St Mary's College in New Oscott,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, sometimes called Oscott College, is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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

of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in

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 ...

and one of two seminaries of the

Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales (; ) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th century, when Pope Gregory I through a Roman missionary and Benedictine monk, Augustine, ...

in England, with Allen Hall Seminary in London. (Another two are in Rome: the

Venerable English College The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...

, and the Pontifical

Beda College The Pontifical Beda College () is a Catholic seminary in Rome. It was founded as the ''Collegio Ecclesiastico'' at the Palazzo dei Convertendi in 1852 by Pope Pius IX and is intended for older men, often convert clergymen, wishing to prepare fo ...

for men over 30.)

Purpose

Oscott College admits students for the priesthood from various

dioceses In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

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 The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

as a BA in Fundamental Catholic Theology. Those who complete the six-year programme, also obtain a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Bachelor of Sacred Theology (abbreviated STB) is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred by a number o ...

(STB) through affiliation with the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

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

History

Old Oscott

The college was founded in

Oscott Oscott is a Ward (country subdivision), ward in the northwest of Birmingham, England, within the Government of Birmingham, England#Districts, formal district of Perry Barr. The Ward is centred on the area known as Old Oscott, originally just "Os ...

(present-day,

Great Barr Great Barr is a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as ...

), 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 Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

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

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. 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 BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

visited on 19 September, 2010, following the

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "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 name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

, 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 Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Bor ...

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

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 (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 The Bishop of Salford is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, Catholic Diocese of Salford in the Province of Liverpool, England. With the gradual abolition of the legal restrictions on the activities o ...

. * 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

. * 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 John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, Liberal politician, and writer. A strong advocate for individua ...

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

(1815–1862), Irish political administrator. * Frederick Rolfe, also known as ''Baron Corvo'' (1860–1913), writer and artist. *

Joseph Stevenson Joseph Stevenson (27 November 1806 – 8 February 1895) was an English Church of England and later Catholic priest, archivist and editor of historical texts. Early life Joseph Stevenson was born on 27 November 1806 in Berwick-on-Tweed, the eld ...

(1806–1895), archivist and editor. * Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland (1861–1940),

Prime Minister of Malta The prime minister of 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 prime minister holds office b ...

. *

Charles Towneley Charles Townley Royal Society, FRS (1 October 1737 – 3 January 1805) was a wealthy English country gentleman, antiquary and collector, a member of the Towneley family. He travelled on three Grand Tours to Italy, buying antique sculpture, vase ...

(1803–1876) and his younger brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(1806–1878), both were MPs, officers in the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia and trustees of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

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 Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was an English Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1 ...

*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 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 OakleyWilliams ''Oscott College'' p. 183 *2020–21 Giles Goward *2021-Present: 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