St Mary's College, Oscott

Oscott College
Oscott College
St Mary's College, New Oscott
	View of the college from the south
	Oscott College Location of college
	52°32′38″N 1°51′20″W / 52.543766°N 1.855451°W
OS grid reference	SP0988894038
Location	New Oscott, Birmingham
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	oscott.net
History
Status	Seminary
Founded	May 1794
Founder(s)	Thomas Walsh
Dedication	St Mary
Consecrated	29 May 1838
Associated people	Cardinal Wiseman; Bernard Griffin; Cardinal Newman; Thomas Williams
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II* Listed
Designated	25 April 1952
Architect(s)	Joseph Potter; A.W. Pugin
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	25 April 1836
Completed	31 May 1838
Construction cost	£40,000
Administration
Province	Birmingham
Archdiocese	Birmingham
Deanery	Birmingham (North)
Parish	Our Lady of the Assumption Maryvale
Clergy
Archbishop	Bernard Longley
Rector	Canon Michael Dolman

St Mary's College in New Oscott, Birmingham, sometimes called Oscott College, is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in England and one of two seminaries of the Catholic Church in England and Wales in England, with Allen Hall Seminary in London.^[3] (Another two are in Rome: the Venerable English College^[4], and the Pontifical Beda College for men over 30.^[5])

Purpose

College chapel, designed by A. W. N. Pugin

Oscott College admits students for the priesthood from various dioceses of England and Wales, as well as some students from overseas. The first three years of the academic programme are validated by the University of Birmingham as a BA in Fundamental Catholic Theology. Those who complete the six-year programme, also obtain a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB) through affiliation with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.^[6]

Additionally, Oscott College is a centre for formation of candidates regarding the permanent diaconate.

History

Old Oscott

The college was founded in Oscott (present-day, Great Barr), in 1794, after the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791, for both the training of priests and the education of lay pupils. It developed out of a small mission founded by Fr Andrew Bromwich, around 1687.

New Oscott

In 1838, the college moved to a new site, which came to be known as New Oscott (and the original site as "Old Oscott"). The Maryvale Institute remains on the original site. The new building was designed by Augustus Pugin and Joseph Potter at a cost of £40,000. It is grade II* listed. The college quickly became a symbol of the rebirth of the Catholic faith in England and played a prominent part in the life of the Church in the 19th century. In 1889, the college was closed, but reopened the following year as a seminary only.

21st Century

After the closure of St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, Durham, in 2011, many of the dioceses in the province of Liverpool sent their students to Oscott to complete their training. This gave a boost in numbers at the college at a time when vocations seemed to be scarce.^[7]

Pope Benedict XVI visited on 19 September, 2010, following the beatification, earlier that day in Birmingham's Cofton Park, of Cardinal Newman who stayed at the college, in the late 1840s. During his visit to Oscott, Benedict had lunch with the Roman Catholic bishops of England, Scotland, and Wales. The Oscott visit was the last scheduled event during the four-day 2010 State Visit of Benedict to the UK. The Pope would later depart the UK from Birmingham Airport.

In 2023, the college hosted a seminar called "Rethink Abortion Day," which was led by prominent US-based activist anti-abortion groups. The seminar was based on building on the successes experienced by the Pro-Life movement in the United States and expanding their successes into the United Kingdom.^[8]

A national Eucharistic Congress for England and Wales is scheduled to take place at the college in September 2024.^[9]

Choral music

A CD of choral music, Sedes Sapientiae, performed by The Schola and recorded live in the college's chapel on 7 June 2008, was released by the college (cat. no. OSCOTTCD01).^[10]

Notable alumni

Clergy

Bishops

Francis Amherst (1819–1883), Bishop of Northampton.
Tomás Bryan Livermore (1824–1902), Bishop of Cartagena
Edward Bagshawe (1829–1915), Bishop of Nottingham.
Terence Brain (1938–), Bishop of Salford.
Kevin Dunn (1950–2008), Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.
William Lee (1875–1948), Bishop of Clifton.
Leo McCartie (1925–2020), Bishop of Northampton.
David McGough (1944-), Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham.
James McGuinness (1925–2007), Bishop of Nottingham.
Robert Willson (1794–1866), Bishop of Hobart.
David Oakley (1955), Bishop of Northampton

Priests

William Francis Barry (1849–1930), writer.
Frederick Charles Husenbeth (1796–1872), writer.
Henry Weedall (1788–1859), educator.
William Purcell Witcutt (c.1910–c.1970), author.

