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Stanbrook Abbey, Worcestershire: Nuns Hiding From War

Limited contact with a world at war

In 1914, Stanbrook Abbey in Callow End, Worcestershire, was home to an order of Benedictine Nuns. The community, now based at Wass in Yorkshire, traces its roots back to 17th Century Flanders where it was founded by nine young English women in exile.

Imprisoned during the French Revolution, a small band of survivors returned to England in 1795, settling in 1838 at Callow End, Worcester.

At the start of the war they were an enclosed order living in the abbey and running a boarding school and a printing press. They had some contact with the local community but knew little of the events of the outside world.

The House Chronicle is kept by the community as a kind of diary, recording everyday life such as clothing and professions but also events in the outside world and how they impact on the community.

The chronicle covering the years of World War One has been studied by Sister Scholastica, the order’s archivist. It gives a fascinating insight into how the war touched the lives of the Worcestershire nuns.

Location: Stanbrook Abbey, Callow End, Worcestershire WR2 4TY
Image: Stanbrook Abbey, courtesy of Lauren Mayle of Amazing Venues

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3 minutes

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