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The origins of Oscott College lie in the mission of Andrew Bromwich, who bequeathed his house for the use of a priest to serve the Catholics of this area. Bromwich, the last English priest to be tried for treason and condemned to death (in 1679), was eventually released from prison and established the mission on his family property about two miles from here. He died there in 1702. Throughout the eithteenth century a succession of priests maintained the mission, serving the local population of farm workers and tradespeople. A scheme to educate sons of the Catholic gentry and professional classes alongside a seminary to train priests was developed at Oscott in the late eighteenth century. The college opened in 1794, with a small group of schoolboys and three seminary students. The missionary tradition of Andrew Bromwich and his successors flowed directly into the spirit and tradition of Oscott College, where Francis Martyn was ordained in 1805, the first priest wholly trained in England since the Reformation. Crippled with debt by 1808, the lay trustees of the college readily relinquished control of it to Bishop John Milner. From then until the present day, it has trained priests for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, and many other English and Welsh dioceses, religious orders and overseas dioceses.
The present home of Oscott dates from 1838. As the college expanded and Catholic life in England emerged from the penal times, it was decided to rebuild the college on a new site. This ambitious project was the brainchild of the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, Thomas Walsh. With the help of John, sixteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, George Ignatius Spencer and other benefactors, Walsh bought the land and employed Joseph Potter of Lichfield as architect.
Oscott College Opened in 1838
Walsh's intention was that Oscott would symbolise the renewal of Catholic life in England. It became the showplace of English Catholicism, and the famous historian, Lord Acton recalled that when he was a schoolboy here in the 1840's, 'apart from Pekin, we thought that Oscott was the centre of the world'. The portrait of Bishop John Milner inside the main entrance connects New Oscott with its roots. Milner began the 'New Government' of the college on the Feast of the Assumption 1808, dedicating the college to St. Mary, and revising its scheme of studies, particularly for the student priests. He worked closely with Thomas Walsh, who succeeded him as Vicar Apostolic, and who built the new college. In the background of Milner's portrait can be seen the outline of the old college, now Maryvale Institute. Facing the main door are four stained glass panels depicting the arms of the first four Bishops and Archbishops of Birmingham - William Bernard Ullathorne, Edward Illsley, John McIntyre and Thomas Williams. Biographies of William Bernard Ullathorne by Judith Champ and of Edward Ilsley by Mary McInally may be ordered from Oscott, as a cost of £22 for Ullathorne and £15 for Ilsley including P&P, or may be bought on site. Both of these contain a large amount of information on Oscott during the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
The College Chapel
The chapel is the heart of the college's life and the centre of Augustus Welby Pugin's work at Oscott. In 1837, Pugin, the rising star of Gothic architecture, was introduced to Oscott. Potter was paid off and Pugin was given a free hand, especially in the chapel. His purpose was to create a glorious visual and spiritual experience for the visitor and worshipper, which would draw them into the mystery of Christianity and closer to God. A detailed guide to the chapel is available, which may be ordered at £3.50 inc P&P, but a few elements are highlighted here:
The main window portrays the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, bearing the infant Christ. Surrounded by radiant golden light, she is flanked by St. Catherine of Alexandria and by St. Cecilia. Next to St. Catherine is St. Gregory the Great, and alongside St. Cecilia, St. Thomas Becket. This window was designed by Pugin and manufactured by Warrington of London.
The altar was constructed by Pugin by medieval fragments and wooden sculptures to his own design. The reredos consists of medieval carved scenes set in a framework designed by Pugin. The whole reredos is topped by wooden tracery and a series of medieval carvings. Beneath the reredos and tabernacle, set into the wooden panelling are a series of sixteenth century Limoges enamel panels which depict scenes from the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord.
The most striking of the side windows is the first war memorial to be erected in this country in honour of a Catholic chaplain. John Wheble offered his services as a volunteer in the Crimean War. The other windows date from the 1850s and 1860s and commemorate other college members and benefactors, whose patron saints are depicted in the main panels.
The pulpit is associated with the most significant occasion at Oscott in its early decades, the first synod of the restored Catholic hierarchy in 1852. This occasion was marked by the striking sermon preached from this pulpit by John Henry Newman. Later published as 'The Second Spring', the sermon was a moving account of the recovery of English Catholicism from the dark days of penal times to its Victorian splendour. It came to characterise the expression of the restoration of Catholicism, and the very title 'The Second Spring' passed into common usage to describe Catholic life in Victorian England.
The original choir stalls are seventeenth century French oak, decorated with beautifully carved faces. The benches in front were carved by Myers and Co of London in 1857. In 1925, the stalls were completed by Italian craftsmen. Fourteenth century in style, they harmonize with Pugin's designs, and were linked to the old stalls by the addition of new standards on the ends, bearing coats of arms of Oscott, and of bishops associated with the college. The ornately carved altar rails are seventeenth century, continental and full of Baroque flourishes and cherubs and are clearly dated 'anno 1680'.
