Laleham Abbey

A Memory of Laleham.

My sister Kathleen Taylor (former name) was cook in the kitchen for the retired old ladies. I was always staying with her during school holidays. Her husband then (now deceased) was Barry Taylor and they had two children, Sarah born 1966 and Michael, her younger (not sure of his age) brother, who went to the village school in Laleham. Barry was a sort of joint caretaker. Sister Flora Mary was in charge of Nazareth House and very close to my sister and Sister Francis Anne worked in the main Abbey House kitchens and was the youngest of the nuns as far as I remember but great fun. Corpus Christi was sacred yet fun as I remember making the bags of goodies up to give out. My sister lived in the corner of the main cloisters next to the small chapel. I remember the big square fish pond in the centre of the cloister gardens. I liked to play in the woods and I recall a type of bamboo tent house thing.
All I remember was Sister Mariana being a bit moody. I recall she may have been Scottish which was linked to Perthshire where the order had strong connections. In 2005 I believe Sister Francis Anne was still alive.

extract - from Laleham Abbey, The Community of St Peter the Apostle (Westminster).

Designated as 'SSP' - Society of St Peter.

The Abbey and the Sisters are the subject of a Doctorate by Fr. Paul Williamson.

They consitute an especial place in the history of the Anglo-Catholic  movement because of Mother Sarah and her place in the Anglo-Catholic Congresses of the 1920's and 1930's, and the 'Back to Baroque' movement in church furnishings, in this case the convent at Horbury, and then at Laleham.

She was in touch with many leading figures of the day from Fr. Benson and the Cowley Fathers, Dom Gregory Dix and Dom Augustine Morris of Nashdom Abbey and Martin Travers, the famous church furnishings provider.

The Sisters worked in many famous Anglo-Catholic parishes, such as St Benedict Ardwick; Our Lady of Mercy and St. Thomas a Becket, Gorton; St. Mary's, Bourne Street; St. Gabriel's, Pimlico; St. Mary's, Kenton; St. Mary & St. John Cowley, and were missionaries and teachers in the Bahamas, mission chaplaincy workers, Sunday school teachers in Hanworth, Littleton, Sunbury, Shepperton, Cranford, and other parishes local to Laleham Abbey.

The Sisters pioneered retreats at Horbury, and in a beautiful house beside the River Thames, at Laleham. After the school at the Abbey closed, retreats and work with the retired continued in the Abbey buildings.

St. George's Oldbury House, Stroud was moved from St. Mary's, Bourne Street and run by the Sisters. This catered for what were then known as the 'Backward Girls'.

In Scotland, the Sisters worked at St. Salvator's, Dundee; St. Michael & All Saints in Edinburgh, ran a home in Joppa for children, and worked at Perth Cathedral. They ran a retreat house in Peebleshire called Sunnybrae.

After many years in office, Mother Sarah retired to Eastbourne.

Laleham Abbey continued with its work for many years and was noted for the great Corpus Christi Procession on the Saturday after the feast with Benediction in the grounds.

There were Vocation Days, Camps with huge camp fire parties for 200 children, at which Mother Mary Phillipa lit the camp fire (with one match!) and Quiet Days, holidays, and much work with a wide variety of people including members of the Mothers Union.

The Sisters moved to Glenfall House, Charlton Kings near Cheltenham, then to the convent at Edgware, and Sister Francis Anne (the remaining Sister) joined the Community at Walsingham.

This was a remarkable co-incidence because Mother Sarah had helped Fr. Hope Patten found the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham out of devotion to Our Lady. The Sisters worked for many years in the Shrine, in the Holy House, as well as the parish church.

The Community had made vestments and baked altar bread for a great deal of its existence.

The Liturgical Observance had always been extensive with the Divine Office in latin for many years and a marked Benedictine character. St. Peter's Day was always kept as a great feast (with strawberries!).

The memory of the Sisters is very fragrant and the experiment of dedicated life under vows began in 1858, and continued for nearly 140 years during which time it developed a marked monastic character.

The Ideals of the Founders, the holy lives of the Sisters, their spiritual children, and the work they conducted, live in the lives of those they influenced.

Deo Gratias.

Fr. Paul Williamson
Feast of Corpus Christi 2005