Laity

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902).
George Ashlin (1837–1921), architect.
John Ball (1818–1889), Irish politician and naturalist.
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922), poet.
Thomas Henry Burke (1829–1882), Permanent Under Secretary at the Irish Office.
John Cornwell (1940–), writer.
Charles Kent (1823–1902), journalist and editor.
Edmund Kirby (1838–1920), architect.
Nicholas Lash (1934–2020), theologian.
Ernest Law (1854–1930), historian and barrister.
Edwin de Lisle MP (1852–1920), politician.
St. George Jackson Mivart (1827–1900), biologist.
George Moore (1852–1933), novelist.
Francis Loraine Petre (1852–1925), civil servant and military historian.
Thomas Nicholas Redington (1815–1862), Irish political administrator.
Frederick Rolfe, also known as Baron Corvo (1860–1913), writer and artist.
Joseph Stevenson (1806–1895), archivist and editor.
Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland (1861–1940), Prime Minister of Malta.
Charles Towneley (1803–1876) and his younger brother John (1806–1878), both were MPs, officers in the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia and trustees of the British Museum.^[11]

Former presidents and rectors

Presidents

1794–1808 John Bew
1808–15 Thomas Potts
1816–18 John Francis Quick
1818–25 Thomas Walsh
1825–40 Henry Weedall
1840–47 Nicholas Wiseman
1847–48 Henry F.C. Logan
1848–53 John Moore
1853–59 Henry Weedall
1859–60 George Morgan
1860–77 James Spencer Northcote
1877–80 John Hawksford
1880–84 Edward Acton
1885 Joseph Henry Souter^[12]

Rectors

1885–90 Joseph Henry Souter
1890–96 Edward Ilsley
1896–1924 Henry Parkinson
1924–29 Charles Cronin
1929–35 James Dey
1935–61 Leonard Emery
1961–68 Richard Foster
1968–79 Francis Thomas
1979–84 Patrick Kelly
1984–89 Michael Kirkham
1989–98 Patrick McKinney
1998–2001 Kevin McDonald
2001–13 Mark Crisp
2013–20 David Oakley^[13]
2020–21 Giles Goward
2021-Present: Fr Michael Dolman

References

^ Oscott History Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
^ British Listed Buildings
^ "Become a Priest". Portsmouth Catholic Diocese. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
^ "About the VEC – Venerable English College". Venerable English College. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
^ "Pontifical Beda College – Rome (homepage)". Retrieved 28 October 2024.
^ "The Seminary - Oscott College". Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^ UK Vocations Statistics Archived 2013-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
^ Stewart, Katherine. "'If we can do it, you can do it': US anti-abortion groups ramp up activities in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
^ Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Plenary Resolutions: Environment, St Winefride, Eucharistic Congress and Conflict in Gaza, published 17 November 2023, accessed 30 November 2023
^ Sedes Sapientiae CD insert
^ The Oscotian : a literary gazette of St. Mary's College, Oscott, vol. 22, St. Mary's College, 1888, p. 110
^ List of Superiors, Masters and Students
^ Williams Oscott College p. 183

External links

[1] Oscott History Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine

[2] British Listed Buildings

[3] "Become a Priest". Portsmouth Catholic Diocese. Retrieved 28 October 2024.

[4] "About the VEC – Venerable English College". Venerable English College. Retrieved 28 October 2024.

[5] "Pontifical Beda College – Rome (homepage)". Retrieved 28 October 2024.

[6] "The Seminary - Oscott College". Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.

[7] UK Vocations Statistics Archived 2013-12-14 at the Wayback Machine

[8] Stewart, Katherine. "'If we can do it, you can do it': US anti-abortion groups ramp up activities in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2023.

[9] Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Plenary Resolutions: Environment, St Winefride, Eucharistic Congress and Conflict in Gaza, published 17 November 2023, accessed 30 November 2023

[10] Sedes Sapientiae CD insert

[11] The Oscotian : a literary gazette of St. Mary's College, Oscott, vol. 22, St. Mary's College, 1888, p. 110

[12] List of Superiors, Masters and Students

[13] Williams Oscott College p. 183

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See also: Newman University St Mary's College, Oscott Maryvale Institute Cotton College Harvington Hall Philip Pargeter St Mary's Abbey, Colwich St Mary's Convent, Handsworth Carmelite Monastery, Wolverhampton Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy The Friary, Oxford Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District
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