St Stephen's House is an external

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

with observer status at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, affiliated with the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. From 2003 to 2023 it was a

permanent private hall A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the University. There are four permanent private halls at Oxford, three of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denomina ...

of the

. The college typically matriculates a small number of undergraduate students (five in the academic year 2022–23), but has graduate students in a number of fields including theology, Byzantine studies, education, and music. Between 2003 and 2023, roughly one quarter of the students were pursuing professional training as classroom teachers, and another quarter professional theological and ministerial training as priests, with the other half following a diverse range of studies and research, many remotely or on a flexible basis. The hall is rooted in and has a history of

Anglo-Catholicism 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 ...

History

St Stephen's House was founded in 1876 by members 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 ...

within the Church of England. It was originally located in the very centre of Oxford, on what is today is the site of the New Bodleian Library. Its principal founder was Edward King, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford and later

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...

. In 1919 the college relocated to new buildings in Norham Gardens, near the

University Parks The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, tho ...

and Lady Margaret Hall. The college moved again in 1980, having outgrown its earlier buildings, and now occupies the former

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Cowley Fathers). The college was an "associated institution" of the University of Oxford, able to matriculate students in the fields of theology and philosophy, until 2003 when it became a permanent private hall of the university. Since September 2023, it is no longer a permanent private hall, but remains an Anglican theological college. This decision was taken because an increasing proportion of students at the college now study for their qualifications at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

via the Church of England Common Awards.

Buildings

The college is located in east Oxford, between the Iffley and Cowley roads (to west and east) and James Street and Marston Street (to north and south), with entrances onto all these roads. Although there are some modern buildings, notably the Moberly Close residential accommodation building, most of the college buildings are older and have listed status. Grade I listing applies to the Church of St John the Evangelist, which is the principal college chapel, and an arts centre, as well as housing some teaching and research facilities in its sacristies and song school. Constructed in 1894–1896 to a design by George Frederick Bodley (1827–1907), it has held grade I listing since 1968. The castellated west tower was added in 1902. The east, west, and north-east windows contain

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

designed by C. E. Kempe (1837–1907) and made in about 1900. The Church also contains painted Stations of the Cross by the late

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

artist, Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne, created for the Cowley Fathers between 1918 and 1921. Grade II listing was applied to the bulk of the college's other central buildings in 1992. This listing includes the college's main cloister built in 1899 to a design by Bodley, the three lesser cloisters, the Benson Building (residential and teaching accommodation built late nineteenth century, probably designed by Clapton Crabb Rolfe), the King Building (residential, teaching, and administrative accommodation, including the college refectory, the library, and the

common room A common room is a type of shared lounge, most often found in halls of residence or dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. They are generall ...

, also designed by Bodley), and the two smaller chapels – the Founders Chapel, and the Ninian Comper designed House Chapel. St John's Church (and sometimes also the college cloisters) has been since 2012 the performance and display venue for SJE Arts Oxford, a society promoting performing arts and music, and which organises an annual summer choral festival at the college site. The Song School, once the music department of SSJE, and later the residence of the college's vice principal, has since 2008 housed the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, an independent body whose senior teaching and research staff are mostly current or former members of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford.

Arms

In 2020, St Stephen's House was granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

the current arms ''Per chevron Gules and Sable in chief two Cross crosslets and in base a Celestial Crown Or'' and badge ''A Cross Crosslet Or surmounted by a closed Book Gules leaved Argent and charged with a key wards upwards Or''. The badge is used on the college sports kit. Prior to this, the college used the assumed arms ''Gules a Celestial Crown between three Bezants two and one Or, on a chief Sable an Apostolic Eagle between two Crosses crosslet Or''.

