Pantasaph is a small village in

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, north-east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, two miles south of

Holywell Holywell may refer to: * Holywell, Flintshire, Wales * Holywell, Swords, Ireland * Holywell, Bedfordshire, England * Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England * Holywell, Cornwall, England * Holywell, Dorset, England * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...

in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

of Whitford. Its name translates into English as Asaph's Hollow.

History

Once abbey land belonging to nearby

Basingwerk Abbey Basingwerk Abbey ( cy, Abaty Dinas Basing) is a Grade I listed ruined abbey near Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. The abbey, which was founded in the 12th century, belonged to the Order of Cistercians. It maintained significant lands in the Englis ...

, Pantasaph came into the possession of the Pennant family at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The land passed down in the family until 1846, when the sole heiress Louisa married Rudolph, Viscount Feilding, heir to the 7th Earl of Denbigh. They both converted to Roman Catholicism and decided to donate St David's Church, which they had recently built for the village, to the Roman Catholic Church. This caused a considerably outcry at the time. It was accepted by the

Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscans, Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three "Religious institute#Nomenclature, First Orders" that refo ...

of Great Britain as their mother house and opened in 1852. The church was designed by T H Wyatt and modified, to make it more specifically suited to Catholic use, by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

, who designed the high altar, the pulpit, the baptismal font, the reredos in the Lady Chapel and a statue of the Madonna and Child. The altar, reredos and statue had been exhibited in the 'Mediaeval Court' at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

of 1851. The pulpit was removed and destroyed during a post-Vatican II re-ordering in the 1960s. The graveyard holds the remains of three British soldiers shot for cowardice during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The village is also the location of the former St Clare's Convent which included a boarding school, a hospital and an orphanage. It was built by a Father Seraphin of Bruges, who brought the first group of sisters to it in 1861. It closed in 1977, having at its peak housed some 500 orphans. The site lay derelict for a number of years and was damaged by fire in 1985, but has since been partly demolished and the remainder restored as luxury accommodation. It is now a designated conservation area. The poet

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

spent some time recovering from illness at Pantasaph in the 1890s, lodging in a house beside the friary gates, at the post office and at Crecas Cottage between Pantasaph and

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

Friary

The first friars occupied the original presbytery, (now called Denbigh House), designed by Wyatt as the vicarage to what was to be an Anglican church. Following the consecration of St David's church, the friary was constructed in Collegiate Gothic style between 1858 and 1865. A wing was added to the east in 1899 to form an L-shaped range with a turret in the angle. Built in two storeys with attics and basements it is constructed of snecked grey stone with sandstone dressings and steep slate roofs. Divine_Mercy_Picture,_Pantasaph

St David's church and the friary complex have all been awarded grade II* listed status. The friary became a large

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Retreat Centre, and the friars returned to live in Denbigh House, their original home at Pantasaph. The Retreat Centre closed in December 2017. On the wooded hill behind the complex a 19th-century zig-zag path links landscaped Stations of the Cross leading to a large Calvary group on the hilltop.

The Friary gardens house the National

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a s ...

Centre.

References

External links

Pantasaph Friary site
{{authority control Villages in Flintshire Capuchin friaries in the United Kingdom