| Administrative History | Crowther Hall, Selly Oak, Birmingham, was opened in the autumn of 1969 as a training college for the Church Mission Society ['Church Missionary Society' until 1995]. For the first time in the Society's history, training for men and women recruits was amalgamated. CMS continued to offer training at Crowther Hall until 31 December 2004.
Simon Barrington-ward, the first principal, named the college after Bishop Samuel Adjai Crowther (1806-1891).
CMS had some previous experience of training on the Selly Oak site. After the outbreak of the Second World War, there was a temporary arrangement whereby some candidates transferred from 'Foxbury', the CMS training home for men in Kent, to Carey Hall, one of the Selly Oak Colleges.
In 2006, the Crowther Hall campus passed to Birmingham Christian College (BCC) as an interdenominational evangelical training college [source: BCC website, available at https://bccoll.uk/vision-mission-and-partners/; accessed 4 October 2023].
CMS Principals of Crowther Hall
1969-1965: Simon barrington-Ward
1975: Colin Gilbert Chapman, acting principal
1975-1984: Peter St George Vaughan
1984-1990: Maurice Walter Sinclair
1990-1997: Colin Chapman
1997-2004: George Kovoor |
| Custodial History | Plans previously held by Central England Quakers. Received with plans of Selly Oak Colleges: comprising roll 1 and extracts from roll 2 (2023/91a). |