Convent of the Epiphany
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The Convent of the Epiphany,
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
,
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, UK, was the home of the
Community of the Epiphany Former religious orders in the churches of the Anglican Communion are those communities of monks, nuns, friars, or sisters, having a common life and rule under vows, whose work has ended and whose community has been disbanded. In a very few cases th ...
(1883-2001). The founder of this community was George Wilkinson,
Bishop of Truro The Bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Truro in the Province of Canterbury. History There had been between the 9th and 11th centuries a Bishopric of Cornwall until it was merged with Crediton ...
. The sisters were involved in pastoral and educational work, the care of
Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It i ...
and St Paul's Church, and church needlework.


Branch houses and foundations

The convent opened daughter houses in the
Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
,
Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
, and in addition to the mother house,
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
. The sisters also ran a convalescent home in St Agnes, and a small school (Rosewin School) and a retreat house (St Michael's House) in Truro. In 1936, the sisters founded the Community of Nazareth, in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, which achieved full independence around 1960 under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Church in Japan, the
Nippon Sei Ko Kai The ''Nippon Sei Ko Kai'' ( ja, 日本聖公会, translit=Nippon Seikōkai, lit=Japanese Holy Catholic Church), abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church repr ...
. This community, in turn, founded a daughter house on the island of
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.


Alverton House

The Convent of the Epiphany was originally in the parish of St Paul at Alverton House, Tregolls Road, Truro, an early 19th-century house and a grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
since 1984. Alverton House and grounds was put up for auction on 26 April 1881 by Jane Tweedy, the widow of William Mansell Tweedy. It was described as a residential property, enclosed within a ring fence. There were thirteen bedrooms and dressing rooms, a spacious drawing room, dining and morning rooms, library, hall and conservatory, kitchen and offices. There was also of lawns, shrubberies, pleasure, kitchen and allotment gardens, and five cottages. Bidding for the property ended at £5,700, which failed to meet the reserve price of £6,500 and it was later sold to Mr Pascoe of Essex (formerly of
Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...
) for £6,200. The house was extended for the convent with the addition of a bell tower, a main entrance, and a north wing to provide additional accommodation for the nuns. The chapel was built in 1908-1910 by Edmund H. Sedding. The west wing is coeval with the chapel and may also be by Sedding.


Copeland Court

In 1983, because of a decline in vocations, Alverton House was sold and the twelve remaining nuns moved to Copeland Court in
Kenwyn Kenwyn ( kw, Keynwynn) is a settlement and civil parish in Cornwall, England. The settlement is a suburb of the city of Truro and lies 0.5 mi (1 km) north of the city centre, within Truro parish, whereas Kenwyn parish covers an area w ...
. Alverton House is currently a hotel. In 2001, the last two remaining nuns moved out of Copeland Court and the Community of the Epiphany legally ceased to exist. In 2002, Copeland Court was renamed as the Epiphany House Conference and Retreat Centre. In 2008, Sr Elizabeth CE attracted some attention in the local and national press as the last surviving member of the order; she was then 92 and living in a nursing home in Devon, but still engaged in charitable work. In 2017, Sr Elizabeth died at the age of 101.


See also

*
Vincent Coles Vincent Stuckey Stratton Coles (27 March 1845 – 9 June 1929) was an Anglican priest, who served as Principal of Pusey House, Oxford from 1897 to 1909. Life He was born at Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset where his father was rector. His maternal gran ...
(1845 – 1929) – warden of the Convent of the Epiphany


References

{{Coord, 50.272468, -5.059001, format=dms, display=title 19th-century Christian monasteries Anglican religious orders established in the 19th century Monasteries in Cornwall Religious organizations established in 1883 Truro 19th-century churches in the United Kingdom