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Museum of Oxford Digital Exhibitions

The birthplace of the Oxford Movement

Photo credit: © Oriel College, Oxford

The Oxford Movement was, in many ways, a product of Oriel College. It was here that important figures such as John Henry Newman (1801-1890, Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), and John Keble (1792-1866) first met and debated the problems of Church and University. Alarmed alike by changes in the constitution and by the intellectual liberalism they encountered at Oriel, they hoped to recover the authority of the Church that they believed had been lost. Initially little more than a group of Oxford dons, their debates would help transform the Church of England.