Principals and fellows

Principals

The Head of House is known as the " principal." To date, every person to have held the office has been an ordained

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. *1876–1877 (res.): Robert Moberly *1877–1881: ''?'' *1881–1884 (res.): John Octavius Johnston *1884–1885 (res.): Berkeley Randolph *1885–1888 (res.): Charles Myers *1888–1895 (res.): Hugh Currie *1895–1903 (res.): Charles Plumb *1903–1917 (res.): George Bown *1917–1919: ''?'' *1919–1936 (res.): Gilbert Mitchell *1936–1962 (res.): Arthur Couratin *1962–1974 (res.): Derek Allen *1974–1982 (res.): David Hope *1982–1987 (res.): David Thomas *1987–1995 (res.): Edwin Barnes *1996–2006 (res.): Jeremy Sheehy *2006–2025: Robin Ward

Honorary research fellows

Notable honorary research fellows have included: * Andrew Linzey, theologian, author and prominent figure in the

Christian vegetarianism Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a Vegetarianism, vegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from the Christianity, Christian faith. The three primary reasons are Christian spirituality, spiritual, Nutrition, n ...

movement * James Whitbourn, conductor and composer * Luke Miller, Archdeacon of London * Norman Russell, former Archdeacon of Berkshire

Alumni

Many former students, in the tradition of the college, go on to minister in urban priority areas and parishes which suffer poverty and deprivation. The following are amongst the notable former students: * Jonathan Baker –

Bishop of Fulham The Bishop of Fulham is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London in the Church of England. The bishopric is named after Fulham, an area of south-west London; the see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council ...

and the former

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 ...

* Norman Banks – Honorary Chaplain to the Queen and

Bishop of Richborough The Bishop of Richborough is a suffragan bishop and provincial episcopal visitor for the whole of the Province of Canterbury in the Church of England. Since 2025, Luke Irvine-Capel has served as Bishop of Richborough. History The see was erec ...

* J. W. B. Barns – Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford * Mark Bonney — Dean of Ely * Andrew Burnham – former

and former vice principal * Anthony Caesar – composer * Alan Chesters – former Bishop of Blackburn * David Conner – Dean of Windsor (since 1998) * Stephen Cottrell –

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

(since 2020) * Ivor Gordon Davies –

Archdeacon of Lewisham The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Southwark are senior clergy in the Church of England in South London and Surrey. They currently include: the archdeacons of Southwark, of Reigate (formerly of Kingston-on-Thames) and of Lewisham & Greenwich ...

from 1972 to 1985. * Roy Davies – Bishop of Llandaff from 1985 to 1999 * Hovnan Derderian – Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America * Mark Elvins – Roman Catholic priest and Warden of Greyfriars, Oxford * Walter Hooper – literary advisor to the estate of CS Lewis * William Howard, 8th Earl of Wicklow – Irish peer * David Jasper – Professor of Literature and Theology at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

* Jeffrey John – Dean of St Albans * Eric Kemp – former

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

* Peter Laister – Rector of Saint Clement's Church, Philadelphia, from 1986 to 1993 * Kenneth Leech – priest and Christian socialist * Trevor Mwamba – Bishop of Botswana, appears as himself in '' The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' * Philip North – Bishop of Burnley * Mark Oakley – Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, London * Gordon Roe – former

Bishop of Huntingdon The Bishop of Huntingdon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Ely, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Huntingdon, the historic county town of Huntingdonshire, E ...

* John Saward – theologian, fellow of Greyfriars, OxfordFr John Saward.
Retrieved 2008-02-11 * David Silk – former Bishop of Ballarat in the Anglican Church of Australia * Glyn Simon – former

Archbishop of Wales The post of Archbishop of Wales () was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came ...

* Michael Spence – vice-chancellor of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

* Tim Thornton – Bishop of Truro * Stephen Venner – Bishop to the Forces and Bishop for the Falkland Islands * Martin Warner –

* William Gordon Wheeler – former Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds * Colin Williams – General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches * A. N. Wilson – writer and newspaper columnist, left after his first year

References

External links

St Stephen's House website

St John the Evangelist church website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephen's House, Oxford 1876 establishments in England Permanent private halls of the University of Oxford Former colleges and halls of the University of Oxford Anglo-Catholic educational establishments Anglican seminaries and theological colleges Bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges in England Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford Anglican buildings and structures in the United Kingdom