Pantasaph
Pantasaph | |
---|---|
Farmland at Pantasaph | |
Location within Flintshire | |
OS grid reference | SJ161760 |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | HOLYWELL |
Postcode district | CH8 |
Dialling code | 01352 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
Delyn | |
Pantasaph is a small village in Flintshire, north-east Wales, two miles south of Holywell in the community of Whitford. Its name translates into English as Asaph's Hollow.
History
The abbey lands at one point belonged to the nearby
The village is also the location of the former St Clare's Convent which included a boarding school, a hospital and an orphanage. It was built by a Father Seraphin of Bruges, who brought the first group of sisters to it in 1861. It closed in 1977, having at its peak housed some 500 orphans. The site lay derelict for a number of years and was damaged by fire in 1985, but has since been partly demolished and the remainder restored as luxury accommodation. It is now a designated conservation area.[2]
The poet Francis Thompson spent some time recovering from illness at Pantasaph in the 1890s, lodging in a house beside the friary gates, at the post office and at Crecas Cottage between Pantasaph and Carmel.
Friary
The first friars occupied the original presbytery, (now called Denbigh House), designed by Wyatt as the vicarage to what was to be an Anglican church. Following the consecration of St David's church, the friary was constructed in Collegiate Gothic style between 1858 and 1865. A wing was added to the east in 1899 to form an L-shaped range with a turret in the angle. Built in two storeys with attics and basements it is constructed of snecked grey stone with sandstone dressings and steep slate roofs.
St David's church and the friary complex have all been awarded grade II* listed status.
On the wooded hill behind the complex a 19th-century zig-zag path links landscaped Stations of the Cross leading to a large Calvary group on the hilltop.
The Stations of the Cross are listed as Grade II in the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[4]
The Friary gardens house the National
References
- ^ "A Brief History Of The Capuchins At Pantasaph And The Church Of St.David". Pantasaph Franciscan Friary. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ "St Clares Convent". Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Franciscan Friary, Whitford". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 17 February 2023.