Vision for the Jubilee  Heritage Project...
The Bar Convent, York, stands as an historic testimonial to the spiritual resolve, courage and belief of the women who followed in the footsteps of Mary Ward, the Yorkshire woman who founded a new religious order between 1609 and 1611 whose branches are now known as the Congregation of Jesus and the IBVM Loreto.
This magnificent Grade 1 heritage site resonates with the tranquillity of the spiritual presence of the nuns who taught and lived here, but Mary Ward's nuns were also very much of this world, and the children they taught carried the spirit of the sisters out into the world with them.
Today the convent welcomes people of all faiths, and none, to enjoy the warmth and hospitality of this wonderful home to the York community of sisters and as they celebrate their 400 th Jubilee since the founding of their order they are seeking support to retell their story and capture their history, before the story of life as a nun becomes extinct.
To achieve this Jubilee 400 Heritage Project aims to raise £500,000 to enable the sisters to refurbish and redesign the Bar Convent Museum to create a centre of living heritage. Their aim is to engage and involve the modern visitor in this exciting and inspiring story of one woman and all those whose lives she has touched in York, the UK, on the continent and, ultimately, across the world, over 400 years of history.
Funding Requirements
It is estimated that the project will require a minimum of £100,000, to complete the basic repairs and redecoration, and up to £500,000 to complete a full redesign, as outlined in the scenarios below:
SCENARIO
|
ESSENTIAL
£100,000 |
REALISTIC
£250,000 |
OPTIMISTIC
£500,000 |
Work to complete |
Redecoration of Museum and Hall:
- Repair ceiling plaster coving
- Renew Electrics
- Repaint
- Replace Floor covering
|
PLUS
- Rewrite selected displays
- Provide School Packs
- Recruit & train 3 more Guides
|
PLUS
- Employ an agency to redesign all museum displays and layout
- Improve accessibility to 1st floor gallery by installing a disabled ramp
- Install interactive displays & audio guides
|
To find out more about the Jubilee 400 Heritage Project please click here.
To view a list of Patrons in support of the Jubilee 400 Heritage Project please click here.
BACKGROUND TO THE JUBILEE ‘RED PURSE'
The idea of using a ‘red purse' to represent our fundraising efforts for the Jubilee 400 Heritage Project pays tribute to Mother Ann Aspinal – the Superior at ‘the Bar' from 1760 until her death in 1789.
The Grade 1 listed buildings we think of today as the Bar Convent dates mostly to Mother Aspinal's period of care. This includes the beautiful ‘hidden' neoclassical chapel, probably based on Sta. Constanza in Rome and designed by Thomas Atkinson, who was also the architect responsible for the facade of Bishopthorpe Palace.
“From the beginning of her superiority, Rev. Mother Aspinal had formed the design of building a new chapel and making other improvements in the house. In this she was cordially encouraged by her friends, as appears from a list in her handwriting of subscribers to the undertaking, and the sum given by each, dated 1765. ............. The total amount was quickly subscribed, and carefully deposited “in a red purse.” ............. and the work was entrusted to Mr Thomas Atkinson, an architect then resident in York, to whom-as appears from a memorandum made by Rev. Mother Aspinal - she paid as a first instalment 300l taken out of the red purse on the 22nd July 1765.” *
* SOURCE: St Mary's Convent, York, 1686 – 1887, p177-8. Edited with a preface by Henry James Coleridge of the Society of Jesus. Printed by Burns and Oates Limited , London 1887
Sr Agatha & Ann Aspinal
with red purse
It is hoped that the sisters at the Bar today, will have as much good fortune in securing support for our modern day project to redevelop the Bar Convent, and enable the Community and the Bar Convent Trust to achieve their ambition of creating a ‘ centre of living heritage' which preserves the ethos and the history of the Bar Convent.
If you would like to make a donation to the Project please print off and complete the Donation Form.
Cheques should be payable to ‘The Bar Convent Trust'. |
