1:32 PM
Jo-Anne Rowney
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| Tyburn Convent near Marble Arch |
I was lucky enough to visit Tyburn Convent at Marble
Arch, near the place where hundreds of martyrs were executed for their
faith. Now of course the spot is barely recognisable, you'd
be hard pushed to know what once happened on the crossing where the cinema and
Sainsbury's now stand.
When I went to meet Mother Leioba earlier this year
to prep for some filming we were planning to do there she met with a friendly
smile and jovial greeting. She took great pleasure in recounting the tales of
the age old martyrs who'd escaped the clutches of death, and those who had not
been so lucky.
Tyburn Convent was founded by Marie Adele Garnier, a
French woman devoted to both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and adoration of the
Eucharist. Marie
founded the order 1898 in Montmartre, Paris, but had to flee to London three
years later. She re-established the order in England in 1903 at the very spot
where many of our martyrs died - the Tyburn tree.
Beneath
the convent there's a crypt full of relics. St John Southworth - who we were
making a film about - had rested their before being taken to Westminster
Cathedral for a procession and special Mass after his body was recovered.
Bones, blood stained cloth and items that belonged to martyrs cover every inch
of the walls.
Mother
Leioba explained the journey the martyrs took to their death - showing me the
old drawings they have detailing the path they travelled. What I found
interesting was the white washing of the whole incident. So many were killed at
that crossing, but every attempt was made to make sure people were unaware of
it. Even now how many know about the Tyburn martyrs?
It
was eye opening see the old maps, Oxford Street was once Tyburn Street. Hyde
Park Place, was previously - you guess it, Tyburn Place. Every road that led to
that fatal spot had once held the same name. After those in power realised what
they had done, the road names were changed.
It
wasn't until years later when some road works were being carried out that the
terrible truths of the Tyburn deaths were uncovered. The men working on road
digging around the Marble Arch area hit a stumbling block - they couldn't dig
any further. Battling on they found a solid wall of compacted bodies. Skeletons
piled high - the Tyburn martyrs remains. Later, further works carried out
unearthed more mass graves finally bringing to light the extent of the
massacre.
While
you may not hear anything about this horrible part of our history in any classroom,
the Tyburn Sisters act as the gatekeepers to the site. Diligently working to
spread the story of the martyrs, making sure their lives are not forgotten.
Mother Leioba was the Hans Christen Anderson of the Catholic world. Spilling
out stories of each one of them, each as engaging as the next.
I
left feeling that I could have spent hours longer down in the Crypt unearthing
the tales of the long dead martyrs. Such inspiring stories of men and women
converting knowing they would be killed, people protecting priests at risk to
their lives, speeches so powerful they bring a tear to your eye.
All of this is
kept down in a small room beneath the Marble Arch tube station. The low rumble
of the trains shaking the walls is the only disturbance in the quiet of the
convent, reminding the visitors that real life is out there still - a place
that felt strange when I emerged from the depths of the crypt. I can
definitely say it's worth a visit if you haven't been - and now if you can't
you can watch the DVD!
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