St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre: History

Home Guided Retreats Themed Retreats Courses Prayer Information Online Bookshop Contacts and Links

HISTORY OF ST BEUNO'S

St Beuno's College was built in 1848 as a place of study for Jesuits. It was built as a 'theologate' on the lines of a small Oxbridge university college. Up to this time prospective Jesuit priests studied in Stonyhurst College, Lancashire and for a short time abroad, but the increasing numbers put a strain on the old buildings. So in 1846, the then Provincial of the Jesuits in Britain, Fr Randal Lythgoe when visiting the Jesuit parish in Holywell travelled to see some farm land that the Society of Jesus owned near Tremeirchion and immediately decided that this should be the site for his new theologate. In early Victorian days when epidemics of typhoid and cholera regularly swept towns and cities killing large numbers, the country air of North Wales was considered salubrious - a suitable place to prepare the young men to go into the new industrial towns and cities to serve in schools and parishes.

The architect engaged for the building was Joseph Aloysius Hansom, of Hansom Cab fame. Outwardly the fine stone buildings gave a grand impression. Inside were broad corridors and large but simple rooms. Gerard Manley Hopkins, the Jesuit poet who studied at St Beuno's College from 1874-7 described the building in a letter to his father: "It is built of limestone, decent outside, skimping within, Gothic like Lancing College done worse".
Hansom's St. Beuno's enclosed a square garden on the west side of which there was a basement gallery containing the Recreation Room, a schoolroom, two private rooms and the Entrance Hall. On the floor above was the Library, which looks both inside and out as though it were a chapel, (and is a chapel today), the Rector's Room and a 'stranger's room. On the south side, the tallest side, rising higher than the tower, were three galleries which housed the professors and the students. On the north side was the monastic refectory with its pulpit for the reader.

Within 20 years of its being built the College was too small and extra rooms were added in the attics and a new North Wing to the left of the Tower was built.
In the early days of the College could be said to be environmentally friendly: Heating for the lower floor was at least in part solar, with the heat from the greenhouse below the West Front being channeled into the house. Fresh water was provided from local streams which were kept in tanks, which still exist above the terraces, and food was grown locally both in the College's grounds and on the adjacent College Farm. And though perhaps not too environmentally sound, the college had its own gas works. There was also a school built for local children.

In 1862 the College was presented with a medieval cross by a Mr Hynde, who bought it for £5 from the Anglicans at Corpus Christi, Tremeirchion. The Tremeirchion Rood of Grace stood for 140 years on a plinth at the entrance to St Beuno's before being restored and then translated back to Tremeirchion churchyard as a Millenium gift. It now stands proudly under the yew it was found burried under in the mid 19th century.

In 1866, what can best be described as a folly, the 'Rock Chapel' was built on a wooded hill to the south of St Beuno's. Designed by a Jesuit student, Ignatius Scoles, who had followed his father's footsteps and trained as an architect before joining the Jesuits to become a priest.

The College remained as a Theologate until 1926 when the students were moved to Heythrop College in Oxfordshire. It then became a place for the last year of Jesuit training, the Tertianship. During the Second World War it was home to many Jesuit novices who were sent from London, as a place of refuge from the bombings. After the War it reverted to being a Tertianship until 1980, although ten years earlier, the house had begun to open to religious sisters on first 8 day and then 30 day retreats. During the 1970's as the tertianship became increasingly uneasy living in the countryside, the retreat work grew from strength to strength.

Very little has been added to the St Beuno's buildings since the 1870's, just two very poor, unsympathetic additions, a brick built ablution block and a boiler room.

In 2002 St Beuno's was listed as a 2* by CADW as a Welsh Historic Monument: Denbighshire CC. Record No. 26459

Today the house has a thriving programme of retreats all the year round, from weekends to 30 days. It also offers courses in Ignatian Spirituality from one to six months in duration. To see exactly what is now done, go back to the home page.

* Much of the history on this page has been obtained from "Canute's Tower" by Paul Edwards. Available from St Beuno's for £4.50 including UK postage.


