The Campion Hall community recently spent the day at Stonor Park, the ancestral home of the Stonor family. Beautifully situated in a rolling valley in the Chilterns, Stonor Park is significant for many reasons, not least of all for its longstanding association with the Society of Jesus.
During recusant times, Stonor Park was a refuge for many priests, including one Edmund Campion. While at Stonor, Campion published illicit copies of his famous Decem Rationes ("Ten Reasons"), an apologetic pamphlet that argued against Anglicanism. Rare original copies of the Decem Rationes are today housed at both Stonor Park and Campion Hall. During their tour of the house, Campion members were allowed to view the priest hole where the Hall's namesake evaded certain death--that is, until his eventual capture in Berkshire in July 1581.
The Stonor family has long maintained its connection to the Jesuits; for instance by inviting them to regularly preach in the 12th century stone chapel located on the grounds. During this visit, Rev. James Hanvey, SJ, Master of Campion Hall, celebrated Mass.
The Hall community was expertly guided through the house by the Hon. Georgina Stonor, whose encyclopedic knowledge of her family's history ensured the group left better informed than it was when it arrived.
The Hall is grateful to the Stonor family for their warm hospitality and their continued support of the Hall and the Society of Jesus.
