St Mary's College in New Oscott,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, often called Oscott College, is the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

of the

Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshir ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and one of the three seminaries of the

Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria; cy, Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th ce ...

Purpose

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 , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

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 KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

. Oscott College is also a centre for the formation of candidates for the

permanent diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

History

Old Oscott

The college was founded in

Oscott Oscott is a ward in the northwest of Birmingham, England, within the formal district of Perry Barr. The Ward is centred on the area known as Old Oscott, originally just "Oscott", and should not be confused with nearby New Oscott. It includes th ...

, in present-day Great Barr, in 1794 for both the training of priests and the education of lay pupils. It developed out of a small mission founded by Fr

Andrew Bromwich Andrew Bromwich ( c.1640–1702 ) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He was a survivor of the Popish Plot, and the founder of the Oscott Mission in Staffordshire, which later became St. Mary's College, Oscott. Early career He was born at Old ...

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 Maryvale Institute is a college of further and higher education, an International Catholic Distance-Learning College for Catechesis, Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education in Old Oscott, Great Barr, Birmingham, England. It specialises in t ...

remains on the original site. The new building was designed by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

and Joseph Potter at a cost of £40,000. It is

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. 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.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

visited on 19 September 2010 following the

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

, earlier that day in Birmingham's Cofton Park, of

Cardinal Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and cardi ...

who stayed at the college in the late 1840s. During his visit to Oscott, Benedict met and 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.

Choral music

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

Notable alumni

Clergy

Bishops

Francis Amherst Francis Kerril Amherst, T.O.S.D., (21 March 1819, London – 21 August 1883) was an English Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton in England. Life Francis Amherst was born in Marylebone, London 21 March 1819. He was the eldest son ...

(1819–1883), Bishop of Northampton. * Tomás Bryan Livermore (1824–1902),

Bishop of Cartagena The Diocese of Cartagena ( la, Carthaginen(sis) in Hispania) is the diocese of the city of Cartagena in the Ecclesiastical province of Granada in Spain.Edward Bagshawe (1829–1915), Bishop of Nottingham. *

Terence Brain Terence Brain (born 19 December 1938 in Coventry, England) is the Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. Education Bishop Brain attended King Henry VIII Grammar School and Cotton College before training for the priesthood at ...

(1938–),

Bishop of Salford The Bishop of Salford is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford in the Province of Liverpool, England. With the gradual abolition of the legal restrictions on the activities of Catholics in England and Wales in the early 19th cent ...

. *

Kevin Dunn Kevin Dunn (born August 24, 1956) is an American actor who has appeared in supporting roles in a number of films and television series since the 1980s. Dunn's roles include White House Communications Director Alan Reed in the political comedy '' ...

(1950–2008),

Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in the Province of Liverpool, known also on occasion as the Northern Province. History With the gradual abolition of the legal restricti ...

. * William Lee (1875–1948),

Bishop of Clifton The Bishop of Clifton is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in the Province of Birmingham, England. The see is in the suburb of Clifton in the city of Bristol where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of S ...

. * Leo McCartie (1925–2020), Bishop of Northampton. * David McGough (1944-), Auxiliary Bishop of

. * James McGuinness (1925–2007), Bishop of Nottingham. * Robert Willson (1794–1866), Bishop of Hobart. *

David Oakley David K. Oakley (April 27, 1945 – July 2, 2006) was an American professional golfer whose greatest success came on the European Seniors Tour. Oakley was born in New York (state), New York, but grew up in Panama City, Florida. He got started in ...

(1955), Bishop of Northampton

Priests

William Francis Barry William Francis Barry (21 April 1849 – 15 December 1930) was a British Catholic priest, theologian, educator and writer. He served as vice president and professor of philosophy at Birmingham Theological College from 1873 to 1877 and then profes ...

(1849–1930), writer. *

Frederick Charles Husenbeth Frederick Charles Husenbeth (born at Bristol, 30 May 1796; died at Costessey, Norfolk, 31 October 1872) was an English Catholic priest and writer. Life The son of a Bristol wine-merchant and of a lady of Cornish family, a convert to Catholicis ...

(1796–1872), writer. *

Henry Weedall Henry Weedall (6 September 1788 - 7 November 1859) was a British nineteenth century Roman Catholic preacher, educator and churchman. He was born in London the son of a doctor. Both his parents died during his early childhood. He was educated at ...

