Warminster_-_Theological_College_-_geograph

St Boniface College, Warminster, formerly St Boniface Missionary College, was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

educational institution in the Wiltshire town of

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

, England during the last third of the 19th century and the first two-thirds of the 20th. It was founded in 1860 by Sir James Erasmus Philipps, 12th Baronet, vicar of Warminster from 1859 to 1897, in a house on Church Road about 250m south of the parish church, St Denys'. At first it provided a place for young men without formal education to be trained for suitable employment, but soon narrowed its scope to train them specifically for

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

work. It gradually grew in size and by 1897 the foundation stone was laid for a permanent college, this being completed in 1901. Two former students of the college were martyred in China during the

Boxer Rising The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

: Harry Vine Norman and Charles Robinson, who were murdered in 1900. Another, Frederick Day of

Stratton St Margaret Stratton St Margaret is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The parish covers north-eastern suburbs of Swindon including Stratton St Margaret itself along with Upper Stratton, Lower Stratton and Kingsdown. Since May 20 ...

near Swindon was murdered in North China on 4 March 1912. The college closed during both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

s, and was a

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

facility for

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

from 1948 until its eventual closure in 1969. The nearby Lord Weymouth's Grammar School then leased the buildings, and today they form part of

Warminster School Warminster School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, for students aged three to eighteen. Initially established in 1707, the school took its current form in 1973 with the amalgamation of Lo ...

The buildings are in three phases, beginning in 1796 with the central three-storey structure, described by

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

as a "handsome house". To the right is the 1897–1901 extension,

neo-Jacobean The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...

in dressed stone, decorated with ornate features such as gabled dormers bearing

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

s. In 1927 a further large L-shaped extension was built to the left, to designs of Sir Charles Nicholson. This part, which includes a chapel and library, is described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

as "quite impressive

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Notable people

Arthur Anstey Arthur Henry Anstey (187313 November 1955) was Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago from 1918 until 1945; and for his last two years there Archbishop of the West Indies (primate of all the Church in the Province of the West Indies). Anstey was educated ...

, later Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago and

Archbishop of the West Indies The Archbishop of the West Indies is the Anglican primate of the Province of the West Indies, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. History The West Indies became a self-governing province of the Church of England in 1883, when William Pierc ...

, was principal of the college from 1904.

References

Anglican buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Educational institutions established in 1860 1860 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1969 1969 disestablishments in England Anglican seminaries and theological colleges Former theological colleges in England Religion in Wiltshire Education in Wiltshire Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Warminster {{seminary-stub

Notable people

See also

References