A hidden Catholic gem in Warwickshire
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- The Grade II* listed chapel of St Peter and St Paul is in the upper storey of the medieval malt barn attached to the Old Rectory, ( formerly the Rectory Farm) Friars Lane, Lower Brailes. It is one of the earliest post -Reformation public Catholic churches in England. The Rectory Farm, dating from the 16th century, belonged to the Augustinian canons of Kenilworth Abbey who leased it to John Bishop. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 he bought the farm and established a secret Mass centre in the attic. There was a priest's hide in the house.
John's eldest son, William was born there in 1554 and educated at a clandestine Catholic school in the village. He studied for a time in Oxford and then, along with many Catholic exiles, went to the continent.
He was ordained a priest at Leon in France in 1583 and served in Brailes.
He was a noted scholar, writer and controversialist and on 4th June 1623 was consecrated titular Bishop of Chalcedon at Paris and appointed the first Vicar Apostolic of England.
He died on 16th April 1624 and was probably buried in
St Pancras cemetery.
Throughout the recusant period Mass was said regularly in the house and a priest was always in residence. From 1823 a school was conducted in the presbytery and then in some converted cottages in Friars Lane until St Margaret's Catholic School was built in 1881.It closed in 1952.The local community showed generous tolerance to the Catholic community and no Catholic in Brailes was ever betrayed and none of the priests were arrested. The present chapel was constructed in 1726 by Father George Bishop, over 50 years before the Act of 1791 which first made Catholic chapels legal.
It has retained most of its original furnishings and is a rare example of a surviving Georgian Catholic chapel. With the adjoining presbytery, it was restored by Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville with generous help from English Heritage in 1990-92.
An interesting place and a camera guide that makes you curious!
How fascinating and thank you so much for showing the chapel to us. A charming hidden treasure.
Quite literally a hidden gem….hard to get in too, as door sticker instructions were completely wrong. Birmingham diocese doing a great job to keep it hidden
@@bsms254 Why doesn’t that surprise me…
Beautiful musical accompaniment. "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say", right? Which recording is it? I'd like to hear more.
The church is beautiful.
It’s by Vaughan Williams. From the English Folk Song Suit - The first march which is called "Seventeen Come Sunday” (the choice was between this or Holst’s Cotswolds Symphony)