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Stonyhurst College as a school dates back to 1593 when its antecedent, the Jesuit College at St Omer, was founded in Flanders to educate English Catholics. The history of the present school buildings dates as far back as 1200 AD.
The earliest deed concerning the "Stanihurst" dates from 1200 AD and can now be found in the Arundell Library in the college, whilst the earliest evidence of a building on the site is from 1372 when John de Bayley was licensed to have an oratory there; the archway in the Bayley Room, within the 'Blind Tower', is believed to date from the fourteenth century, and may well be the only remnant of that earlier building. [1] The oldest portion of the extant buildings however, the Shireburn Mansion (Stonyhurst Hall), was founded by the Roman Catholic, Richard Shireburn, a descendant of the Bayley family, whose son attended the College at St Omer. He built the gatehouse and open cupolas (known as "the towers") on top of an older settlement dating from 1592. The design of the gatehouse incorporates four of the classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite). Three similar designs appear on the buildings of Merton and Wadham College in Oxford, though those at Stonyhurs antedates them all by more than a decade. [2] In places the exterior walls of this part of the building are as much as 6 feet (1.8 m) thick. [3]
In 1648, during the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's army encamped near the hall on their way to the Battle of Preston. Cromwell spent the night at Stonyhurst and is reputed to have slept on a table, in the middle of the Great Hall, in full armour. He is said to have preferred this option to a bed because of fear of assassination and mistrust of his Catholic, royalist hosts. [4] He was quoted as saying it was "the best half house" he had seen (the Hall was at that time still unfinished). [5]
Richard Shireburn's successor and grandson, Sir Nicholas Shireburn, began an extensive building scheme to extend the "half house", and completed the great hall, gardens and avenue so that it could be a great manor house. Two ponds, each measuring 660 feet (200 m) by 112 feet (34 m) were constructed in 1696, along with the "causeway" between, today known as the Avenue. His son Richard was poisoned in the gardens in 1702, and with no male heir Nicholas ceased building. Upon his death in 1717, the buildings passed to his wife and then to their sole heir, Maria Shireburn, Duchess of Norfolk. The Duchess was married to Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk, and lived at Arundel Castle in Sussex. Unoccupied, the buildings at Stonyhurst began to fall into disrepair. Eventually the houses were inherited by her cousin, Thomas Weld in 1761. Already living in Lulworth Castle, and able to dispense with an additional estate, Thomas, an old boy of St Omer, generously donated the property to the Society of Jesus, with 30 acres (12 ha) of land, in 1794.
The original hall has been altered and extended over the years to become one of the largest inhabited buildings in Europe and achieving Grade I listed status from English Heritage. [6]
The village of Hurst Green, Lancashire developed with the hall. Richard Shireburn built the village school in 1686. He also built an almshouse on Longridge Fell, the predecessor of the Shireburn Almshouses, which his son Nicholas built in about 1707. The latter[ which? ] was dismantled in 1946 and re-erected in the village. [7]
The story of the school starts at St Omer in what was then the Spanish Low Countries in 1593, where a college was founded by Father Robert Parsons for English boys, unable to receive a Catholic education in Elizabethan England. As such it was one of a number of expatriate English schools operating on the European mainland during the centuries when Catholicism was proscribed in England.
In 1762, when the French Parlement turned against the Jesuits, the school, in what was then a part of France, was forced to move. During subsequent decades, when the Jesuit Order was suppressed in most countries, the college was one of the institutions through which it managed to maintain a continuous existence.
After St Omer (still known in Stonyhurst parlance by its old English name of St. Omers), the college settled in Bruges where it continued until 1773 when it was again forced to move, reassembling at Liège, under the protection of its bishop.
