Where is the Cwm?

The Cwm has often been casually referred to in this project blog, and I realised (to my horror) that I had never geographically located the premises, nor indeed the other two farms of the Upper Cwm and Llangunville that made up the headquarters of the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier, or the Welsh District of the English Province. 

Upon the creation of the English Province of the Society of Jesus in 1622, it was decided that the best way to manage this newly created province would be to divide England and Wales into districts, each described as you can see here as residences or colleges:

From Maurice Whitehead 'To provide for the edifice of learning': researching 450 years of Jesuit education and cultural history with particular reference to the British Jesuits, History of Education, 36 (2007), p.123.

The terms 'college' or 'residence' denote financial position and ability to secure funds - a 'college' indicates a secure annual income, whereas a 'residence' relied on donations and was therefore less secure. Each district roughly equates to a geographical county, as you can see on the map, and it was felt this would enable efficient administration whilst still allowing operations to remain relatively undetected. 

The Cwm farms were headquarters of the largest district - the Welsh mission, which initially encompassed area 4 and area 11 - all of Wales, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset. By 1670, the area had been reduced to a more manageable size (area 4), the Residence of St Winefride had been created in North Wales (area 11), and the College of St Francis Xavier was now the South Wales, Hereford, Gloucester and Somerset district. 

The Cwm itself is indicated by the little black dot just above the River Severn: a tripartite settlement of the Cwm, the Upper Cwm and Llangunville farms in the Monnow Valley on the borders of Wales and England, as well as near the three county borders of Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. The area had developed rapidly as a Catholic stronghold in the post-reformation period. 

A closer look at the area shows the proximity of the farms to the better known locations of Monmouth and Hereford, as well as to Raglan:

Map courtesy of Professor Maurice Whitehead, Swansea University

A zoomed in map gives a better idea of the locations of the three farms in relation to each other, as well as the surrounding terrain, and it is worth noting that you cannot see either of the other properties from any one farm:

Grid Reference: SO 4890 1763

Although none of the original farmhouses survive today, it is still possible to get an idea of the way it would have looked when occupied by the Jesuits. Many of the barns and other farm buildings on all three sites are the original 17th century buildings, and the cellars of both The Cwm and the Upper Cwm are also from the same period. The area is still difficult to access, even with modern vehicles, and it is very easy to understand the Jesuits choice of location in this beautiful and secluded valley. 

The World is Our House - a successful symposium!

This Friday, 21 June 2013, the 'World is Our House' symposium took place in the beautiful College Hall, Hereford Cathedral, followed by an evening concert in the nearby St Francis Xavier's RC Church, Broad Street, Hereford.

The title of the conference. 'the World is Our House' was chosen to embrace the core concept of the Society of Jesus that God is everywhere and can be served in every way, without the restrictions of a more traditional monastic way of life. One aim of the conference was to demonstrate how cohesive and connected every element of the Jesuit way of being is, even something as seemingly localised as the Cwm library is part of a bigger international tapestry. The phrase was used by Jerome Nadal SJ (1507-1580), an extremely important and influential early member of the Society of Jesus, who played a huge role in the success and growth of the Society.

Jerome Nadal, SJ (1507-1580)

The 'World is Our House' conference was a huge success - a sell out crowd of some 85 delegates from a huge variety of organisations and institutions attended to hear the six papers, as well as view the three exhibitions of Peter Leech's rare books and other items of Jesuitica, a display of some of the key inscriptions and texts from the Cwm Jesuit Library at Hereford Cathedral (pictured) and the beautiful embroidered 17th century chalice veils made by Helena Wintour and Mary Bodenham, which are on loan to Hereford Cathedral until the end of August. 

Cwm books on display in Hereford Cathedral Library & Archives Reading Room

The conference was opened by Canon Chris Pullin and Professor Maurice Whitehead, both of whom spoke of their individual experiences and connections with the Cwm Jesuit Library Project. The opening comments also set the aim of the day, which was to set the seventeenth century Cwm Jesuit Library in an international context, and to draw links between the Cwm library and the wider international Jesuit ideas, ideals and culture. 

