A look at some of the few English medieval buildings currently used for worship by the Catholic Church.
On the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist in 1559, celebration of the Mass was banned throughout England by Elizabeth I and her Protestant government. The medieval parish churches of England perforce became Anglican.
It is difficult, but not entirely impossible, for English Catholics of the 21st century to worship in a medieval building. This survey reviews those buildings where Catholics have effective possession. It does not cover medieval Anglican churches where Catholic Mass is regularly celebrated; examples of these are Much Hadham, Hertfordshire and Sedbergh, Cumbria. With declining congregations it is a model to which more consideration should perhaps be given in the future.
Medieval buildings available for Catholic worship come into two categories. The first of these are buildings where Mass has been celebrated pretty much continuously since the Reformation. They are either part of, or linked to, a neighbouring country house.
Pope Alexander IV gave permission for Sir John Turberville to build the Chapel of St Amand and St John the Baptist at East Hendred House, Oxfordshire, in 1256. It forms a wing of the house of the Eyston family, descendants of the Turbervilles through marriage. It was a centre of Catholic worship throughout penal times. The chapel is of modest size with white walls, three of them original, punctuated by Gothic windows. Mass is celebrated weekly.
The flint and stone chapel at Stonor Park in Oxfordshire, the possession of Lord Camoys, is connected to the east wing of the house. It is thought to date from the late 13th century. It has a brick tower, one of the earliest uses of brick in southern England. The chapel is first mentioned in 1337 and was enlarged in 1339. Mass has certainly been celebrated there without a break since 1349. The chapel interior was Gothicised in the 18th century.
Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel, founded a collegiate church in Arundel, West Sussex, in 1380, built in the Perpendicular style. At the Reformation the Earls of Arundel purchased the collegiate chancel and the Lady Chapel. The western half of the church became and remains the Anglican parish church. Entrance to the Fitzalan Chapel is only via the Castle. The chapel is distinguished by its series of family monuments, the earliest being that of the 5th Earl of Arundel who died of dysentery in 1415. Catholic services have been held at the chapel on an irregular basis since its foundation. The last Fitzalan Earl of Arundel, the 12th, died in 1580 and his lands were inherited by his son-in-law, the 4th Duke of Norfolk. Not all the Dukes of Norfolk have necessarily been reliably Catholic. However Charles Alban Buckler restored the chapel in a proper Catholic fashion for the 15th Duke. The chief function of the chapel now is as a mausoleum. Public Mass is celebrated each year on All Souls Day, and on the anniversary dates of the Dukes and Duchesses of Norfolk.
There are two other Anglican churches which have Catholic areas. The 14th-century Bardolf aisle at St Margaret’s, Mapledurham in Oxfordshire belongs to the Catholic Eystons of Mapledurham House. The Catholic Tichbornes of Tichborne Park (now Loudons) were granted the Tichborne chantry of St Andrew’s medieval church in 1621, and it remains consecrated to Catholic worship.
THE SECOND category is where Catholics have purchased or leased medieval buildings. In 1890-1 the convert Elizabeth Stuart restored the beautiful 12th-century chapel of St James the Apostle, Postlip, Gloucestershire (previously a farm building) to Catholic use. Mass is now, at best, celebrated irregularly, although the building is in good repair.
The Priory Church of St James, Bristol, was founded in 1129 by Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of King Henry I. The church is 12th century and the interior of the church has five bay Norman arcades of sturdy circular piers. At the Reformation the nave became the Anglican Church of St James. By the late 20th century the building had fallen into disuse. It was declared redundant. In 1996 the Little Brothers of Nazareth, a Catholic order, purchased the building and set it up as a Catholic church. After a £5 million restoration project it was re-opened in 2011. The St James project offers support to vulnerable people, especially those with a history of substance abuse and mental illness.
The Anglican Church of St Leonard, Malton, Yorkshire was originally founded in the 12th century as a chapel of ease to the Gilbertine monastery nearby. It became an Anglican parish church at the Reformation. It has Romanesque arcading and much medieval sculpture. It became surplus to Anglican requirements in the 1960s and was given to the Diocese of Middlesbrough in 1971, St Mary being added to the dedication.
The Anglican Church of St Mary, Cricklade, Wiltshire was declared redundant in 1981. It is built of stone and consists of work from the 12th century onwards. Its chief feature is the charming chevroned chancel arch. The Catholic Diocese of Clifton entered into a 99-year lease and the first Mass since the 16th century was celebrated here on January 1, 1984. The parish does not have a resident priest and is served from Fairford.
St Etheldreda, Ely Place, in Holborn, London was founded around 1300 as the domestic chapel of the Bishops of Ely. After the Reformation it passed into secular Protestant hands. In 1874 the Oxford convert Fr William Lockhart acquired the chapel at auction on behalf of the Rosminians, the Order of Charity, the first example of a medieval place of worship reverting to Catholic use. The church is distinguished by consisting of an upper and lower church, the former notable for its great Geometrical windows at the east and west ends. JF Bentley designed the choir screen. There is much modern stained glass by Joseph Nuttgens and others. The Rosminians still remain.
The small 14th-century Slipper Chapel at Walsingham, Norfolk was the place where traditionally pilgrims removed their shoes before walking the last mile to the great Marian shrine at Walsingham. The chapel became a barn after the Reformation. The chapel was bought in the late 19th century by the High Anglican Charlotte Boyd who subsequently converted to Catholicism. It was restored by the convert architect Thomas Garner in 1904. It is nowadays dominated by a large statue of Our Lady carved in 1954 and a fine east window by Geoffrey Webb installed in the same year.
Clare Priory, Suffolk was founded in 1248 by Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, as the first house of the Augustinian Friars in the country. The original church and friary buildings were built in the 14th century. The infirmary became a barn. In 1953 the priory was sold back to the Augustinian friars. The infirmary was adapted to serve as both the priory and parish church of the Mother of Good Counsel. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century the existing church had become too small for the expanding congreg-ation. In 2011-13 it was extended to provide what is effectively a new fan-shaped church with the old building retained as a narthex.
The Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton and The Holy Compassion, Saffron Walden were both previously medieval barns.
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