Recusant chapel set for Lottery funding

Restoration of the pre-Reformation chapel at Stonor Park in Oxfordshire is on course to win Lottery funding, writes Christopher Lamb.

The Chapel of the Blessed Trinity, near Henley-on-Thames, has been a Catholic place of worship since 1349. Stonor Park is the home of Lord and Lady Camoys and has been in the Stonor family for more than 850 years. In 1581, the family hid one of the English martyrs there, Edmund Campion, the Jesuit priest who printed his pamphlet in defence of the Catholic faith and was later hanged, drawn and quartered. Campion was canonised in 1970.

The chapel has received a first-round pass from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to retile its roof and that of the adjoining clock tower as well as improve the building’s rainwater drainage system. A first-round pass means a project meets the criteria for lottery funding. The HLF has already awarded £12,700 to help with investigation works prior to an application for a full grant. It is estimated that the retiling of the chapel will cost in the region of £200,000.