Heythrop College: Oxfordshire and Cavendish Square, London

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1093
Held at	: Jesuits in Britain Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.jesuit.org.uk/archives-jesuits-britain ›
Full title	: Heythrop College: Oxfordshire and Cavendish Square, London
Date(s)	: 1910-1993
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: [160 files]
Name of creator(s)	: Heythrop College

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Heythrop was originally a religious foundation, set up in 1614 by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) to train its own members. It was originally in Louvain but quickly moved to Liège where it remained until 1794 when the College moved to Stonyhurst, Lancashire. A new College was built near St Asaph, in North Wales in 1848. The Society of Jesus acquired Heythrop Hall, Oxfordshire, in 1923. Heythrop College was set up as a 'Collegium Maximum' - a Roman title indicating a college a little short of university status and issued degrees of the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome. It was opened to students, Aug 1926. In the 1960s a proposal was made for the College to become a 'Pontifical Athenaeum', an institution still rather less than a university, but a degree-granting body in its own right. For that purpose it needed to open its doors to students other than Jesuits, including lay people. This it did in 1965, with the approval of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales. Cardinal Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster, was installed as Chancellor of the new entity. Heythrop College became a constituent college of the University of London in October 1970 and moved to a new location in Cavendish Square. This allowed the College full integration within the British university system. With this move the College was self-governing and no longer a Jesuit institution. Nor was it any longer Roman Catholic. Nonetheless a large Jesuit presence remained, and the ethos continued to be Catholic. The College moved from Cavendish Square to Kensington Square in 1993 for financial reasons.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Heythrop College in Oxfordshire and Cavendish Square, 1910-1993. Notably papers relating to the move from Oxfordshire to London including correspondence, sale of property papers, removal papers, estate agent's brochure at time of sale, giving history and plan of the Heythrop estate, copies of plans of the Heythrop estate, papers of the Curia, papers of Frederick Copleston and Father Waterhouse and press release on the opening of Cavendish Square, 1970. Also, papers relating to the request for Heythrop to become part of the University of London, 1969-1978 and articles, pamphlets, brochures and press cuttings relating to the history of Heythrop College.

Other papers include: deeds, 1923-1927; foundation charter, 1965-1971; general correspondence, 1935-1969; prospectuses, 1965-1980; Faculties, 1945-1969; financial papers, 1910-1970; papers relating to the Ecclesiastical Authority, 1967-1970; papers relating to the running of the Heythrop estate in Oxfordshire; papers relating to accommodation in London including in Queen Anne Mews, 1969-1973; papers and correspondence relating to daily life and scholastic activities at Heythrop; papers relating to the libraries at Heythrop and Mount Street including report by Father M Walsh on the requirements of the University with regard to the Heythrop Library, Sep 1973; papers of Father Maher, Pres. of Heythrop College including correspondence; papers relating to the future of Heythrop College, 1981; papers of Hugh Kay, 1970-1986; reading lists for courses; photographs of the interior and exterior of Heythrop College in Oxfordshire and Cavandish Square, including of renovations, an ordination, 1931, Corpus Christi procession, 1930, an open day at Heythrop, 1965 and group photographs; accounts with the English Province, 1925-1949; plans for proposed buildings and alterations; minutes of annual general meetings, 1955-1966 and other committee meetings; correspondence with the Board of Education relating to application for recognition as a teachers college; Ministers' papers including letters and log books, 1923-1956 and papers relating to conferences, 1942-1968.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Awaiting arrangement.

Conditions governing access:

Open by appointment only.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Readers may use their own digital cameras. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Finding aids:

Index cards available in the Archive's reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The bulk of the material was received from Heythrop College when it moved from Oxfordshire to London in 1970. The later material was received in installments over the period 1970-1993.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Entry compiled by Sarah Drewery.
Sources: http://www.heythrop.ac.uk

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Sep 2008