Nonconformity

No record of Dissent has been traced in Begbroke before the 19th century. Two families were said in 1834 to attend Wesleyan meetings at Bladon, although it was noted that their children attended the parish school. (fn. 20) H. B. Bulteel, a well known Oxford nonconformist, preached in the village in the 1830s, but with what effect is unknown. (fn. 21) In 1854 there were reputedly no nonconformists, (fn. 22) but in 1878 there were said to be nine. (fn. 23)

Begbroke House was bought in 1896 for the Roman Catholic Servite order and, renamed St. Philip's Priory, was opened as a novitiate in 1897. (fn. 24) The priory inevitably became a centre for Roman Catholicism over a wide area, extending as far as Bicester in the early 20th century. (fn. 25) Begbroke Place, later St. Juliana's school, was used in the earlier 20th century as a hostel for Roman Catholic priests. (fn. 26)

Footnotes