I visited

Ufton Court

on a beautiful summer evening when children in Tudor costume were walking solemnly through its gardens on their way to a banquet in the Tithe Barn. It was the perfect way to view this old English manor house, with its four priest holes and hidden chapel.

My visit was not planned. It was an extraordinary and tragic day for London. As terrorist bombs ripped through trains in the morning rush hour, I was traveling out to the countryside to spend the day with friends.

The visit became a prolonged one. With public transport back to the capital blocked, I accepted the offer of an overnight stay. With a sudden free evening, we took the opportunity to visit

Ufton Court

.

The house is owned by the Benyon family, who live at nearby Englefield House. Until recently, it was rented out to the Berkshire County Council and served as an educational center. Now it is run as a charitable trust. Educational courses are still a major feature, but it’s more welcoming than ever to church groups and pilgrims.

Students from across Britain are able to spend a few days at the house, studying its history and learning about the Tudor monarchs. The politics and religious tensions of that era never fail to fascinate.

The house has a special resonance for Catholics. It was for several generations the home of the Perkins family, loyal Catholics who held fast to the faith during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. That was when the first savage penal laws against the Catholic Church were imposed.

Hidden Heroes

In order for Mass to be celebrated, arrangements had to be made for the priest to slip into a hiding place within moments. At

Ufton Court

, you can view the priest holes and see the network of secret passageways that connected them.

Tradition says that the family would keep watch from the mullioned windows over the front porch — today the room still functions as a dormitory for the visiting students — so that they could see any intruders arriving down the front drive and speedily arrange for the priest to find safety.

When large groups gathered for Mass, one of the main rooms would have been used. But the house also has a small, secret chapel where lettering and images on the paneled walls indicate that this was a place of Catholic worship.

The house was raided in 1599, but no priests were found, although money and liturgical items were discovered and confiscated. Catholic families such as the Perkins clan were suspected of trying to organize plots against the crown. Even today, the true story is unknown because so much was kept secret and false trails were laid.

Today, the educational courses run at

Ufton Court

give children a chance to study what everyday life was like in an Elizabethan manor house. They listen to Elizabethan music and make scented pomanders; they learn dances of the period and dress in Tudor costumes.

The house is also the scene of an attractive old custom, the “Marvin Dole.” This dates back to a thank-you promise made by the lady of the house some four centuries ago. Lost in nearby woods, she was helped by local people. In return, she promised to arrange for an annual gift of bread and linen to be presented to them.

Every year on Maundy Thursday, the owners of the house — today Sir William and Lady Benyon — arrive with loaves of freshly-baked bread and stacks of new bed linens and towels. By tradition, these have to be presented through one particular window in the Great Hall, and for this ceremony people congregate on the grassy terrace.

Only genuine local residents can receive gifts from the “Marvin Dole,” and their names are formally recorded as representatives from each family — usually the children — stride up to enjoy the ceremony.

Of course, today no one locally is poor and hungry or in real need of necessities such as new sheets or towels. But the gifts represent a time-honored tradition and the custom is a source of much local pride.

Catholic Character

Ufton Court

lies in the Thames Valley, in beautiful countryside. Its Tithe Barn, dating back to the medieval period and still in use in the 20th century for storing grain, has recently been restored and is hired for local wedding receptions and parties.

Although the house is no longer in Catholic hands, the Catholic traditions of

Ufton Court

are honored.

Today, the courage and faith of long-ago priests who held fast to their beliefs and were prepared to die for them is widely respected. This part of the Thames Valley saw many of the bravest, including St. Edmund Campion.

It is thought the priest holes at

Ufton Court

are the work of the brave Jesuit layman Nicholas Owen, who died under torture in the Tower of London after years of successfully evading capture while creating safe havens for priests around England.

Left for a moment on my own in the tiny chapel — once secret, now visited openly — I whispered a very quick Hail Mary. I wondered how many times that prayer had been said there by Catholics, perhaps in haste or fear, in the days when the faith had to be hidden in a very different England.

Whatever happens, whether it is persecution or terrorist bombs, the same source of hope and consolation is available to us when we pray. A thought for a summer evening with bombs in London and new uncertainties always before us.

Joanna Bogle writes from London.

Planning Your Visit

To check availability, events and prices, contact the administrator at

Ufton Court

by e-mailing [email protected] or visiting uftoncourt.co.uk.

Getting There

Ufton Court

is easily accessible from the M4 and M3 (motorways) and is only 30 miles from London. The nearest train stations are Theale (five minutes), which has a direct link to Paddington, and Mortimer (seven minutes), which connects to Waterloo and Basingstoke.