The organ was made by Parsons of London, and given by Pugin's friend and business partner, John Hardman. In 1872 it was moved to its present position and enlarged by the generosity of the Oscotian Society (founded in 1863). In 1963, Nicholson and Co of Worcester carried out a radical rebuilding, which kept the casing and style of the original 1837 organ with the advantages of a modern console and action.
The chapel of SS Patrick and George, which contains a Pugin altar with this unusual double dedication leads to the Weedall Chantry. Pugin designed a huge chantry chapel with an elaborate tomb for John Milner, which was never built, but the brass was designed and executed by Hardmans of Birmingham in 1841. Henry Weedall, in whose memory the chantry was built, was the last rector of the old college and first rector of the new, working closely with Thomas Walsh in the building of the new college. He is the only rector to have served two separate terms of office and turned down an episcopal appointment to remain at his beloved Oscott.
This lifesize alabaster statue of Sedes Sapientiae (Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom), which sits in the Weedall Chantry, was bought for the college in 1862 by James Spencer Northcote. The designer was John Hardman Powell, Pugin's son in law and assistant. The Gothic niches in the pedestal base contain carvings of the Old Testament women who prefigured the Virgin Mary. Covering part of the wall behind the Sedes Sapientiae is a collection of commemorative brasses. Between 1868 and the 1920s, brasses were added to it in memory of eminent Oscotians and members of staff, and some who died in the college. One further one has been added in memory of Andrew Robinson, a student who died of cancer in 2001. The most ancient and beautiful image of the Virgin Mary in the chapel can be seen above the door. Acquired by Pugin, it is Flemish fifteenth century workmanship in a graceful and delicate style. Under the title of Maria Lactans, this is a statue expressive of the Motherhood of Mary and the humanity of Christ.
Quadrangle
St. George’s Cloister contains the teaching rooms named after SS Thomas More and John Fisher on the right; the view across the quad gives a sense of the medieval monastic and collegiate inspiration in the design of the college, including Gothic style gargoyles on the drainspouts.At the end of this cloister is the Common Room built in the early 1930s to create social space for the students.
The north cloister was originally open until the building of the Northcote Hall, planned by Edward Pugin in the 1850s and completed by Peter Paul Pugin in the 1870s. This large multi-purpose space was created as a lecture hall and theatre, and is named after James Spencer Northcote (Rector 1860-77). It is now used for meetings, public lectures, plays and indoor sports, as well as giving access to two small enclosed gardens, the Vianney Garden and the Millennium Garden.
From the north cloister, the tower can be seen, which carries the inscription TW Cambys VAMD. This commemorates Thomas Walsh, titular Bishop of Cambysopolis, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District (1826-48), the creator of the new college. The main college library, in the corner of the cloister was built in 1928, and named after Michael Glancey, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, who bequeathed money for its building.
The fourth wing of the cloister named after St. Thomas, leads past further teaching rooms towards the college refectory. The furniture in here has been in constant use since the 1840s, when it was designed by Pugin for use in the refectory and probably constructed in situ. The massive tables are classic examples of the simplicity and strength of his domestic furniture.The painting of The Last Supper is by an unknown artist, probably dating from the seventeenth century. The wooden carvings of the Virgin and Child and SS Peter and Paul are late medieval and from northern Europe.
Above the main staircase hangs the painting of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by the seventeenth century artist Gaspar de Crayer, a gift of Henry Weedall in the 1850s. The painting facing it records the first Synod of Westminsterin 1852, when the newly restored hierarchy gathered at Oscott. In 2002, the Bishops of England and Wales held their meeting at Oscott again to commemorate this event. On the gallery, the stained glass panels show the arms of Thomas Walsh and Nicholas Wiseman, who before his appointment as the first Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, was auxiliary bishop to Walsh and rector of Oscott from 1840 to 1847.
The College Museum
The museum at Oscott was founded by Augustus Welby Pugin. From 1837 he lived partly at Oscott, and gave lectures here as Professor of Ecclesiastical Art and Architecture. The Middle Ages represented to him the spirit of the age of Catholic faith. To restore the medieval setting for Catholic worship was, to Pugin, the means of restoring people to that faith.
Pugin’s aim in establishing the museum was twofold. Firstly, it was a means of preserving and displaying objects of Christian art, mainly from the Middle Ages, for the benefit of the college members and their visitors. As he wrote to a friend in June 1839,
We shall have a school of art at Oscott after the vacation and a very interesting ecclesiastical museum which will be arranged during the vacation. To these any of the boys [in the school] may have access at stated periods and under certain regulations. I hope great things from these as I think it will inspire the rising generation with true taste and make them duly appreciate the works of their Catholic ancestors.
