Mostly
taken from the book ‘The Storey of Skelsmergh’ by Sister Agnes.
Published
by the Westmorland Gazette, 1949.
Was Dodding green always destined to become a Cenacolo ?
Originally built, by William Dodding, a wealthy, retired wool merchant,
on land bought from the Leyburnes at nearby Skelmsergh Hall at the end of the
14th Century, the small manor house known as Dodding Green, was
eventually bought by the Braithwaite family who had become impoverished as a
consequence of repeated heavy fines for their Catholic beliefs and could not
afford to retain their own much larger Burneside Hall. When Sir Thomas
Braithwaite died as a recusant in the dungeons of York Castle, his widow, Dame
Elizabeth, and their three children, returned to Dodding Green to live in
poverty. Among sympathetic neighbours, also Catholics determined to retain
their Faith, were the Stephensons with their two children, who were eventually
invited to occupy part of Dodding Green , as tenants, to ease Dame Elizabeth’s
financial position and to provide each other with companionship. Whilst there,
Robert Stephenson brought the house back from neglect to a thoroughly good
state., and when, in May 1687, Dame Elizabeth eventually chose to sell the
property, he bought it from her.
Although the persecutions
following the Reformation were still very severe, Robert Stephenson was willing
to risk all, including death, to provide his home as a shelter for a Catholic
priest and place of worship. He therefore built into Dodding Green, hiding
places, a Chapel in the attic and a means of escape for priests. The risks he
took were very evident as at least seven local Catholics had been put to death
for their Faith. Priests stayed for short periods, and ‘Riding Priests’ were
frequent guests.
The Stephenson family suffered great sorrow
as all their children died either early in childhood or in their youth and it
was perhaps this that decided Robert to leave all his worldly goods and
possessions for the benefit of the church and the poor. After his wife died in
1708, and several years before his own death, he handed his home over for the
use of a resident priest if he could find one willing to stay there. And so
Dodding Green was conveyed in a trust deed dated 14 May 1714, for the permanent
residence of a priest who should live there and use the house for Divine
Service, until the day should come that this might be done without risk or
exposure. In that deed Robert Stephenson requested that the Rev. Thomas Royden, a zealous priest, who had first
come to the district as a Riding Priest, should be the first occupant and that
he should, if possible, be followed by priests from the families of John
Leyburne or William Thornburgh, both staunch Catholic families in the district.
Robert Stephenson created a number of Deeds
between 1714 and 1721, this last one dated the 1st November 1721,
setting out the specific objectives, which are, in summary, for the general
relief of poor Catholic people and to assist Catholics to celebrate Mass. All
these Deeds are now administered under the umbrella of the “Robert Stephenson’s
Charities”, this charity being registered with the Charities Commission under
number 230795. Robert Stephenson died on 20 April 1723.
When Thomas Royden died on 30 October 1741,
he was succeeded by his nephew, another Thomas Royden,, and then after a short
gap when ‘Riding Priests’ assisted, Fr. Robert Johnson took up residence, and it was during Fr.
Johnson’s time at Dodding that, in 1788, a marked change towards toleration of
Catholics took place and eventually, in 1791 a small chapel, built on the north
end of Dodding, was registered and licensed for public worship. It was a great
day for Dodding. It meant that priests could live there openly and discharge
their spiritual duties without risk or danger to themselves. Robert Stephenson
had indeed come into his own though more than half a century after his death.
Amidst joy and relief the old chapel in the attic was dismantled and its
furniture and perquisites established in the new one.
Always linked closely with the priest at
Kendal, Dodding Green was frequently under his charge, once for 23 continuous
years, although, whenever possible there has been a resident priest at Dodding.
Occasionally part of the house was let to a local farming family. Most priests
have been elderly and died there, a few are buried in the tiny graveyard at the
side of the drive. The congregation at Dodding has always been very small, some
30 or so, regularly attending Mass. Dodding is now regarded as a ‘Chapel of
Ease’ rather than a Parish church. The last resident priest, Canon Jackson,
left in 1989 to serve at Sedbergh, which although part of the Kendal parish is
remote from the town and, once again Dodding Green was served directly from
Kendal.
The trustees of the Stephenson Trust, who still
administer the property, then leased it to the Ffinch family, Mr. Ffinch being
a Catholic author and broadcaster. Mass, usually weekly, but mainly on a Monday
continued, all local Catholics being encouraged to attend Mass at the main
church, Holy Trinity and St. George, in Kendal, on Sundays. Eventually on the
death of Mr. Ffinch the presbytery, but not the Chapel, was leased to a small
company restoring antique books. Since then, apart from one funeral, there has
been no Mass celebrated at Dodding.
However, Robert Stephenson did envisage
that circumstances would change and he included a provision within his
Charity's rules to deal with any queries as to the proper administration of the
Charity. The Trust Deed specifically states
that the Trustees should consult and “maturely
consider” the matter, holding a vote in which the majority should
prevail. They have "full power to interpret ….. the different circumstances of
Persons and Times". Subject to
that, however, it is not within the Trustees' power to use the endowment for
purposes not originally intended.
Over recent years there have been proposals to review the purpose served
by Dodding Green and, in particular, it was suggested that it might make a
suitable retreat centre for use by the Diocese, as an integral part of a
Catholic retreat is, of course, the celebration of Mass.
Through the generosity of the current Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt. Rev.
Patrick O’Donoghue, the lease of the presbytery and the chapel at Dodding Green
from the Stephenson Trust has enabled the first Cenacolo Community to open. Now
known as ‘Cenacolo Community, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs’ this religious
community is now one of over 50 successful Cenacolo Communities, in and around Europe and the Americas. It is the
first of its kind in the UK. In the community some of the ‘lost’ youth of our
society will be helped to rebuild their lives, through living a ‘new life’
based on physical hard work, personal reflection and prayer, with Mass frequently
available for any Catholics present.
Thus, the spirit of the Stephenson Trust Deed lives on.
Bryan Ingleby
March 2006
