History
The village of East Hendred itself has an
illustrious history dating back to the early times
of 956. There are two Churches documented in the
Domesday Book – one located in East Hendred and the
other in West Hendred. In medieval times there were
five manors in the village, two of the most
important were Abbey Manor (owned by Reading Abbey)
and the Manor of Arches, which is now known as
Hendred House.
Hendred House has been home to the Eyston family
for nearly 600 years and has one of only three
Catholic Chapels in England where Mass has been said
since before the Reformation.
The first Roman Catholic movement in the area is
documented to have started earlier than 635. At the
Reformation, the monasteries were dissolved, their
estates confiscated, and a new state Church
established where the Mass was replaced by the
services of the Book of Common Prayer. Loyal
Catholics were then subject to all kinds of
penalties as they refused to attend the services of
the new Church. Persecution of Catholics then
continued for more than two and a half centuries.
The faith was kept alive by country house
missions where Priests were able to say Mass and
administer the sacraments. The Catholic Emancipation
Act made things easier for Catholics, but it was not
until 1850 that Rome restored the English hierarchy,
and it was later still that Hendred acquired a new
Catholic Parish Church, thanks to Charles John
Eyston.
St Mary's was consecrated on 17th August 1865.
Designed by A. C. Buckler and reordered in 1983, the
Church has a pleasing architectural unity and
several interesting features. The stained glass by
Hardmann is much admired and includes a depiction of
St Robert of Newminster, while the Hendrie window,
depicting the life of St Francis of Assissi, is
probably the finest he ever did.
Mass is also celebrated in the Eyston family’s
Chapel of St Amand and St John the Baptist as it has
been since the thirteenth century. Exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament is held in the chapel every Friday
and occasionally the Benedictine nuns opposite St
Mary’s Church sing Latin Vespers there.
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