St Mary's College, Oscott
A delightful visit with Guided Tour of Augustus Welby Pugin’s work at Oscott.
On the last Sunday of September 2024, the Friends of Nottingham Cathedral, accompanied by a group of parishioners and friends, visited St Mary’s College, Oscott, a seminary for Catholic priests in Birmingham.
Oscott College was built in the wake of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 and the building, designed by Joseph Potter, was completed in 1837. Soon after, Augustus Welby Pugin, the architect of Nottingham Cathedral, took over the design of the entrance lodges, the decoration and fittings of the chapel and the domestic furniture.
Pugin’s work is of special interest to the Friends of Nottingham Cathedral as they support the Restoring Pugin Project by arranging tours, lectures, talks and events.
The mid 19th century was a time of joy and growing confidence amongst Catholics in England who, after centuries of imposed secrecy, were now free to practice and promote their faith in public. Pugin reflected this confident mood in his architecture and design. Visitors to Oscott from the Cathedral notice immediately the similarity of design of the tiles in the entrance hall which are almost identical to those Pugin tiles that remain in the Cathedral. However it is in the Chapel that Pugin is at his finest: the reredos glitters with the polished brass of candlesticks and the stained glass above it bursts with colour. Set high above ground level is the pulpit: this is the very pulpit in which Cardinal St John Henry Newman stood and delivered his famous sermon, speaking of the Catholic ‘Second Spring’.
And now visitors can, as we did, climb the stairs to the pulpit and stand in the footsteps of the Saint.
Also of note, is the ceiling of the chapel which has gold stars painted on blue background. This is how Nottingham Cathedral ceiling would have looked and we hope one day, it will be restored to its former glory.
We spent some time browsing in the library, where contemporary works of theology and philosophy and documents of Vatican Councils rub spines with older volumes. We also visited the museum where original examples of gregorian chant and some antique crosses were displayed. Those of us who strayed on their way from the library to the museum encountered some exquisite nineteenth century cloth-of-gold vestments which we recognised to be very similar in design to those held at the Cathedral.
It was a pleasure to meet the seminarians assigned to be our guides. On our arrival they escorted us to the refectory for tea, coffee and cake and we had the privilege of talking with them about their lives at Oscott. As our guides, they were happy to answer our questions and share their knowledge with us. This sense of welcome and friendship made our visit a very special experience. We can rest assured that our current seminarians will become the best of priests.
As the afternoon drew to its end, we joined seminarians and clergy for Evening Prayer and Benediction in the chapel, a perfect end to our trip to Oscott
