Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens

Established initially as a Catholic Seminary (known as Ushaw College/ St Cuthbert’s College, Ushaw) founded in 1808 from the former English Catholic College at Douai in France, it was purpose-built in its beautiful setting four miles from the City of Durham.

Ushaw underwent major expansion, beginning in 1845 and continuing through the remainder of the 19th century, and boasts significant examples of the work of Gothic revival architects including the Pugin and Hansom families. Augustus Pugin began this with the first chapel on the site, which was later replaced by a much larger chapel by Dunn and Hansom in the 1880’s.

Other notable buildings include the Refectory, the Parlour, the Exhibition Theatre and the Library, all completed by 1860, and each contributing to the wealth of the architecture and setting. The majority of our buildings are listed, and Ushaw was developed with the specific intention of providing a self-sustaining existence, with farms, gardens and designed landscape.

The original building at Ushaw was in fact a Georgian country house, set out around a central quadrangle. It was built by local craftsmen to the design of James Taylor of Islington, London, who had designed a similar building for our sister College of St. Edmunds, Ware, in Hertfordshire. The house contained all that was required, including accommodation and public rooms, and the chapel, kitchen and refectory in the north range. This house remained largely unchanged until the 1840’s, when the President at the time, Monsignor Charles Newsham, began a programme of building work which was to transform Ushaw.