In 1794 yet another move was forced upon the school, and a new home was found at Stonyhurst Hall in Lancashire, an ideal county for the school to settle in because it was still a Catholic stronghold [8] and its rural, isolated character provided the hope that the school would be left alone by the authorities. Not taking any chances however, a number of hiding places were created throughout the building should the Jesuits face persecution again, and when Saint Mary's Hall was constructed in the following century, a secret escape tunnel, which still survives, was also built linking the seminary to an exit in the gardens. [9]
The honour of being the last student at Liège and the first at Stonyhurst was claimed by a George Lambert Clifford whose bust is today on display in the Do Room; it is recorded that he and a fellow pupil from Liège, Charles Brooke, were the first of the migrants to arrive at the Stonyhurst mansion and raced down the Avenue together, but whilst his antagonist was waiting to be let in, Clifford spotted an open window and darted in, to be remembered by posterity as Stonyhurst's first pupil. [10]
When Clifford and his fellow pupils of Liège first arrived at Stonyhurst Hall, the buildings were in an extremely bad state of disrepair, and a temporary structure was built next to the east wing to house the boys. This "temporary" building still exists, and is known as Shirk.
A number of other buildings were added in the early 19th century, including the new church of St Peter's, in the Gothic style of the chapel at King's College, Cambridge.
By the 1880s new building works began on the school, including removal of the grand stairs in the quad and subsequently the west wing. The temporary structures of 'Shirk' and the new west wing served the school well, but by late 19th century it needed to expand again and work was started on the south front, including the building of the Boys Chapel and the Academy Room. The south front took a considerable amount of time to build, because much of the land was swamp, resulting in the need for deeper foundations, which also created extra space. The work began in 1876 to replace the Old Playground front of 1809; the total cost of the construction (minus architect's fees) was £123,205.5s.6d. (less than the cost of refurbishing the dormitories in the same building 130 years later). [11]
Stonyhurst was notable for its scientific activities, including the meteorological records of the Observatory (built in 1838). The school also prided itself on producing gentlemen philosophers: philosophers was the term used for students pursuing a course of education above secondary level at a time when Catholics were forbidden from attending Oxford or Cambridge both by English law and also by a Papal prohibition. Gas lighting was another early technological innovation at the school during this period, and the school had its own power station.
From the 1960s onwards, the Stonyhurst went through a number of changes, partly reflecting those in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, but also attributable in part to the growing secular tone of British society. The number of Jesuit instructors fell steadily, reflecting the changed priorities of Catholic religious orders and the dwindling numbers of the English Jesuit province. These changes led to the closing of another Jesuit boys' public school, Beaumont College, in 1966; Beaumont and Stonyhurst amalgamated. With the addition of these new pupils, Stonyhurst had to expand again and the New Wing was built beside the wing erected in the 1800s to house the Arundell Library.
The former preparatory school to Beaumont College, St John's Beaumont School continues to send a significant number of its leavers to Stonyhurst.
After Fr Michael Bossy's fifteen-year headmastership, in 1986 the college acquired its first lay headmaster, Giles Mercer. Mercer brought in a number of changes during his time, and developed particular areas of the school. By the end of the 1980s, the school opened a new indoor swimming pool, new squash courts, a new gym and various refurbished classrooms and playrooms. Scenes from the film Three Men and a Little Lady were shot at the college.
In 1993, the school celebrated 400 years since its foundation at Saint-Omer, and in 1994 200 years since its foundation at Stonyhurst Hall. Mercer set up the Centenaries appeal to raise money for new building works, including the refurbishment of the science laboratories, the Bread rooms (now English department classrooms), the language classrooms, the Ambulacrum (sports hall) and numerous other areas. The appeal also went towards building the new Centenaries Theatre. As part of the celebrations a play written by Fr William Hewett SJ was performed at the new theatre outlining the history of Stonyhurst.
