Records of Cotton College, Oakamoor, Staffordshire

Bought by the Gilbert family in 1601, the estate at Cotton was already home to the manor house of Cotton Hall. The family extended and altered the house before selling the estate to the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1843. it became the home of the Wilfridians, a religious order run by the Rev. Frederick William Faber. Between 1846 and 1848 Lord Shrewsbury added the Church of St Wilfrid and Faber House, both of which were designed by A. W. N. Pugin. After his ordination Faber joined the Oratorians. Realising their vocation lay in the big cities the Oratorian Community left Cotton, and it was occupies by the Passionists, who again moved on from the isolated setting. The estate was subsequently bought by the Birmingham Archdiocese, and in 1873 the New Sedgley Park School, later named Cotton College, was established there as a Catholic boarding school. Within a short time the Rev. Joseph Souter, President, had to refuse 40 applications for lack of space and so began the building of what was to be known as 'the Souter Wing'. Other building work followed. In 1932 St Thomas' Junior School was openend by Cardinal Bourne, providing accomodation for fifty boys, masters' rooms, classrooms, a physics laboratory and a stage and hall. Linked with the opening of St Thomas' was the foundation of the Cottonian Association, a body set up to raise funds to pay off the debts incurred by the new building. In 1942 a small community of the Sisters of La Retraite was established at the College. The Sisters assisted with the boys' food and healthcare. The College closed in 1987 and proposals to convert the Listed buildings into private homes were submitted.