A chance to read convent’s library of rare books
A LIBRARY which has books dating back to 1508 is being made available to scholars around the world.
The oldest living convent in England – Bar Convent in York – was established in 1686 at which time it was illegal to be Catholic following the religious changes ushered in by the Reformation.
Now, following a major cataloguing project at the convent, details of 1,800 rare books are being made available for researchers on a global database.
The library contains books dating from 1508 to 1850 and gives remarkable insight into the historical and religious context in which they were written.
The Bar Convent – properly known as The Convent of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin at Micklegate Bar – was established and operated in secret.
Frances Bedingfeld, a member of the Sisters of Loreto, signed the deeds for the land the convent was to be built upon on November 5 1686 under the alias Frances Long.
Now the Bar Convent is a popular York destination for tourists and offers bed and breakfast accommodation, meeting rooms, a gift shop, café and museum exhibition about its history.
A Bar Convent spokesman said: “A major cataloguing project has uncovered rare and historically significant books in our library, which will soon be made available on a global database, giving our little-known collection an international profile.”
CHINESE PIANIST Ke Ma has been playing a £100,000 concert grand piano in Selby Abbey which was built for York Minster to provide the music while its pipe organ underwent a two-year restoration which was completed earlier this month.
Selby Abbey has been on every Chinese tourist’s itinerary since Jay Chou, one of the Far East’s biggest pop stars, married Australian model Hannah Quinlivan there in 2015.
Yesterday’s concert marked the traditional end of the Chinese spring festival and the start of spring in the UK.
Ke Ma, who is from Datong China, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with a Masters with distinction in 2017.
She is currently pursuing her Doctoral study at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
She has won top prizes at international competitions including first prize at the 2016 Concours International de la vie de Maisons-Laffitte in France. As a soloist, highlights have included appearances with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Sichuan Symphony Orchestra,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Young Musicians Symphony, Suffolk Symphony Orchestra and the Miskolc Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tamás Gál at the Palace of the Arts in Budapest.
Selby Abbeyis one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period, and, although not a cathedral, is one of the biggest.
It was founded by Benedict of Auxerre in 1069 and subsequently built by the de Lacy family.
The concert marked the traditional end of the Chinese spring festival and the start of spring.