The Society of the Sacred Heart opened a "house of studies" in Oxford in 1929, and moved to 11 Norham Gardens in 1932. In 2012 the community celebrated their 80th birthday. The intervening decades have seen many changes in use of space and community make-up. Its primary focus, too, has seen different expressions, but fundamentally has always remained the same: the encouragement and facilitation of learning and development.

To celebrate this 80th anniversary one of the community at that time, Sue Acheson RSCJ, worked on a history of the house, which is below. Meanwhile, one of the students video'd some past and present residents - click here for this glimpse into our lives.

Click here to read about the current RSCJ community

Back to 'Our story and tradition'