The morning papers were focused on setting the scene, and introducing the Jesuits as an active and varied organisation in many areas of 17th century culture. Papers included the Jesuits and Art, 1540-1700 (Professor Peter Davidson, University of Aberdeen), the Jesuits and Science, 1540-1700 (Dr Adam Mosley, Swansea University) and the Jesuits and Music, 1540-1750 (Dr Peter Leech, Swansea University). All three papers were very well received, prompting a stimulating discussion and many interesting questions.

Over lunch time, delegates had the chance to view the three exhibitions, as well as the Hereford Mappa Mundi and Chained Library exhibition. 

After lunch, the focus of the afternoon papers shifted to a regional perspective, with papers specifically discussing the Jesuits in England and Wales, 1580-1700 (Reverend Dr Thomas McCoog, SJ, Fordham University, New York and Archivist of the British Province of the Society of Jesus, London) and Helena Wintour and Jesuit vestment-making in 17th century Worcestershire (Janet Graffius, Curator of Special Collections, Stonyhurst College). 

The final paper of the day was an overview of the Cwm Jesuit Library Project at Hereford Cathedral (Hannah Thomas, Swansea University), presenting delegates with the story of the project so far: discoveries made, key inscriptions identified and analysed, big research questions currently still unanswered and next steps that the project is going to take. Hannah's paper will be published in part in the next few blog posts, so keep an eye out for that! I would also be delighted if other delegates would like to contribute their own feedback and reviews of the day to the project blog at worldisourhouse.blogspot.com 

After lots of interesting questions and discussion, and ways to further enhance the project, the symposium part of the day was drawn to a close. Both Canon Chris Pullin and Maurice Whitehead gave thanks for the hard work of the Hereford Cathedral staff and volunteers who had made the day possible, as well as the generous sponsorship of the Jesuit Institute in London, the British Province of the Society of Jesus and an anonymous donor, who made the whole day possible. 

Delegates were given the opportunity to attend the exhibitions once more, which remained open until 5.15, and also to attend Choral Evensong in Hereford Cathedral, which featured specially chose unaccompanied 17th century music.

Finally, the day was rounded up with a fantastic concert of music associated with Jesuit Colleges in the early modern era, 1600-1750. Performed by Cappella Fede under the direction of Dr Peter Leech, the evening featured a range of musical pieces by William Byrd, Matthew Locke, Marc-Antoine Charpentier and others, and included the first modern performances of some recent archival discoveries that have not been heard since the 17th century. The concert took place at the nearby St Francis Xavier's RC Church, Hereford: the institutional successor of the Cwm as the headquarters of the College of St Francis Xavier, or the Welsh District, and therefore a fitting end to a fabulous day. 

Adventures and explorations

Hello everyone - apologies for the long silence, it has been a busy few weeks, for a change... Just to prove that it is not all nose-to-the-grindstone stuff, here are some exciting things I have done recently that, luckily for me, count as work:

1. A trip to the beautiful St Davids cathedral, in the world's smallest city, St Davids, in West Wales. This was to check if any Jesuit books had made their way westwards to this cathedral library, via the Vaughan family of Gelli Aur who are closely related to the Vaughan family of Courtfield. Although I didn't discover anything new (connected to the Cwm library), it was a gorgeous day in beautiful surroundings, and the combination of old books and sea views (in separate places, don't worry!) was pure heaven for me! The cathedral itself is lovely, particularly with the newly restored shrine of St David, and well worth a visit if you are ever in West Wales!