Secondly it was as a means of education, to stir the imagination of the visitor to appreciation and understanding of the Christian message which the objects reflected. By entering into the creative world of Christian art, the visitor could be brought to a deeper appreciation of the faith which inspired it. That twofold purpose is still reflected in the museum today.
In the spirit of Augustus Welby Pugin, we hope that the Oscott museum will be a source, not only of knowledge about the past, but of inspiration for the future. We welcome visitors from all religious traditions and none, who have an interest in the eternal values which the objects here represent. Everything in this museum has been made holy by its use in the life and worship of the Church, and so they are not dead objects but living reminders of the faith which we share with those who have gone before us.
The Beggars Bush from an old photo
in the College Museum
Visitors
Oscott College warmly welcomes visitors on our regular Visitor Sundays, when they have the opportunity to tour the college, including the museum and chapel, meet staff and students and learn something of the life and purpose of Oscott College. The visit begins at 3.30 and ends with sung Evening Prayer with the college community, which ends at 7.00. Please contact the Rector’s secretary, Mrs P Salter for dates of Visitor Sundays and to make bookings. (Tel 0121 321 5037, email p.salter@oscott.org or write via the college)
We regret that it is not possible to offer facilities for individual casual visitors; scholars wishing to undertake specific research on the museum collection or subjects related to the college history should contact Dr Judith Champ by letter or email (j.champ@oscott.org) to discuss their sphere of interest and arrange a possible visit.
Research
The historical archives of Oscott College are deposited in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. At present they are closed to rersearchers while listing takes place. In future, all enquiries should be directed to the Archivist at St Chad’s Cathedral House, Birmingham at www.archives@birmingham.org The Archdiocese of Birmingham Historical Commission, which publishes material about people and places of historical interest in the Archdiocese and the Midland Catholic History Society can both be contacted via the website of the Archdiocese of Birmingham at www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk. Other sources of information relevant to Oscott and the history of English Catholicism can be found through the website www.catholic-history.org.uk Links from this website include the Catholic Record Society whose publications since 1904 are a major resource for anyone undertaking research on English and Welsh Catholic History. Family history searches cannot be undertaken, except to confirm dates of an individual’s attendance at Oscott. The list below, compiled in 1889, after the closure of the Oscott school, shows all those who attended the college between its foundation and that date.
The Recusant Library and rare books collection
The Recusant Library at Oscott College, with over 10,000 books and pamphlets, and 400 manuscripts, holds works of Catholic interest published between c.1470 and c.1850. The collection developed from two sources. The Harvington Secular Clergy Library was collected at the recusancy centre of Harvington Hall, Worcestershire for the use of priests of the Midland District. Founded in 1696 by Lady Mary Yate, by 1755 it contained 1,728 items. As might be expected, it is particularly strong in controversial and devotional works relating to the Church in England, and in the pamphlet wars
of the 1670s and 1680s. Bishop Milner acquired the collection in 1810 for
the use of the College.
In 1839, at the urging of Nicholas Wiseman, Bishop Walsh purchased the library of the Marchese Luigi Marini. Collected by his relative, L.G.Marini, Prefect of the Vatican Archives and of the Bibliotheca Vaticana, this accession brought a large number of European books and pamphlets, many of which are rare, on classical antiquities, together with a considerable remainder of the library formed in the C18th by Cardinal Garampi, (d.1792), an Italian scholar, antiquary and historian, who succeeded Marini in his Vatican posts. This includes materials for scriptural studies, the ‘Dissertationes Biblicae’ and ‘Opuscula Theologica’, many of them from German Protestant universities; post-Reformation theological controversies, and works on European Church affairs, published between 1500 and 1750.
Important additions to the collection were received throughout the nineteenth century. The library of the Wolverhampton mission and the Hardwicke bequest, brought a large number of pastoral manuals and devotional works. Father John Kirk of Lichfield, (d. 1851), left many books dealing with the English post-Reformation Church, and with French ecclesiastical history. Canon E.E. Estcourt’s (d. 1884), collection of original works relating to the English martyrs, and the extensive library of Mgr. John Crook, (d. 1909), contributed a wealth of materials on scripture, theology, canon law, and the Classics.
From the library of Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, at one time Chamberlain to Pope Leo XIII, come several manuscripts, copies from Vatican registers of diplomatic correspondence relating to English affairs from the 1540s onwards, details of 17th and 18th century papal conclaves and Roman ceremonial. Recent acquisitions have been the libraries from the missions at Brailes in Warwickshire, and from Brewood in Staffordshire; holdings from Sedgley Park School and its successor, Cotton College.
The greater part of the Recusant collection was described by G.F.Pullen in three printed catalogues, published between 1964 and 1971. Our many subsequent accessions have made necessary a thorough updating of the catalogues, and a presentation of the Library’s stock in a form more accessible to scholars. An electronic catalogue is currently being compiled.
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