Adrian Aylward succeeded Mercer in 1996, and the school continued to flourish during his ten-year leadership. In 1997, Stonyhurst began its run-up to becoming fully co-educational, and introduced girls to the preparatory school, St Mary's Hall. A building project was undertaken, such that by the time of Aylward's departure as headmaster refurbishment had taken place in the following areas of the school: the Old Infirmary (converted from girls' to Jesuit community accommodation), Lower Grammar, Grammar and Higher Line Playrooms, all dormitories (cubicles replaced by rooms on two storeys), the plunge (converted into dormitories and changing rooms on two storeys), the Sodality Chapel (restored), the Top Refectory, the Do Room, the Long Room, the Bayley Room, the More Library, the Syntax Wing and the shooting range. Five I.T. suites were created, CCTV was installed at all entrances, some disguised as Victorian lamp-posts, the back of the building outside the music basement was tidied up, and new landscaping and redesign of the road layout accompanied the building of the all-weather sports pitch on Harry Meadow. Classrooms were re-decorated and renamed after Saints associated with the school. At the same time, academic standards improved, with Oxbridge entry standing at around 10% in 2003. On a point of principle, Aylward withdrew Stonyhurst from academic league tables, claiming that they were of little relevance and devalued the worth of the individual.[ citation needed ] The Stonyhurst Access Appeal was set up in 2003 to widen access to the college to those from lower-income families and to generate funds for further redevelopment. Adrian Aylward also steered the school through a difficult investigation into claims of alleged child abuse said to have taken place in the 1970s.[ citation needed ] In 2005, after ten years, Aylward announced his resignation from June 2006. Andrew Johnson succeeded Aylward in September 2006.
As headmaster, Andrew Johnson has presided over continued alterations to the building. A new spiritual centre (the Emmaus Centre) has opened adjoining the Do Room, the Sodality Chapel has been re-dedicated, and most recently the Campion Room has been converted into a new study centre. The school has returned to the league tables as Johnson works to improve the school's academic standing. New procedures have been put in place to support and prepare Oxbridge applicants, and a new mentoring system established. Extra-curricular activities have been increased, particularly with a view to community-based work, such as the "Arrupe Programme"[ clarification needed ]. Johnson also inspired the renaming of Saint Mary's Hall to Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall, and is encouraging the prep school's doubling in size. Johnson is keen to transform Stonyhurst's academic performance as well as its standing, focusing on the quality of teaching, and moving the school towards greater academic selection.
During the 19th century, Stonyhurst was a leading Jesuit centre. In 1794, it was the only Jesuit college in the country. From Stonyhurst, the Jesuits would travel to the Catholics in the surrounding towns to say Mass. Over time, churches were built for the Catholics in those places. The Jesuit priests from Stonyhurst built St Mary's Church in Clayton-le-Moors in 1810, St Ignatius Church, Preston in 1833, St Stephen's Church, Skipton in 1836, St Francis Xavier Church, Liverpool in 1840, the St Walburge's Preston in 1854, both Our Lady Immaculate and St Joseph Church, Prescot and Sacred Heart Church, Blackpool in 1857, Holy Cross Church, St Helens in 1860, St Joseph and St Francis Xavier Church, Richmond in 1866, Sacred Heart Church in Accrington in 1869 and Church of St Mary, Lowe House in 1924.
From 1810 to 1873, the Jesuits served the Catholics in Clayton-le-Moors from St Mary's Church, until they handed over the administration of the church over to the Diocese of Salford who continue to serve the parish. [12]
The Jesuits arrived in Accrington in 1852 to start a mission and dedicated the parish to Oswald of Northumbria. In 1869, a church was built on Blackburn Road and was dedicated to the Sacred Heart instead. On 5 August 1869 the church was opened by the first Bishop of Salford, William Turner. In 1931, the parish needed expansion and Our Lady's Chapel was built in Huncoat. In 1958, the Jesuits handed over the administration of the church to the Diocese of Salford. In June 2003, the church was closed. Later that year, it was damaged in a fire and then demolished. [13] [14]
Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with social sciences, offering undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses and five specialist institutes and centres to promote research.
Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. The school has been fully co-educational since 1999.
Stonyhurst is the name of a 1,000-acre (4 km2) rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish church, St Peter's.
St Francis Xavier's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Salisbury Street, Everton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active parish church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Pastoral Area of Liverpool North.
Mount St Mary's College is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding school situated at Spinkhill, Derbyshire, England. It was founded in 1842 by the Society of Jesus, and has buildings designed by notable architects such as Joseph Hansom, Henry Clutter and Adrian Gilbert Scott. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Catholic Independent Schools Conference.
Longton is a village and civil parish in the west of the borough of South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is about 4 miles to the south west of Preston. The population of the civil parish, which also includes the village of New Longton, was 5,500 at the 2001 Census increasing to 7,652 at the 2011 Census.