2. Provenance masterclass with David Pearson, in Cambridge University Library. This was an AMAZING opportunity to speak to a world-renowned expert on provenance history and queries, and to learn lots of useful things, such as dating anonymous bookplates and identifying different types of marginalia. David Pearson is the author of the brilliant 'Books as History' (pictured), a book designed as an introduction to the field of book history, and to the many many avenues of exploration there are to consider when analysing a book, or a library, or a collection of printed works. He was very willing to answer questions (and to sign my copy of 'Books as History'!), and didn't run screaming from the room when faced with a barrage of my questions about the Cwm collection and Jesuit provenance! I also enjoyed the creative approach to bollards adopted by the library (pictured)

3. The British Library, to check out a book with beautiful binding and some 17th century manuscripts from Hereford that had ended up there over time. A lovely building with room upon room of books, manuscripts, music and random sculptures dotted about the place (including a printing press!), plus an amazing shop - need I say more? No photographs allowed sadly, but you get the general idea :-)

4. 'Unlocking the Private Library' conference in Winchester College. A separate post to come on this soon, as there is lots to be said!

5. The National Archives in Kew, London. The aim of this trip was to scour the Privy Council minutes during the Popish Plot for any references to the Cwm, Hereford and the Cwm library. A very fruitful visit (more in due course on this) plus my visit coincided with the Italy-Wales rugby match, so the combination of rugby and 17th century records was another form of heaven for me (pictured)

Lots more trips and updates to come, plus my thoughts on writing the thesis so far, which has proved an entirely different kettle of fish to researching it! Watch this space...

Welcome to the project!

Welcome to the first post in this exciting new project blog! The project began in September 2011, when the first in-depth analysis of the Cwm Jesuit Library was started at Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives. 

The aim of the project is to analyse and contextualise the Cwm Jesuit Library collection, which was taken to Hereford Cathedral in early 1679 following its seizure at the Cwm, Llanrothal, Herefordshire, the headquarters of the territorial College of St Francis Xavier. This 'College' (an administrative term rather than an educational establishment) was an extensive missionary sub-division of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, covering the southern half of Wales, including Monmouthshire, as well as the English counties of Gloucester, Hereford and Somerset. The Cwm collection, which has never previously been analysed thoroughly, is one of only two surviving from all 14 missionary sub-divisions or provinces of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, and as such is an important seventeenth-century survival, which promises to throw important new light on early Jesuit missionary enterprise in South Wales and the Marches. 

This is a three-year joint project between Swansea University and Hereford Cathedral, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and under the supervision of Professor Maurice Whitehead at Swansea University. The project will form the basis of a PhD thesis, which is expected to be submitted in September 2014. 

The Cwm Jesuit Library arrived at Hereford in late 1678/9 under the direction of Bishop Herbert Croft, when the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm in Llanrothal near Hereford was raided as a reaction to the so-called but non-existent 'Popish Plot'. Initially, only around 100 books were thought to have survived, but recent research has discovered another 100 or so books believed to have come from the Cwm that had been stored elsewhere in Hereford Cathedral Library. This extended Cwm Library Collection of approximately 190 volumes has now been fully catalogued, and is available to search online via the library website: http://www.herefordcathedral.org/library-and-archives/online-catalogue  

Bishop Herbert Croft described the books brought from the Cwm as "Divinity books and others in Folio and Quarto and many other lesser books, several horse loads ... many whereof are written by the principal learned Jesuits ... fifteen or sixteen several printed books containing the Decrees of the several Congregations of that Society [of Jesus] at Rome ... several books lately written and printed against the Protestant religion and many small Popish Catechisms printed and tyed up in a bundle; ... some Welsh Popish books lately written and some Popish manuscripts fairly and lately written ... "  

[Herbert Croft, A short narrative of the discovery of a college of Jesuits at a place called the Come in the county of Hereford... (London: Printed by TN for Charles Harper at the Flower de luce against St Dunstan’s Church in Fleetstreet, 1679), Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives, reference H.P.271.5]

As the project progresses, it is hoped that much more will be discovered about the provenance of these books, their printers and booksellers, and of course the role of the Jesuits and the Cwm as part of the maintenance and survival of the recusant community in south Wales and the Marches in this crucial period of history.  

All feedback, comments and questions are always welcomed, and we hope you enjoy following the development of this fascinating research project. Thanks for your time!