Earlier this year, on one of her tours of Mary Ward’s Yorkshire, Sr Ann met up with some of the present-day occupants and/or owners of properties with a strong association with Mary Ward and her companions. Being Ann, she invited them to the Bar Convent for lunch and a tour.
This took place on Tuesday, 28th November and we were delighted to welcome Sir Thomas Ingilby and his daughter-in-law, Sara Ingilby (a Shaftesbury old girl) from Ripley, and Tony and Rosanne Rowbottom from Plowlands. Sir Thomas has now handed over the responsibility for running Ripley Castle, where Mary Ward often stayed with her Ingilby cousins. Sara and her husband (who was unable to come) now run the castle, and Sir Thomas has ‘retired’ to a house in the village of Ripley much to his delight.
Tony and Rosanne run an arable farm at Plowlands. Plowlands is beyond Hull on the Holderness peninsula and close to Partington and Spurn Head. The house at Plowlands, the home of the Wright family, where Mary stayed with her grandparents and cousins, John and Christopher Wright, no longer exists and the present Plowlands is just two centuries old.
The day began with an excellent talk on the Mary Ward places by Hannah Thomas (CJ heritage administrator) focussing particularly on the history of Ripley Castle and Plowlands at the time of Mary Ward. This was followed by Christmas lunch in style, and as well as the Ingilbys and Rowbottoms members of the CJ community and senior Bar Convent staff were also invited. Our guests were most appreciative and welcomed the new connection with the CJ and the Bar Convent. Lunch was a prolonged occasion, but the Ingilbys and Rowbottoms were delighted to have the opportunity to visit the chapel and the Heritage Centre before their car park tickets expired.
Hannah’s talk was so good we are hoping to arrange a day for both CJ and IBVM to hear the talk with a celebratory meal in 2024.
