SS Peter and Paul Church

Introduction

SS Peter and Paul Church in Lower Brailes is a Catholic chapel in the upper storey of a medieval malt barn attached to the Old Rectory Farm, and is one of the oldest post-Reformation public Catholic churches in England.

History

The present chapel was constructed in 1726 by Father George Bishop, over fifty years before the Act of 1791 which first made Catholic chapels legal. The Rectory Farm, dating from the mid-sixteenth century, belonged to the Augustinian friars of Kenilworth who leased it to John Bishop; after the Dissolution he bought the farm and established a secret Mass centre in the attic. The former farm kitchen and service wing beneath the chapel was restored in 2009 for use as a parish hall. The parishes of Brailes and Ilmington with Shipston were combined in 1973 as the Parish of Our Lady and the Apostles and canonically amalgamated in 2013.

Architecture and furnishings

The chapel is dated 1726, built of ironstone ashlar with a steeply pitched Welsh slate roof, 2 storeys and a 6-window range. The first floor chapel includes a confessional, sacristy and priest's study, with early C18 details including wood panelling, oak altar rails, ceiling cornices, 6-panelled doors and wooden window shutters.

The Georgian panelling and altar rails are original and there is eighteenth century Chinese wallpaper in the priest's sacristy. Three of the original box pews are preserved in the organ gallery. The painting of the Crucifixion over the altar is from the late seventeenth century. 17th and eighteenth century sets of vestments are retained at Brailes and are used at Mass on special feast days. On the west wall there is a nineteenth century painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; over the door hangs an eighteenth century painting of Christ.

Music and liturgy

The one-manual chamber organ with its fine mahogany case was made about 1826 by Joseph Robson, organ builder to King George IV. The organ was restored and rebuilt by Michael Latham and obtained for the chapel in 2008. Peter Drinkwater of Shipston, a noted local character who was organist at Ilmington and Brailes for many years, died in 2013.

Parish life

The prayer group gathers on Thursday mornings after Mass at Shipston for Adoration, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and the Rosary. The parish priest welcomes anyone who wishes to learn more about the Catholic faith and receive instruction.

Visiting

The chapel has a covered external stone staircase to the first floor. The chapel has two statues: one of St Joseph by Mayer of Munich, and another of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady, Queen of Peace, carved by a Polish craftsman as a thankoffering for the end of the Second World War. The recusant library and most of the antique vestments and plate belonging to the chapel are kept in the museum at Oscott College and at Harvington Hall.

The priest's study has one wall with C18 hand painted wallpaper and C18 bookshelves. The chapel has three early C18 pine pews with drawers, and other pews are C19. The chapel has an icon of Our Lady with SS Peter and Paul by Peter Murphy, given in 2008 in memory of Merche Bovill.