York, England, is one of Europe’s most popular cities, with its beautiful cathedral and 7.1 million visitors each year.* Visitors to York need somewhere to stay. But the Bar Convent, one of York’s best kept secrets, is more than just a delightful guest house with distinctive rooms and high ceilings. It’s also a community of nuns and a listed building with an original history.
Bar Convent’s Early History
The Bar Convent was established in 1686 by Mother Frances Bedingfeld (aka Bedingfield), with funding from Sir Thomas Gascoigne, a local Catholic landowner. The resulting property was just outside the city walls and Micklegate Bar. Gascoigne’s belief that ‘We must have a school for our daughters’ resulted in the establishment of a boarding school for Catholic girls, followed in 1699 by a free day school.
Both teaching and practising Roman Catholicism were forbidden at this time, so the sisters, known as the ‘Ladies at the Bar’, wore grey gowns and hoods rather than habits, to avoid the risk of detection. Despite this, the house was reported to be ‘as full of papists as it can hold’ and ended up being searched several times.
A 17th century engraving of St. Michael, which hangs over the inside of the front door, commemorates the story of how he chased away an angry anti-Catholic mob who attacked the house in 1696.
Bar Convent’s Architecture and Thomas Atkinson
The original Convent was a large old brick building, but this no longer exists. The foundation stone for a new building was laid in 1766 and leading York architect Thomas Atkinson was engaged to undertake the work. The new Georgian façade was striking but the most noteworthy feature was the addition of a neo-classical chapel.
Bar Convent Chapel
The chapel is dedicated to the Blessed Trinity and includes a beautiful dome, decorated with wheat sheaves and vine leaves. The dome light holds a triangle at its centre, containing the Hebrew letters for YAWEH (God). From 1686, the Bar Convent was a Mass centre for local Catholics, but in 1765 it was still illegal to construct a Catholic church. When the chapel was built, therefore, it was hidden from outside by a pitched roof, which covered the dome. There were also eight exits, in case of a raid.
In 1969, the chapel was renovated and its Georgian appearance was restored.
The Priest Hole
Within the chapel is a priest hole, which probably wasn’t used, but it would have been constructed as a precaution. At the time the chapel was built (1767-69), persecution had ceased, but the laws had not changed and priests and those participating in a Mass were still at risk. Originally, the cavity would have been concealed beneath 18th century floorboards and access would have been gained from the side, below the chapel.
The priest hole was discovered in the early 20th century when electricity was installed. Today it can be seen through glass from the chapel.
Margaret Clitherow
The Bar Convent also holds a relic of the hand of Margaret Clitherow, saint and martyr. As a young woman, Clitherow converted to Catholicism, and was executed in 1586 for harbouring Roman Catholic priests. Her body was rapidly disposed of. Records suggest that it was later recovered and reburied in a more suitable location, and a further report, written by Father John Mush, suggests that he helped find and dispose of the body. Mush was one of the priests that Clitherow had hidden in her house in the Shambles.
John Mush knew Mary Ward (1585-1645) and it's possible that the relic came to the Bar Convent via this connection. Ward founded the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (of which Frances Bedingfield was an early member) and the Congregation of Jesus, whose nuns still reside at the Bar Convent today.
Glazed Courtyard and G. T. Andrews
The house designed by Thomas Atkinson was built around an open courtyard. In the 1850s, this courtyard was glazed over by architect G. T. Andrews.** Andrews had just built the railway station (which was then inside the city walls), and his cast iron workmanship has the distinctive look of railway architecture.
The nuns of the convent were among the many ‘thousands of small investors’ (Benjamin Disraeli) who became modest shareholders in the railway companies.
The courtyard is also striking because of its colourful tiled floor, with tiles by Maws of Coalbrookdale.
Turret Clock
The roof of the courtyard now has clear panes, through which a lovely clock can be seen. This was constructed by Henry Hindley (1701-71), an accomplished clock maker, who was granted the freedom of the City of York. Hindley, however, was also a Catholic and supposedly a ‘rabid Jacobite’ and as such was restricted in his movements outside the city.
The turret clock faced inwards, looking down on the courtyard below. But around 1790 the Sisters decided to add a clock face to the new façade on Blossom Street, and connecting rods were constructed.
Bar Convent Museum
As well as being a guest house and a centre for meetings, the Bar Convent includes a gift shop, a café and the Bar Convent Museum which tells the story of Mary Ward, the convent community and the Bar Convent’s history. All within minutes of the city walls. And unlike in previous centuries, visitors don’t have to go in secret…
Sources
- Bar Convent Trust. The Bar Convent Museum. York: Bar Convent Trust.
- Bar Convent Museum information.
- Bar Convent Website. Accessed October, 2011.
- Visit York. Key Facts on Tourism in York. York: Visit York, 2010.
* Based on figures from 2008 (Visit York, 2010).
** Andrews also built an extension to the convent.
Ellie Stevenson - Ellie writes on history, travel, careers & the arts. Her novel, Ship of Haunts (http://tinyurl.com/cyryp2m) is on Amazon as an ebook.
