The OCMCH is currently celebrating the 60th anniversary of the arrival of Westminster College students at their new buildings in Oxford, now the Harcourt Hill campus of Oxford Brookes University. As part of these commemorations we have selected highlights from the Westminster College archives to showcase in physical displays and a digital exhibition.
The chapel at Harcourt Hill was not only central to the plan of Westminster College’s new site in Oxford, but was also the focal point of students’ religious life. The former Westminster College chapel silver comprises two chalices and patens, a box, and a jug – six items in total. The date marks reveal that these pieces were created between 1946 and 1965, confirming that they all originate from the time of Westminster College in both London and Oxford.
More remarkable, however, is that these pieces all feature the same hallmark; a stylised ‘GMC’ in an oval. This shows that they were produced by the same silversmith over a twenty year period. George Matthew Clark (1887-1981) attended Westminster College from 1905 to 1907. Later, he had a successful career as a teacher in Kent, and there is a cassette tape of his reminiscences in the Westminster College archives.
‘In the late 30s he established a department of Metalwork in his school which drew much interest from the local authority and was subsequently the template from which other departments stemmed’
Robert Clark (son), Obituary, Westminster Club Bulletin, June 1981
The identification of Clark as the maker of the former Westminster College chapel silver demonstrates the lasting attachment felt by Old Westminsterians toward their former College. This is particularly apparent in the inscription to the larger paten of 1958, which was donated by the class of 1907.
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE. [on reverse] THIS CHALICE & PATEN/ARE THE GIFT OF WESTMINSTER MEN OF 1907/AS A TOKEN OF THEIR LOVE AND LOYALTY. [by hallmarks] G.M.CLARK 1907 fecit
An exhibition in celebration of #WCO60 is on display at the Oxford Brookes Harcourt Hill campus, and can also be accessed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ocmch/albums
Westminster Oxford Research Network 