Past & Present - Introduction...

The community at the Bar Convent belong to the Congregation of Jesus which was founded by the Yorkshire woman, Mary Ward (1585-1645).

Mary Ward was a pioneer of education for women who fought life long, for the right of religious sisters to pursue a variety of ministries outside the convent walls. Mary Ward's order has two branches, known today as the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Bar Convent was established in 1686 by Frances Bedingfield, an early member of Mary Ward's Institute, in response to Sir Thomas Gascoigne's words,

"We must have a school for our daughters"

Sir Thomas, a renowned local Catholic landowner, who was later implicated in the Yorkshire Plot but acquitted, provided £450 for Frances Bedingfield to come to York, with a small group of nuns and purchase a modest 17th century house standing just outside Micklegate Bar and the city walls. First they set up a boarding school for Catholic girls, but this was followed in 1699 by a free day school.

At this time of persecution for Catholics it was a secret community, known as the 'Ladies at the Bar' and the sisters wore plain grey day dresses rather than a habit to avoid arousing suspicion.

The community had a turbulent history during this period, suffering dire poverty, persecution and imprisonment in foul gaols. However, the community survived and in 1727 was joined by Elizabeth Stansfield and Ann Aspinal. The former's fortune paid the community's debts and in the 1760's Mother Aspinal worked with the architect Thomas Atkinson to demolish the original house and build the current Georgian house which you see on the site today.

On 27th April 1769 the first Mass was held in Mother Aspinal's new Chapel, with its magnificent neoclassical dome concealed beneath a pitched slate roof, but it was not until 1791 that the chapel obtained a licence as a public place of worship following the second Catholic Relief Act in 1791.

During the French Revolution the community gave aid to refugees from France and émigré priests and under the auspices of Mother Coyney a more cloistered existence was adopted by the community until 1911.

In 1844 the building was extended by the architect G T Andrews , who added the community wing and new kitchens. The day school was rebuilt and sisters from the community also went to teach local children at St george's School in Walmgate from 1852.

During the Great War 1914-1918 Belgian nuns and refugee children were given a home in the convent and the Concert Hall was converted into a hospital ward for wounded soldiers. Then during the second World War the convent was bombed and five sisters lost their lives in the blast. You can still see the repairs to the building on the Nunnery Lane side in the different coloured bricks.

The school was recognised by the Board of Education in 1923 and received Direct Grant status in 1929. The day school and boarding school eventually merged to become the Bar Convent Grammar school.

The community ran the school for 299 years but in 1985 it was transferred to the Diocese of Middlesbrough to form part of the new comprehensive school system as All Saints Catholic school.

The Bar Convent is still home to Mary Ward's religious order, the Congregation of Jesus, and the Grade 1 listed buildings remain open to the public as a Museum, shop and cafe and also as an 18 bedroom Guest House and meeting rooms run by the Bar Convent Trust.