The house was established as a "House of Piety of Learning" with a library and chapel, both of which remain open and in use today. One of the original intentions of Pusey House was to house Pusey's collection of books[1] and, since its foundation, the house has come to possess many artifacts relating to Pusey and the Oxford Movement, with the house's library and Archive holding one of the country's most significant collections of material pertaining to Anglo-Catholicism.[2] The house holds daily services in its chapel, as well as regular lectures and events.
Pusey Memorial House[4] was opened on 9 October 1884[5] as a memorial to Edward Bouverie Pusey, Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, a canon of Christ Church Cathedral and for 40 years a leading figure in the Oxford Movement, a movement of the mid-19th century which sought to bring the Church of England to a deeper understanding of its witness as part of the universal ("Catholic") church.[6] It was also intended to continue the work of Pusey in restoring the Church of England's Catholic life and witness.[7] It was established with a fund of £50,000 to provide a building for Pusey's library, purchase it and create an endowment so that two or more clergy could take charge of it and promote religious life in the university.[8][9] The first principal was Charles Gore, who founded the Community of the Resurrection at the house in 1892. The Community moved to Mirfield (where it remains) when Gore resigned as Principal in 1897.[10]
The house flourished in the following years and came to experiment with forms of quasi-monastic life. Vincent Stuckey Stratton Coles, principal from 1897 to 1909, later recorded that "for a moment it seemed as if the Pusey House was trying to become a monastery. Silence was observed at dinner on Fridays. Great regularity of attendance at the chapel offices, and regulations as to the times of retirement and rising, began to be practised."[11] Coles had been the first priest librarian along with F. E. Brightman when Gore was principal. Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, famously quipped that "Brightman would dust the books, Gore would read them, and Coles would talk about them."[12]
During the pincipalship of Darwell Stone, a new building was commissioned which was eventually designed by Temple Moore, a leading Anglo-Catholic architect of his time.[13] The house continued its work as the centre of Anglo-Catholicism in Oxford in the new buildings, attracting undergraduates including John Betjeman and Harold Macmillan.[10]
From 1884 until 1912, Pusey House occupied two townhouses on St Giles' on the site of the current building. Following a 1903 benefaction of £70,000 from a Leeds solicitor, John Cudworth, and with a growing ministry to the university, Pusey House was able to consider rebuilding.[15] In 1910, the governors took advantage of the falling in of a lease at a neighbouring townhouse which was subsequently bought and demolished to make way for the new buildings.
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament with Ninian Comper's baldacchino and stained glass
The principal at the time, Darwell Stone, requested that the new building should include a chapel "of good and simple architecture to hold about 200 and a side chapel to hold about thirty" alongside lecture rooms, domestic ranges, a library, and museum.[15] Four architects were approached to submit designs: Harold Brakspear, Walter Tapper, Giles Gilbert Scott, and Temple Moore.[1]
After inspecting the four proposals the building committee chose Moore's designs, formally appointing him as architect in October 1911.[15]
Moore designed a large Gothic building around a quadrangle, its centrepiece being the two vaulted chapels separated by a stone pulpitum which he based on those found in 'medieval Franciscan priories'.[15] The chapel and part of the library were complete by 1914, and most of the remaining portions of the building were finished in 1918.[1] The south range of the quadrangle remained unexecuted at the time of Moore's death in 1920, and was only finished in 1925 to sympathetic designs by John Coleridge.[16]
The smaller Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament was reordered between 1935 and 1939 by Sir Ninian Comper.[17] Comper's work in the chapel included the construction of a gilded baldacchino surmounted by the resurrected Christ and attendant angels, and the stained glass in the east window. In the east window, Comper depicted a Tree of Jesse commemorating Pusey. The window contains figures of Old Testament prophets and Church Fathers surrounding Christ in Majesty and the Virgin and Child. The figure of Pusey can be seen, kneeling at the base of the second light from the right. Comper also designed vestments for Pusey House, and specially designed his "strawberry"[18] pattern for the chapel.
Library
The library is a theological and historical collection of 75,000 volumes which includes Pusey's library and a large collection of other theological and historical volumes. Pusey's own books, bought after his death, originally formed the heart of Pusey House Library. Since then, by gift and purchase, the library has grown into a collection which has been recognised by the National Archives as a leading specialist library not only in Oxford but in the United Kingdom. In addition to its primary source material and books on the Anglo-Catholic Movement (Tractarian and Oxford movements), the library also has collections of material for the study of patristics, church history, liturgy, doctrine, monasticism and Anglican Catholic organisations.[19]
The archive contains extensive material on the Tractarians and the Oxford Movement: the records of a number of Anglo-Catholic societies; communities of monks and nuns; letters and papers of notable Anglicans, as well as the archive of Pusey himself.[20]
Worship in the Chapel of the Resurrection is in accordance with the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the Church of England and is open to all, especially to members of the university.[22] Alongside its reputation for dignified and traditional liturgy, Pusey House is also recognised for its musical tradition, most visible at the Solemn Mass on Sundays and solemnities.[23] The choir's extensive repertoire ranges from the earliest church music and Gregorian chant, through the polyphony of Byrd and extending to 19th and 20th century composers such as Vierne and Stanford. Pusey House commissioned a new Mass-setting for its 125th anniversary celebrations from the composer Alexander Campkin.
The office of priest librarian dates from the foundation of the house in 1884- the following is an incomplete list of those who have served in this role:
^ abcLepine, Ayla (2016). "Modern Gothic and the House of God: Revivalism and Monasticism in Two Twentieth-Century Anglican Chapels". Visual Resources. 32 (1–2): 76–101. doi:10.1080/01973762.2016.1132146. S2CID193003965.
^Alden's Oxford Guide, Oxford: Alden & Co., 1958; p. 101
^Henry Parry Liddon described its purpose thus: "A home of sacred learning and rallying-point for Christian faith ... It will form a centre of moral and intellectual and spiritual enthusiasm, in which all that is solid in inquiry and learning, and all that is lofty and aspiring in moral effort shall find encouragement under the consecrating shadow of a great name."--quoted in Alden (1958)
^ abcOrford, Barry A. Davage, William. (2002). Piety and learning : the principals of Pusey House 1884-2002. Pusey House. OCLC51228277.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Coles, Vincent Stuckey Stratton (1930). V.S.S. Coles: Papers, Letters, Hymns & Verses, with a Memoir. London. pp. 208–209.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Lepine, A. (2016). Modern Gothic and the House of God: Revivalism and Monasticism in Two Twentieth-Century Anglican Chapels. Visual Resources, 32(1-2), 1-26.
Orford, Barry A., Davage, William, and Ursell, Philip. Piety and Learning : The Principals of Pusey House 1884-2002 : Essays Presented to The Revd Philip Ursell. Oxford: Pusey House, 2002.