		Home Guided Retreats Themed Retreats Courses Prayer Information Online Bookshop Contacts and Links



		HISTORY OF ST BEUNO'S

		St Beuno's College was built in 1848 as a place of study for Jesuits. It was built as a 'theologate' on the lines of a small Oxbridge university college. Up to this time prospective Jesuit priests studied in Stonyhurst College, Lancashire and for a short time abroad, but the increasing numbers put a strain on the old buildings. So in 1846, the then Provincial of the Jesuits in Britain, Fr Randal Lythgoe when visiting the Jesuit parish in Holywell travelled to see some farm land that the Society of Jesus owned near Tremeirchion and immediately decided that this should be the site for his new theologate. In early Victorian days when epidemics of typhoid and cholera regularly swept towns and cities killing large numbers, the country air of North Wales was considered salubrious - a suitable place to prepare the young men to go into the new industrial towns and cities to serve in schools and parishes. The architect engaged for the building was Joseph Aloysius Hansom, of Hansom Cab fame. Outwardly the fine stone buildings gave a grand impression. Inside were broad corridors and large but simple rooms. Gerard Manley Hopkins, the Jesuit poet who studied at St Beuno's College from 1874-7 described the building in a letter to his father: "It is built of limestone, decent outside, skimping within, Gothic like Lancing College done worse". Hansom's St. Beuno's enclosed a square garden on the west side of which there was a basement gallery containing the Recreation Room, a schoolroom, two private rooms and the Entrance Hall. On the floor above was the Library, which looks both inside and out as though it were a chapel, (and is a chapel today), the Rector's Room and a 'stranger's room. On the south side, the tallest side, rising higher than the tower, were three galleries which housed the professors and the students. On the north side was the monastic refectory with its pulpit for the reader. Within 20 years of its being built the College was too small and extra rooms were added in the attics and a new North Wing to the left of the Tower was built. In the early days of the College could be said to be environmentally friendly: Heating for the lower floor was at least in part solar, with the heat from the greenhouse below the West Front being channeled into the house. Fresh water was provided from local streams which were kept in tanks, which still exist above the terraces, and food was grown locally both in the College's grounds and on the adjacent College Farm. And though perhaps not too environmentally sound, the college had its own gas works. There was also a school built for local children. In 1862 the College was presented with a medieval cross by a Mr Hynde, who bought it for £5 from the Anglicans at Corpus Christi, Tremeirchion. The Tremeirchion Rood of Grace stood for 140 years on a plinth at the entrance to St Beuno's before being restored and then translated back to Tremeirchion churchyard as a Millenium gift. It now stands proudly under the yew it was found burried under in the mid 19th century. In 1866, what can best be described as a folly, the 'Rock Chapel' was built on a wooded hill to the south of St Beuno's. Designed by a Jesuit student, Ignatius Scoles, who had followed his father's footsteps and trained as an architect before joining the Jesuits to become a priest. The College remained as a Theologate until 1926 when the students were moved to Heythrop College in Oxfordshire. It then became a place for the last year of Jesuit training, the Tertianship. During the Second World War it was home to many Jesuit novices who were sent from London, as a place of refuge from the bombings. After the War it reverted to being a Tertianship until 1980, although ten years earlier, the house had begun to open to religious sisters on first 8 day and then 30 day retreats. During the 1970's as the tertianship became increasingly uneasy living in the countryside, the retreat work grew from strength to strength. Very little has been added to the St Beuno's buildings since the 1870's, just two very poor, unsympathetic additions, a brick built ablution block and a boiler room. In 2002 St Beuno's was listed as a 2* by CADW as a Welsh Historic Monument: Denbighshire CC. Record No. 26459 Today the house has a thriving programme of retreats all the year round, from weekends to 30 days. It also offers courses in Ignatian Spirituality from one to six months in duration. To see exactly what is now done, go back to the home page. * Much of the history on this page has been obtained from "Canute's Tower" by Paul Edwards. Available from St Beuno's for £4.50 including UK postage.

		©2013 St Beuno's