Archive at Oxfordshire History Centre and some registers are available online.

[2] Following the English Reformation of the 1530s the patronage passed briefly to Cardinal College (now Christ Church), Oxford and then to the Crown until the mid-19th Century.