St Barnabas Church is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

, central

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, located close to the

Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...

History

St Barnabas, like many similar churches in the expanding towns and cities of Victorian England, was built to minister to the spiritual and practical needs of the poor and labouring classes. The parish was formed from that of St Paul, Oxford, in 1869; St Paul's was in turn formed from parts of the parishes of St Thomas and St Giles. The church was founded by Thomas Combe (1796–1872), Superintendent of the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

close to the church, and his wife

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

(1806–1893), now commemorated by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

installed by the

Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board The Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board established in 1999 was the brainchild of Hugo Brunner, Sir Hugo Brunner, then Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, and Edwin Townsend-Coles, Chairman of the Oxford Civic Society. The Board is an autonomous volunta ...

. They were supporters of the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

(or

Tractarian The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Uni ...

movement). The first Parish Priest was Fr Montague Noel, SSC. The architect was Sir

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

, a son of the

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

, who had previously designed the chapel for the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. Closed in 2007, after refurbishment the building was re-opened in October ...

. The architectural style is that of a Romanesque basilica, possibly modelled on San Clemente in Rome or the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello. St Barnabas has a distinctive square tower, in the form of an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

, that is visible from the surrounding area. The church was built on land donated by George Ward, a local land owner and member of the influential Ward family (named as the donor in the land conveyance, etc. in the Oxford Diocesan Archives). George's brother William Ward was Mayor of Oxford on two occasions, 1851/2 and 1861/2. It was consecrated in 1869 by Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford and the campanile was completed in 1872. The pulpit was added in 1887 by Heaton, Butler, and Bayne with the panels painted by Charles Floyce. This replaced a cylindrical timber pulpit with columns and a moulded cornice which is now at St Peter's, London Docks. It has a ring of ten, distinctive, tubular bells, and the hours and quarters are sounded on them. An associated girls' and infant school for St. Barnabas's was built on a site in Cardigan Street in 1857.

St Barnabas in literature

St Barnabas features in a wide range of literature, from Thomas Hardy through

P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuri ...

. The poet

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

wrote a poem about the church. Dr Amanda Vernon has written a short essay surveying the appearance of St Barnabas in literature
The essay can be found here

Present day

The church maintains the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

of its foundation. A parish magazine, ''Jericho Matters'', was, until 2020, produced quarterly and distributed to all of the households and businesses in Jericho. The church hosts many events throughout the year, such as concerts, lectures and exhibitions. In September 2015 the parish was united with the neighbouring parish of St Thomas the Martyr, to form the new parish of St Barnabas and St Paul, with St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford. St Barnabas is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

and St Thomas is the

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

. The first vicar of the new parish was Fr Jonathan Beswick, SSC. The current Vicar is Fr Christopher Woods, who until February 2019 was Vicar of St Anne's Hoxton in the Diocese of London. Historically, resolutions A and B (preventing a woman from presiding at holy communion, and from being appointed as incumbent, respectively) had been in place at St Barnabas and all three resolutions at St Thomas. Between 2018 and 2023, the parish received joint episcopal oversight from the

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

and the

Bishop of Ebbsfleet The Bishop of Ebbsfleet is a suffragan bishop who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England. From its creation in 1994 to 2022, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served traditionalist Anglo-Catholic parishes that reject t ...

, and after Ebbsfleet’s conversion to Roman Catholicism in 2022, the Bishop of Oswestry (Ebbsfleet and subsequently Oswestry being the traditionalist catholic provincial episcopal visitor for those who cannot in conscience accept the priestly and episcopal ministry of women). In November 2022, the parish began a consultation as to whether or not to accept the priestly and episcopal ministry of women, and in January 2023 the PCC voted by a majority to welcome the ministry of women priests and bishops. The Revd Dr Melanie Marshall was the first woman to preside at the Parish Mass and did so on 14 May 2023.

Access

The church is open daily from 9am - 6pm. A short guide to the building and its story is available from the church, as is the Emma Bridgewater 'Jericho' mug, commissioned specially for St Barnabas.

Gallery

File:St Barnabas Church, Jericho - geograph.org.uk - 486387.jpg, View of the

from Canal Street in

, Oxford. File:Jericho Oxford protest 20051224.jpg, St Barnabas Church from the

. File:St Barnabas by canal Jericho Oxford 20051224.jpg, View of the

from the northwest across the Oxford Canal.

References

External links

St Barnabas Church website

A Church Near You
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Barnabas Church, Oxford 19th-century Church of England church buildings Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Oxfordshire Bell towers in the United Kingdom

Barnabas Barnabas (; ; ), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christians, Christian, one of the prominent Disciple (Christianity), Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jews, Cyprio ...

Italianate architecture in England Towers completed in 1872 Religious organizations established in 1869 1869 establishments in England Oxford Canal Grade I listed buildings in Oxford Arthur Blomfield church buildings Grade I listed churches in Oxfordshire Italianate church buildings in the United Kingdom Anglo-Catholic churches in England receiving AEO