St Barnabas Church, Oxford

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St Barnabas
St Barnabas Church
View of St Barnabas Church and its campanile.
View of St Barnabas Church and its campanile.
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Anglo-Catholic
Website www.sbarnabas.org.uk
History
Founder(s) Thomas Combe and Martha Combe[1]
Dedication St Barnabas
Consecrated 1869
Architecture
Architect(s) Sir Arthur Blomfield
Style Victorian, Romanesque, Italianate
Administration
Diocese Oxford
Clergy
Vicar(s) Fr Jonathan Beswick

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

History

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[4] (1806–1893), now commemorated by a blue plaque installed by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board.[1] They were followers of the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian movement). The architect was Sir Arthur Blomfield, a son of the Bishop of London, who had previously designed the chapel for the Radcliffe Infirmary. The first Parish Priest was Fr Montague Noel, SSC. The style is that of a Romanesque basilica. 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 the local merchant and former Oxford mayor William Ward.[5] It was consecrated in 1869 by Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford and the campanile was completed in 1872. It has a ring of ten, distinctive, tubular bells, and the hours and quarters are sounded on them. Several histories of the church and/or parish have been written over the years (Arthur Tilney Bassett, Roger Dixey, Anne Abley and Richard Whitlock). St Barnabas also features in a wide range of literature, from Thomas Hardy through to PD James.

The poet John Betjeman wrote a poem about St Barnabas Church.[3][6]

Today

The church maintains its Anglo-Catholic traditions, remaining rooted in the life of the local parish, and enjoying close connections with the Jericho Community Association, the Jericho Wharf Trust and St Barnabas Primary School. A parish magazine, Jericho Matters, is produced quarterly and distributed to all of the households in Jericho. A local community choir, the Jericho Singers, rehearses in St Barnabas each week.

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 is Fr Jonathan Beswick, SSC.[7]

Gallery

References

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  3. 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. History, St Barnabas Church.
  5. William Ward: Mayor of Oxford 1851/2 and 1861/2, Mayors of Oxford.
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  7. Contact details, St Barnabas Church.

Further reading

  • Bassett, Arthur Tilney (1919) S. Barnabas', Oxford: a record of fifty years. London: A. R. Mowbray
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External links

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