Chichester Theological College Founded

1839

The Chichester Theological College was founded in 1839 to train men for ordination in the Church of England. The college was established under the patronage of the Bishop of Chichester and occupied buildings in the cathedral close, placing it at the heart of the city's ecclesiastical life. It was one of the earlier theological colleges in England, founded during a period of renewed attention to clerical education and the standards of the clergy. The college trained generations of Church of England priests through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its location in the cathedral close gave students direct access to the daily worship and life of the cathedral, and the college became closely integrated with the diocese. The buildings included a chapel, library, lecture rooms and student accommodation. The college maintained an Anglo-Catholic tradition that distinguished it from the more evangelical theological colleges elsewhere in England. This tradition influenced the character of the clergy it produced and their subsequent ministries. The college closed in 1994 as part of a wider rationalisation of theological education. The buildings were absorbed into other uses, but the college's legacy continues in the clergy it trained and in the Anglo-Catholic character of the Chichester diocese. The college's existence for over 150 years reinforced Chichester's identity as a city whose life and character were shaped by the cathedral and the diocese.