Pantasaph
| Pantasaph | |
  Pantasaph Pantasaph shown within Flintshire | |
| OS grid reference | SJ161760 |
|---|---|
| Principal area | Flintshire |
| Ceremonial county | Flintshire |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HOLYWELL |
| Postcode district | CH8 |
| Dialling code | 01352 |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | Delyn |
| Welsh Assembly | Delyn |
| |
Pantasaph is a small village in Flintshire, north-east Wales, two miles south of Holywell in the community of Whitford. Its name translates into English as Asaph's Hollow.
Once abbey land belonging to nearby Basingwerk Abbey, 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 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 instead, causing a considerably outcry at the time. It was accepted by the Friars Minor Capuchin of Great Britain as their mother house and opened in 1852. The church was modified by Augustus Pugin, who carved the reredos in the Lady Chapel and a statue of the Madonna and Child, one of his best. Both statues had been exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. [1] The graveyard holds the remains of three British soldiers shot for cowardice during World War I.
Following the consecration of the church, the friary buildings were 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. St David's church and the friary complex have all been awarded grade II* listed status.[2] The friary is now a large Franciscan Retreat Centre. On the wooded hill behind the complex a 19th-century zig-zag path links landscaped Stations of the Cross.
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.[3]
References
- ↑ "A Brief History Of The Capuchins At Pantasaph And The Church Of St.David.". Pantasaph Franciscan Friary. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ↑ "Franciscan Friary, Whitford". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ↑ "St Clares Convent". Retrieved 10 January 2014.