(1788–1859), educator. * William Purcell Witcutt (c.1910–c.1970), author.

Laity

* John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902). *

George Ashlin George Coppinger Ashlin (28 May 1837 – 10 December 1921) was an Irish architect, particularly noted for his work on churches and cathedrals, and who became President of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Biography Ashlin was ...

(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 A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

at the

Irish Office Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

. * John Cornwell (1940–), writer. * Charles Kent (1823–1902), journalist and editor. *

Edmund Kirby Edmund Kirby (8 April 1838 – 24 April 1920) was an English architect. He was born in Liverpool, and educated at Oscott College in Birmingham. He was articled to E. W. Pugin in London, then became an assistant to John Douglas in Chest ...

(1838–1920), architect. *

Nicholas Lash Nicholas Langrishe Alleyne Lash (6 April 1934 – 11 July 2020) was an English Roman Catholic theologian. Having served in the British Army, he trained for Holy Orders at St Mary's College, Oscott, and worked as a Catholic priest until 1975. He ...

(1934–2020), theologian. * Ernest Law (1854–1930), historian and barrister. * Edwin de Lisle MP (1852–1920), politician. *

St. George Jackson Mivart St. George Jackson Mivart (30 November 1827 – 1 April 1900) was an English biologist. He is famous for starting as an ardent believer in natural selection who later became one of its fiercest critics. Mivart attempted to reconcile D ...

(1827–1900), biologist. * George Moore (1852–1933), novelist. *

Francis Loraine Petre Francis Loraine Petre (22 February 1852 – 6 May 1925) was a British civil servant in India and a military historian upon his retirement. He wrote a two-volume regimental history of the Norfolk Regiment, but is best known for his works on the ...

(1852–1925), civil servant and military historian. *

Thomas Nicholas Redington Sir Thomas Nicholas Redington KCB (2 October 1815 – 11 October 1862) was an Irish administrator, politician and civil servant. Redington, only son of Christopher Talbot Redington (1780–1825), a captain in the army, by Frances, only daugh ...

(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 Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland, (24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940) was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the L ...

(1861–1940),

Prime Minister of Malta The prime minister of Malta ( mt, Prim Ministru ta' Malta) is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The Prime Minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The Pr ...

Former presidents and rectors

Presidents *1794–1808 John Bew *1808–15 Thomas Potts *1816–18 John Francis Quick *1818–25 Thomas Walsh *1825–40

*1840–47 Nicholas Wiseman *1847–48 Henry F.C. Logan *1848–53 John Moore *1853–59

*1859–60 George Morgan *1860–77

James Spencer Northcote James Spencer Northcote (born at Fenton Court, Devonshire, 26 May 1821; d. at Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, 3 March 1907) was an English Catholic priest and writer. He served as president of St Mary's College, Oscott for seventeen years. Life ...

*1877–80 John Hawksford *1880–84 Edward Acton *1885 Joseph Henry Souter Rectors *1885–90 Joseph Henry Souter *1890–96

Edward Ilsley Archbishop Edward Ilsley was born in May 1838. He was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham from 1888 to 1911, and then the first Archbishop of Birmingham from 1911 to 1921 when his resignation was accepted by the Pope. He died in 1926. Career ...

*1896–1924 Henry Parkinson *1924–29 Charles Cronin *1929–35

James Dey James Dey (14 October 1869 – 8 May 1946) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of the Forces from 1935 to 1946. Born in Walsall on 14 October 1869, he was ordained to the priesthood on 17 February 1894. ...

*1935–61 Leonard Emery *1961–68 Richard Foster *1968–79 Francis Thomas *1979–84

Patrick Kelly Patrick or Paddy Kelly may refer to: Politicians * Patrick Kelly (Irish politician) (1875–1934), Irish soldier, farmer and politician, Teachta Dála (TD) for Clare 1927–1932 * Patrick Kelly (Canadian politician) (1846–1916), Prince Edward I ...

*1984–89 Michael Kirkham *1989–98 Patrick McKinney *1998–2001 Kevin McDonald *2001–13 Mark Crisp *2013–20

Williams ''Oscott College'' p. 183 *2020–21 Giles Goward *2021-Present: Fr Michael Dolman

References

External links

St Mary's College website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's College, Oscott Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Education in Birmingham, West Midlands

Grade II* listed buildings in the West Midlands (county) 1794 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1794 Augustus Pugin buildings