St Barnabas Church, Oxford

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St Barnabas Church, Oxford
Jericho StBarnabas 2006-01.JPG
View of St Barnabas Church and its campanile
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St Barnabas Church, Oxford
51°45′28″N1°16′11″W / 51.7578°N 1.2697°W / 51.7578; -1.2697
LocationSt Barnabas Street, Jericho, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 6BG
CountryEngland
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Traditionalist Anglo-Catholic
Website Parish website
History
StatusActive
Founder(s) Thomas Combe and Martha Combe [1]
Dedication St Barnabas
Consecrated 19 October 1869
Architecture
Functional status Parish church
Heritage designation Grade I listed
Architect(s) Sir Arthur Blomfield
Architectural type Victorian, Romanesque, Italianate
Specifications
Bellstubular
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Oxford
Episcopal area Oxford Episcopal Area
Archdeaconry Archdeaconry of Oxford
Deanery Oxford Deanery
Parish Oxford St. Barnabas and St. Paul with St Thomas the Martyr
Clergy
Bishop(s) The Rt Revd Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford
Vicar(s) Fr Christopher Woods
Honorary priest(s) Canon Robin Ward
The Revd Prof Sarah Coakley
Asst Curate(s) The Revd Lucie Spiers
Deacon(s) The Revd Canon Prof Sue Gillingham
Laity
Reader(s) Jenny Pittaway
Maggie Ellis
Director of music Esther Bersweden
Organist(s) Mr Martin Payne
Organ scholar Saralynn Culpepper
Churchwarden(s) Claire Herbertson and Paul South

St Barnabas Church is a Church of England parish church in Jericho, central Oxford, England, located close to the Oxford Canal. [2] [3]

Contents

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 close to the church, and his wife Martha (1806–1893), now commemorated by a blue plaque installed by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. [1] They were supporters of the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian movement). The first Parish Priest was Fr Montague Noel, SSC.

The architect was Sir Arthur Blomfield, a son of the Bishop of London, who had previously designed the chapel for the Radcliffe Infirmary. 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 campanile, 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. [4] 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. [5] [6] This replaced a cylindrical timber pulpit with columns and a moulded cornice which is now at St Peter's, London Docks. [7]

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. [8]

St Barnabas in literature

St Barnabas features in a wide range of literature, from Thomas Hardy through P. D. James. The poet John Betjeman wrote a poem about the church. [3] [9]

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 tradition 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 and St Thomas is the chapel of ease. The first vicar of the new parish was Fr Jonathan Beswick, SSC. [10] The current Vicar is Fr Christopher Woods, who until February 2019 was Vicar of St Anne's Hoxton in the Diocese of London.

Historically, resolution B (not accepting a woman as incumbent of the parish) had been in place at St Barnabas and all three resolutions at St Thomas. [11] Between 2018 and 2023, the parish had received alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Oswestry (formerly the Bishop of Ebbsfleet), the traditionalist catholic provincial episcopal visitor for those who cannot receive the ordination of women as priests and bishops.

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.

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References

  1. 1 2 Warr, Elizabeth Jean (2011). The Oxford Plaque Guide. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. pp. 39–41. ISBN   978-0-7524-5687-4.
  2. ↑ Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). "St Barnabas, Church of". The Encyclopaedia of Oxford . Macmillan. p. 378–379. ISBN   0-333-39917-X.
  3. 1 2 "Oxford: St Barnabas, Oxford". The Church of England. 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "William Ward: Mayor of Oxford 1851/2 and 1861/2". Oxford History: Mayors & Lord Mayors. 4 November 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "New Pulpit". Jackson's Oxford Journal [1809]. 6 August 1887. p. 5. Retrieved 8 October 2020– via British Library Newspapers.
  6. ↑ "New Pulpit for St Barnabus". Oxfordshire Weekly News. 3 August 1887. p. 6.
  7. ↑ "CHURCH OF ST PETER, Non Civil Parish - 1065844 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "Education Pages 442-462 A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4, the City of Oxford". British History Online. Victoria County History, 1979. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "St Barnabas Church". Jericho Living Heritage Trust. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Contact details". St Barnabas Church.
  11. ↑ "THE PARISH OF ST BARNABAS AND ST PAUL, WITH ST THOMAS THE MARTYR: "Unity and Flourishing"". stbarnabasjericho. Retrieved 10 February 2023.

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