Warwickshire: chance to visit hidden Catholic treasure

Chapel of St Peter and St Paul

Visitors are invited to discover one of South Warwickshire's hidden Catholic treasures next week. This beautiful and historic chapel is in the upper storey of a medieval malt barn attached to the Old Rectory Farm in Friars Lane, off the High Street in Lower Brailes. In the 16th century the Bishop family who owned the Rectory Farm, remained Catholics and kept a chapel in the attic of the house where Mass was said in secret. William Bishop, the first Catholic Bishop in England after the reformation, was born in the house and ministered there as a priest.

The present chapel was created in 1726 and is one of the oldest post-Reformation public Catholic chapels still in use in England. It retains its original furnishings and has a remarkable collection of works of art including antique vestments and plate. A special treasure is a monstrance made from a 17th century silver candlestick which belonged to King Charles II and which is reputed to have been held by him on his deathbed when he was received into the Catholic Church.

St Peter and St Paul is just one church in the Cotswolds taking part in the Cotswold Churches Festival which runs from 14-22 May. On Sunday 15 May the chapel, which is open daily, will be holding an open afternoon from 2pm - 5pm. Father Brian Doolan, the parish priest, will give a talk on the story of the chapel at 2pm and there will be displays of the vestments and treasures. Teas will be served in the chapel undercroft which was originally the medieval kitchen of the Rectory Farm. The afternoon ends with a service of Benediction at 5pm.

"The chapel at Brailes is a precious survival from the days when Catholics were a persecuted minority and is a great witness to the enduring quality of the faith of the Catholic community in South Warwickshire. It remains a lively centre of worship and witness in our parish" said Fr Brian.

For more information see: www.catholicbrailes.org.uk/brailes/brailes.html