Oxford Inscriptions: St Columba's Church
New 1961 stone on top
The stone below was relaid
during the extension to this church 1961
Original 1914 stone
+
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
THIS STONE WAS LAID BY
THE RT. HON VISCOUNT BRYCE O.M: D.C.L
ON THE 6TH OF JUNE 1914
This foundation stone is near the entrance to St Columba's United Reformed Church in Alfred Street and was laid in June 1914. The original building was designed by T. Phillips Figgis and built by Wooldridge & Simpson. The chapel was dedicated in 1915. It stands on the site of former stables (originally belonging to the Bear Inn, but taken over by the Mitre in the early nineteenth century).
It was a joint chaplaincy set up by the Church of Scotland, the United Free Church of Scotland, and the Presbyterian Church of England. The bronze plaques on the walls bear the names of the 118 members of the Congregation who were killed in the First World War (full list here).
St Columba's became a full church in 1931.
This plaque was moved in 1960 when a vestibule, designed by E. Brian Smith, was added to the church.
The building took its present name of St Columba's United Reformed Church when the Presbyterian and Congregationalist Churches were united in 1972.
Viscount Bryce, who laid the foundation stone, had been Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford from 1870 to 1893. He then served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Tower Hamlets (1880–1885) and South Aberdeen (1885–1907). Then from 1907 to 1913 he was British Ambassador to the United States. In 1914, after his retirement as Ambassador and his return to Britain, Bryce was raised to the peerage as Viscount Bryce of Dechmount in the County of Lanark:
- More information on the first (and only) Viscount Bryce (1838–1932)
- See report in the Oxford Chronicle of 9 October 1914 (p. 8) about the laying of the foundation stone