The chapel is a Grade II listed
building and its entry at the English Heritage website (visit
link) reads:
"Convent chapel. 1875. Goldie.
1875. Gothic. Yellow brick with red and black brick and stone trimmings. Gable
to square. Slate roof. Central gabled entrance with pointed arch flanked by
traceried windows. Central rose above with plate tracery. Aisleless interior
with coved barrel vault in timber. Triple chancel arch on giant granite columns.
Tall clerestory. Frescoby Westlake."
The chapel's website (visit
link) tells the story of the Religious of the Assumption:
"The spirit which marked our
beginnings.
The Religious of the Assumption
were founded in Paris in 1839 by Anne Eugenie Milleret, who in religious life
was to take the new name of Marie Eugenie of Jesus, and Fr. Theodore Combalot, a
well-known preacher of the time. He had the inspiration to found a new
congregation, inspired by the mystery of the Assumption of Our Lady. He saw it
working for the regeneration of society through the education of girls and
women.
When Anne Eugenie came to
confession to him in 1837, he recognised, in this nineteen year old who desired
to dedicate her life to God, a person with the capacity and character to be the
foundress of this congregation.
The beginnings were very poor. In
1839 four young girls came together in Paris. Their life followed a rhythm of
prayer and silence, study and housework. When she was old, Marie Eugenie
recalled what she called, “the spirit which marked our
beginnings”.
There was, she said, “an
openheartedness, a simple kindliness among us.” It was the beginning of what
came to be called the “family spirit” of the Congregation and it is still today
considered a hallmark of the Assumption. Every day Fr. Combalot came to give
talks and to oversee the studies. In the Advent of that year he introduced them
to the Divine Office of the Church, which has been a treasured part of the
Congregation’s spirituality ever since.
In 1841 Combalot, who had always
been eccentric and unpredictable, left them on their own. At this difficult
moment, the decision of the sisters to stick together, realising that they
already had an identity as a community and a vision which they all shared, was
crucial. Slowly their numbers grew and they became accepted by the Church
authorities.
In 1842 they opened a little school
and word went round Paris that it was good. The mission had
begun.
fire, passion and ardent
love
The story of the Congregation is
the story of Marie Eugenie Milleret, its Foundress. It is also the story of the
many other women who lived with her or who came after her. It is the story of
people ablaze to extend the Kingdom of Christ. Explaining the Congregation to
the Archbishop of Paris in 1841, Marie Eugenie had written that it is fire,
passion and ardent love for the Church and this society so far away from God
that has given birth to this work.
The first sisters added an extra
vow to the normal ones of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was to consecrate
my whole life to extending the Kingdom of God in souls.
In 1848 this apostolic energy found
an outlet in an enthusiastic response for a mission in South Africa. It was
heroic. The sisters were the first nuns to set foot in South Africa and the
difficulties they had to face were enormous. In the end the community survived
by breaking with Paris and adapting to the needs of the country. They became the
Missionary Sisters of the Assumption, who are still working in South Africa and
Northern Ireland.
From Paris other foundations were
made, the next in Yorkshire in 1850. Other foundations followed and by Marie
Eugenie’s death in 1898 the Congregation was established in four European
countries, in Nicaragua in Central America, and in the Philippines in Asia: a
total of 28 communities (including four in England).
Setbacks, consolidation and
great leaps forward
The twentieth century brought
setbacks, consolidation and great leaps forward. In the early years of the
century anti-religious legislation forced the Congregation out of France.
Properties were seized by the government and sold at auction. Some were bought
by friends who held them in trust until the Congregation was able to return to
France, but many – including the Mother House, opened by Marie Eugenie in 1857 –
were lost for good.
The Mother House was transferred to
Belgium. The Congregation continued to spread. Slowly and very discreetly,
wearing lay dress, the sisters moved back into France. At the same time new
foundations were opened up in Denmark, in Argentina, Brazil and the USA. After
World War II a new missionary impetus brought the Congregation back to Africa,
where today there are some 31 communities in 11 different countries. During the
same period there was a remarkable spread in Asia with the Congregation adding
houses in Japan, Thailand and India to its base in the
Philippines.
Today the 1,200 sisters of the
Congregation are spread in 170 communities in 34 different countries. With even
more reason we can echo the reflection of Marie Eugenie in 1884: Looking back to
those first days and seeing all that Our Lord has done for us, I was struck by
one thought that I would like to share with you. It is that in our work all
comes from Jesus Christ, all belongs to Jesus Christ, all must be for Jesus
Christ."