Hurst Green is a small village in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, connected in its history to the Jesuit school, Stonyhurst College. The village is 5 miles (8 km) from Longridge and 4 miles (6 km) from Clitheroe, and is close to the River Ribble, near its junction with the River Hodder.
Stonyhurst St Mary's Hall is the preparatory school to Stonyhurst College. It is an independent co-educational Catholic school, for ages 3–13, founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It is primarily a day school but has some boarders. As the lineal descendant of Hodder Place the school lays claim to be the oldest preparatory school in the country.
Stonyhurst College is Roman Catholic and has had a significant place in English Catholic history for many centuries. In 1803 the Society of Jesus was re-established in Britain at Stonyhurst and the school became the headquarters of the English Province. Until the 1920s Jesuit priests were trained on site in what is today the preparatory school. The school continues to place Catholicism and Jesuit philosophy at its core. The present chaplain is Fr. Tim Curtis SJ.
The Jesuit origins of Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England, have enabled it to amass a large collection of books, a number of which concern recusant history, whilst artefacts from all over the world have been donated to the school by Jesuit missionaries and alumni. The school has four main libraries: the Arundell, the Bay, the Square and the More. It also has two museums: the Do Room and the Long Room.
This article describes some of the unique features of Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit school in Lancashire, England.
The Colleges of St Omer, Bruges and Liège were successive expatriate institutions for Roman Catholic higher education run by the Jesuits for English students.
Maria (Mary) Winifreda Francisca Howard, Duchess of Norfolk was an English Catholic noblewoman, the last of the wealthy Shireburn family. She married twice, firstly to Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk from whom she became estranged before his death and secondly to Peregrine Widdrington. She built a house in London on Arlington Street, which today is the clubhouse of the Royal Over-Seas League.
Saint Wilfrid's Church is a Roman Catholic church run by the Society of Jesus, in the city centre of Preston, Lancashire, England. It was built in 1793 and is situated between Fishergate and Winckley Square on Chapel Street.
Joseph John Scoles (1798–1863) was an English Gothic Revival architect, who designed many Roman Catholic churches.
Ignatius Scoles SJ was a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, architect and writer. He designed churches and civic buildings and was the son of Joseph John Scoles.
St Michael and St John the Evangelist Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England. It is situated on Lowergate road close to the centre of the town. It was endowed in 1799 by the Catholic philanthropist Thomas Weld and staffed by members of the Society of Jesus. When the original building became St Michael and St John's Catholic Primary School in 1850, the church moved next-door to the school. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley is a civil parish in Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It contains 55 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, five are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The most important building in the parish is Stonyhurst College; many of the buildings comprising the college and associated with it are listed. The parish contains the village of Hurst Green, which also contains listed buildings, including houses, public houses, and almshouses. Outside these areas the listed buildings include other houses and associated structures, farmhouses and farm buildings, crosses, the ruins of a chapel, bridges, a mausoleum, a church, and a vicarage.
Thomas Bartholomew Weld (1750–1810), known as Thomas Weld of Lulworth Castle, was a member of the English Catholic gentry, landowner, philanthropist and bibliophile. He was connected to many of the leading Catholic families of the land, such as the Bodenhams, Cliffords, Erringtons, Petres and Stourtons. He proved to be a great benefactor of the Society of Jesus in England in their educational and pastoral endeavours, as timely donor of his Stonyhurst estate in 1794. He was also a benefactor to other Roman Catholic religious and clergy. He was a personal friend of King George III. His sister-in-law was Maria Fitzherbert. After the French Revolution he hosted refugee remnants of the French royal family at his castle. He was the builder, in 1786, of the first Roman Catholic place of worship in England after the Protestant Reformation.
St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish Church in Stonyhurst. It is the parish church for Hurst Green, Lancashire and a chapel for Stonyhurst College. It was built from 1832 to 1835 and designed by Joseph John Scoles in the Gothic Revival style. It was founded by the Society of Jesus and has been served by Jesuit priests since. It is a Grade I listed building.
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