Stonyhurst

Submitted by Alan Marsden on Mon, 17/08/2026 - 00:00

I was privileged to be given a tour of Stonyhurst this summer. This is stately home turned boarding school in the Ribble Valley which must be one of the grandest buildings in the county if not the kingdom. As one might expect, it boasts a fine and varied alumni and the space within is much more generous and well resourced than anything known in the state sector, though the imposition of VAT on school fees is unlikely to have been considered beneficial to those tasked with keeping the place afloat.

The school claims to have the oldest museum in the English-speaking world and its exhibits are certainly impressive. Its walls are covered with those counter reformation-era paitings of anguished, saintly faces on dark backgrounds. A dining table is said to be the place where Oliver Cromwell slept enroute to the Battle of Preston in August, 1648. A similar story exists at Ripley Castle, so the great general either had a penchant for extremely hard, high beds, or the tale is legendary. Quite how a man leading an 8,000 strong army camping on the lawns would be politely denied the use of one of the actual beds in the many bedrooms is beyond my imagination. He is said to have stood at the end of the avenue, above, and admired the house as "the finest half-house in England", a reference to the asymmetry it then enjoyed but posterity corrected.

It seems ironic that the man most connected with ardent Protestantism, the puritan Oliver Cromwell, should be associated with a house now administered by the Jesuits, with their sincere commitment to Catholic education. Both puritan and Jesuit would have been regarded as the extreme wing of their respective branches of churchmanship, yet here at Stonyhurst, they somehow manage to meet. Although my sympathies are naturally with the former, there is no doubting the zeal and dedication of the latter.

The Lord Jesus Christ, whom Cromwell loved and served, and after whom the Jesuits are named, will be the judge of the hearts of all, Catholic and Protestant. He can see truth from falsehood, genuine piety from feigned religiosity. As Stonyhurst continues to offer a high quality and polished education to its pupils amidst its gorgeous décor and fabulous architecture, may we all learn how best to serve the One to whom we shall give account.