St Stephen’s House

 

St Stephen’s House was founded in 1876 by members of the Tractarian movement and has stood, ever since, in the catholic tradition of the Church of England.

The House’s principal founder was Edward King, then Regius Professor of Pastoral Theology in the University of Oxford, and later Bishop of Lincoln. King has been acclaimed as one of the outstandingly holy men of his age, and exercised considerable influence on the early life of the House. Associated with King were William Bright, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History and a great scholar; Edward Talbot, Warden of Keble College and subsequently Bishop of Winchester; Edwin Palmer, Professor of Latin and Archdeacon of Oxford; Edward Woolcoombe, a Fellow of Balliol with a great interest in and support for the missionary movement; and John Wordsworth, Chaplain of Brasenose College. Finally among the founding band was Henry Scott Holland, then senior fellow at Christ Church and one of the leading figures in the development of the Christian social teaching of the time.

For the House’s first years, it was situated near the centre of Oxford, where the New Bodleian Library now stands. From 1919, the House had a site in Norham Gardens, near to the University Parks. In 1980 it moved to the current site, formerly the mother-house of the Society of St John the Evangelist (also known as the Cowley Fathers), founded by Richard Meux Benson.

Head of House	The Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward
Contact details	Michelle Smith, Bursar
Email	michelle.smith@ssho.ox.ac.uk
Tel	01865 613502
Web address	www.ssho.ox.ac.uk

Meeting/Dining Rooms

Name	Dining Hall	Lecture Room	Seminar Room 1	Seminar Room 2
Dinner (nos)	60	n/a	n/a	n/a
Buffet (nos)	80	50	30	15
Theatre (nos)	n/a	50	30	15
Classroom (nos)	n/a	35	25	12
Boardroom (nos)	n/a	35	20	12
Room Style	The dining hall features a picture window which looks onto the cloister garden . The tables are arranged in traditional oxford style but can also adjusted for other layouts. We have dining chairs for extra comfort.	An extremely flexible space, suitable for teaching and meetings, which is light and airy.	The furniture in the seminar room can be arranged to suit a desired seating plan.	The room features a picture window which looks over the garden onto the House Chapel.
Availability	Term and vacation	Afternoons during term time and all through the vacations	Afternoons during term time and all through the vacations	All year
IT facilities	n/a	The lecture room features a smart board system with digital projector and interactive white board. Advice and support for use of the equipment can be provided by the Assistant Bursar. More detailed technical support can also be provided but should be booked in advance with our IT officer and will incur an additional cost. A traditional white board and flip chart are also available.	As Lecture room	White board, flip chart, television and video cassette player. An OHP can also be set up upon request.
Disabled Access	To be completed Summer 2008	Not currently possible	Not currently possible	Not currently possible

Residential

Bedrooms (nos)	50
Standard	33
Ensuite	17
Fully accessible rooms	0
Twin rooms	6 in term, 10 in vacation
Family rooms	A number of our larger rooms offer flexible accommodation.

Sports Facilities

We are very fortunate to be located across the road from the University sports centre which has a wealth of sporting facilities including a gym, swimming pool and running track.

Conference information

FAQs by potential conference clients	Internet access is available in the lecture room and seminar room 1. It is also possible to arrange individual connections in study bedrooms subject to virus checks and agreement with University regulations. Kitchens are on-site for those who require self catering accommodation.
Recent conference clients/Testimonials
Special offers or dates still available for next conference season	We still have limited availability for Easter 2008 and August and September 2008. We are also able to offer Bed and Breakfast for parties of up to eight people during term time.
Parking	We have on-site car parking available.
Weddings (licence, receptions)	Details available upon request
Value added services which can be provided e.g. tours, music, BBQ use of gardens, marquees etc	We have two wonderful garden spaces which provide excellent locations for BBQs and drinks receptions. The cloister gardens offer tranquillity and space for contemplation.
	We are fortunate to have three places of worship on site, including a particularly fine example of a Bodley church and two in house chapels, one of which was designed by Comper. The Church also boasts excellent acoustics and a very good Organ making it an excellent venue for concerts.
	There are 18 flats on site with 1to 3 bedrooms. These are sometimes available for short term lets, particularly over the summer vacation. Please contact the assistant bursar for availability.

Click here to return to the list of University Colleges & Departments