South Lodge at Oscott College

Summary

South Lodge to Oscott College, 1840-1841 by AWN Pugin.

Reasons for Designation

The South Lodge at Oscott College, of 1840-1841 by AWN Pugin, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a sophisticated lodge building in the Gothic Revival style, with strong proportions and high quality detailing;
* for the quality of the carved detailing;
* for the degree of survival of the building and its principal features.

Historic interest:

* for its design by AWN Pugin, a leading architect of the Gothic Revival in England;
* for its association with Oscott College, and its place in the history of the Catholic church in England.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with the other listed buildings at Oscott College.

History

The first Oscott College opened in 1794 to accommodate a seminary for the training of priests and the education of Catholic pupils, and occupied what is now the Maryvale Institute. The college expanded in the early years of the C19 as Catholicism re-emerged into English life, and in the 1830s it was decided to build a new college. This was project was led by Thomas Walsh, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, and land for the new college was bought with money from benefactors including the Earl of Shrewsbury.

The new college was built between 1835 and 1838, principally to designs by the architect Joseph Potter of Lichfield. Potter was gradually replaced, however, by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, who had been introduced to Oscott in 1837 by the Earl of Shrewsbury, his benefactor. Pugin was to become Professor of Ecclesiastical Antiquities at the college. He oversaw the completion of the college buildings, most famously the interior of the college chapel, but also designed two lodges at the entrances to the site, originally known as the Sutton and Erdington lodges.

Both lodges are designed in the same style but with differing detail. The design for what is now the North Lodge appears of the frontispiece of Pugin's 'An apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England', at the centre of a scene showing numerous other ecclesiastical designs.

The South Lodge was renovated and extended in the late-C20.

Details

South Lodge to Oscott College, 1840-1841 by AWN Pugin.

MATERIALS: the lodge is built of brick under a tile roof, with stone dressings to window and door openings.

PLAN: the lodge faces east onto Court Lane, and is rectangular on plan with the carriage arch at its northern end.

EXTERIOR: the carriage arch is contained within a wide, pointed-arch opening in a moulded surround with hoodmould with labelstops with the letters T and W carved in the stonework. This is flanked by a stepped buttress on each side. The gates are timber with ironwork. Above this arch there are two flat-headed windows, each with a single light with cusped tracery and mouchettes. Between these is a panel containing the coat of arms of Thomas Walsh and the date 1838, and the three sections have a continuous hoodmould above. In the gable above, itself surmounted by moulded stone copings, there is a cross marked out in brick. There is a projecting wing to the south with plainer windows lighting the stair within, and further crosses in the brick.

The rear elevation, which faces into the estate, has a matching arch with a four light, traceried window above, and this is flanked by the initials 'TW' marked out in brick on each side. There is a further two paired windows in the wing to the south, and beyond this a single storey extension in brick.

INTERIOR: the interior of the lodge is accessed from underneath the arch. It contains mostly modern features but retains some original doors and a simple timber handrail to the stair with chamfered posts.

Sources

Books and journals
Rosemary, Hill, God's Architect; Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain, (2007), 236
Pevsner, N, Pickford, C, The Buildings of England: Warwickshire , (2016), pp. 196-199

Websites
Oscott College History, accessed 11.7.2019 from http://oscott.net/about-us/history/

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