A NOSTALGIC VISIT TO HAWKSTONE:

I chose to drive down to Shropshire last Wednesday and visit Hawkstone Hall, which had been in the hands of the Redemptorists for 90 years. Bought in 1926 to provide us with a seminary, it served the Congregation in that capacity until 1973. In the 1950s and 1960s the numbers grew to the extent that a new wing was built to accommodate up to sixty students. A year or two before Andrew and I completed our novitiate and moved to Hawkstone in October 1965, the numbers had reached forty-nine and for most of our six years there were over forty students. Indeed, in two of the years following us the numbers coming from the novitiate were in double figures. However, by 1973 a dramatic decline led to the decision to join the Franciscans in a new venture in Canterbury and we remained there until 1998, when we literally ran out of students altogether. Under the inspired leadership of Fr Jim McManus and those who succeeded him the Redemptorists seized the initiative and opened up Hawkstone Hall as a Pastoral Centre. With courses and retreats designed to help people adjust to the renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council, Hawkstone served the Church magnificently and built itself an international reputation. However, by 2016, it was realised that even that venture had served its purpose and sadly we had to leave and move.

The buildings have now been transformed into a hotel, specialising in weddings and it seems to be flourishing. I was warmly welcomed and was able to explore both the house and the gardens. Everything is in magnificent condition, including the cemetery, where seventeen of our confrères are buried. It is a consolation to know that Hawkstone has found a new purpose and, unlike so many similar buildings, has not fallen into rack and ruin. In a book on historic houses in Shropshire, it was clear that the author was not enamoured by the style of the new wing, but I was delighted to read the following:

“Throughout the 1980s, though, they (the Redemptorists) restored the historic fabric of the house and most of the historic rooms in an exemplary fashion. The gardens around the house also regained much of their late nineteenth-century glory.”