Maryvale Institute

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 08/02/2013

SP 09 SE 3/26 25.4.52

BIRMINGHAM OLD OSCOTT HILL Old Oscott (B44) Maryvale Institute

(Formerly listed as Maryvale Convent (Convent of Mercy))

(Formerly listed as St Mary's Convent of Mercy, Maryvale)

II*

Roman Catholic theological institute, originally RC bishop's house. The oldest part of the building is the 1752 house built for the RC Bishop, Thomas Hornyhold; red brick, 3 storeys, symmetrical 3-bays, 2 windows per bay, articulated by plain pilasters, moulded wood eaves cornice, old tile roof, flanking corniced chimney stacks, sash windows with glazing bars and flat stucco arches and key blocks on ground and first floor; open-well stair and 1752 chapel on second floor, now subdivided but with cornice surviving. 1778 [first Catholic Relief Act] brick chapel, externally plain, with round-arched windows, added at right-angles and open through two storeys with Ionic order, murals, only the classical wooden reredos and a now detached late C17 Flemish baroque altar survive from the various reorderings. John Milner added in 1800 the Sanctuary, in 1809 the long 3-storey wing at right-angles to the original house with simple stick baluster and ramped handrail staircase, and in 1816 Milner added tile external colonnade to link both buildings and a 2-storey lecture room, now reduced to a single storey Doric portico. Also in 1816 Milner added on the second floor the Sacred Heart Chapel, a vaulted room with delicate Gothic stucco detailing; tile stained glass, image of the Sacred Heart, is probably by Eginton, the Birmingham stained glass pioneer. Maryvale is very significant in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in England. It was a Roman Catholic Mission in the C17 and from 1794-1834 the Catholic Seminary of the Midlands. From 1846-48 it was the first Catholic congregation following Newman's conversion. Source: Mulvey, B. St Mary in the Valley, A History of Maryvale House.

Listing NGR: SP0741594534