DAY OF SPECIAL INTEREST
“Recusancy in Abergavenny and the Marches”
Friday 13 October 2017 at St Michael’s Centre, Abergavenny
Following the acquisition of the Gunter Mansion by the Welsh Georgian Trust earlier this year, the study day will explore how covert Catholic activity persisted in Abergavenny and the Marches in the years after the Reformation and, in particular, how the Gunter family provided a secret chapel and meeting place for Catholics in Abergavenny.
The four speakers at the study day are Dom Aidan Bellenger, Dr Hannah Thomas, Frank Olding and Dr Richard Allen.
Dom Aidan Bellenger, past Abbot of Downside, is a writer and historian whose talk “Catholic Hierarchy in the post reformation period 1558-1850 in England and Wales” will explain where priests were trained, how they lodged with powerful catholic families and how they ministered to the substantial number of outlawed Catholics that remained in Abergavenny and the Marches.
Dr Hannah Thomas is currently a lecturer at Durham University and has studied the history of the Jesuits’ College and library that was set up at the Cwm outside Monmouth in the beginning of the 17th century. The “house” was eventually supressed in 1678 after the Titus Oates plot which saw the arrest and execution of the last Catholic Martyr in England, St. David Lewis who was born in Abergavenny and is buried in Usk. Her talk is entitled “The Society of Jesus c1600-1679: Rediscovering the Cwm Library at Hereford Cathedral”.
Frank Olding is a well know local historian whose talk “Recusant Literature in Monmouthshire 1570-1781” will concentrate on the secret presses that were set up by Catholics to print and distribute prayer books and information in Welsh and English.
Dr Richard Allen is a reader of Early Modern Cultural History at the University of South Wales. His talk “Everyday life in a seventeenth century Catholic household: the Gunter family of Abergavenny” will tie in with the acquisition of the Gunter Mansion by the Welsh Georgian Trust. In 1907, a secret catholic chapel was rediscovered in the attic together with a painting of the Adoration of the Magi and other artefacts and inscriptions indicating that the room had been used as a place of worship by Catholics. It is known that the priests David Lewis and John Kemble (from just across the border in Herefordshire) said Mass in this chapel.
The cost of the day will be £30 to include a light lunch and refreshments. The day starts at 10 am and will finish by 4.30 pm. Places will be allocated on a first come-first served basis. Cheques should be sent with the booking form to Rupert Otten and will be presented one month before the event. Please make cheques payable to MDFAS. We can accept payment on line. Please telephone or email to obtain our bank details.
DAY OF SPECIAL INTEREST
“Recusancy in Abergavenny and the Marches”
Please provide a STAMPED SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE so that you can be sent details of the final arrangements nearer the time.
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Please complete the booking form below and send it with your cheque and envelope to Rupert Otten, Middle Hunt House, Walterstone HR20DY
Email:
Tel: 01873 860359
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