Keeping the faith of our fathers

Reformation, repression, recession – just some of the obstacles faced by the owners of historic houses with private chapels

- ETTIE NEIL-GALLACHER

While friends chat about loft conversions and basement extensions, my Catholic mind wanders to my long-harboured fantasy of having a house with its own chapel. There’s something both indulgent and romantic about the idea of a private place of worship – preferably with one’s own resident cleric and a modest collection of relics and irreplaceable devotional objects. I can almost picture myself: mantilla artfully draped, psalter carefully perched, eyes raised to Heaven. This is unfeasible in my poky London terrace, but a girl can dream.

Private chapels conjure images of stalwart devotion, often in the face of opposition, which may explain why the majority that still hold regular services are Roman Catholic. While all the great British houses had chapels, it was the Catholics who had to fight for them, or conceal or disguise them, risking persecution until Catholic Emancipation in 1829. There are, of course, private Catholic chapels built after the Act was passed, such as Our Lady of the Assumption at Swynnerton House, Staffordshire, the home of the Fitzherberts. But perhaps it was the steadfast determination of these recusant families, coupled with the requirement to attend Sunday Mass, that has enabled these chapels to continue to function when others haven’t. Indeed, talking to their owners and trustees, common features emerge.