| Ushaw College, Durham | |
|---|---|
| Motto | In Omnibus Sumentes Scutum Fidei In All Things Taking the Shield of Faith |
| Established | 1568 |
| Type | Licensed Hall of the University of Durham |
| President | Rev John Marsland |
| Students | 34 |
| Location | Ushaw Moor, England |
| Website | http://www.ushaw.ac.uk/ |
Ushaw College (St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw) was a Roman Catholic seminary near Durham, England that closed in 2011 due to the shortage of vocations. Ushaw was the principal seminary in the north of England for the training of Catholic priests.
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The English College, Douai was founded in 1568 but was forced to leave France in 1795 following the French Revolution. Part of the college settled temporarily at Crook Hall northwest of Durham. In 1804 Bishop William Gibson began the buildings at Ushaw Moor, four miles west of Durham which opened in 1808.
The original college buildings (1804–1808) were designed by James Taylor. There was a steady expansion during the nineteenth century with new buildings put up to cater for the expanding number of clerical and secular students. The Junior House, designed by the distinguished architect, Peter Paul Pugin, was added in 1859. St Cuthbert’s Chapel, designed by Dunn and Hansom, was opened in 1884, replacing an earlier one by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, which the seminary had outgrown. The Refectory was designed and built by Pugin. The final development came in the early 1960s with the opening of a new East wing, providing additional classrooms and single bedrooms for 75 students.
The main college buildings are grade II listed, however the College Chapel is grade II* and the Chapel of St Michael is grade I.
Ushaw became a Licensed Hall of the University of Durham in 1968. It was independent of the University but offered courses validated by the University. Both Church and lay students studied at the college. The Junior House closed in 1970, its younger students being transferred to St Joseph's College, Upholland in Lancashire.
In 2002 the College rejected a report from the Roman Catholic hierarchy that it should merge with St Mary's College, Oscott, near Birmingham[1] but in October 2010 it was announced that the college would close in 2011 due to the shortage of vocations in the Roman Catholic Church, and that the site might be sold.[2] In June 2011 it was announced that the college's Trustees and Durham University had agreed to commission a detailed feasibility study to identify appropriate future uses for the College.[3]
The College armorial bearings are "Per pale dexter Argent a Cross Gules on a Canton Azure a Cross of St Cuthbert proper sinister impaling Allen Argent three Rabbits couchant in pale Sable."
Various emblems on shield represent the college's history and foundation, for example:-
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