Allen Hall Seminary

Allen Hall is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Province of Westminster at 28 Beaufort Street in Chelsea, London in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is situated on the site of the house that was once occupied by St Thomas More. Though nothing of the house remains parts of the 16th century garden wall exist today.

Allen Hall
Entrance to Allen Hall Seminary
Allen Hall
Location in Kensington and Chelsea
OS grid referenceTQ2687977689
Location28 Beaufort Street Chelsea, London
CountryUK
DenominationRoman Catholic
WebsiteAllenHall.org.uk
History
Former name(s)Convent of Adoration Reparatrice
Founded1524 (1524)
Founder(s)Cardinal William Allen
DedicationSt Thomas More
Dedicated1975
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade II listed
Designated15 April 1969[1]
Administration
ParishOur Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Chelsea
DeaneryKensington and Chelsea
ArchdioceseWestminster
ProvinceWestminster

History
Chapel exterior

The theological college is named after Cardinal William Allen who founded a seminary in Douai, France, in 1568 to provide for the English mission in time of persecution.[2]

In 1793, the professors and students moved from Douai to Ware, Hertfordshire to escape the French revolution and founded St Edmund's College.

The site of the seminary dates back to 1524, when it was purchased by Henry VIII's Chancellor, St Thomas More. Although his house no longer exists, one of the mulberry trees he planted survives in the seminary garden, which is one of the largest gardens in Chelsea.

The current building was a former convent built by French nuns in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Sisters of the Adoration Réparatrice who occupied it until 1975 when it was bought by the Archdiocese of Westminster.[3] The college chapel was designed by Hector Corfiato and was completed in 1958.[4]

In 1975 the seminary itself moved its present-day site which allowed St Edmund's to expand as a school and became Allen Hall.[5]

The seminary comes under the authority of the Archbishop of Westminster and although it serves as a seminary for the dioceses within the Province of Westminster, it welcomes seminarians from other dioceses of England and Wales and from abroad.

As well as teaching the philosophy and theology subjects prescribed by the Catholic Church, every student is also required to gain pastoral experiences in parishes, schools and hospitals and, if appropriate, in a more specialised placement such as a hospice or prison. The staff there help the students reflect on their pastoral experiences both individually and with others.[6]

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See also

References
  1. Historic England. "Roman Catholic Diocesan Seminary Chapel, Allen Hall (1430539)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. "Douai history". Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  3. London Gardens Online
  4. [historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1430539 Roman Catholic Diocesan Seminary Chapel, Allen Hall] from Historic England, retrieved 15 December 2019
  5. "Allen Hall History". Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  6. Archdiocese of Westminster Synopsis
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