“Before you do anything, you must go and greet Ambrose Barlow”. So said Marie, secretary to Bishop John Arnold of Salford, as she opened the door to us, a visiting group of Columbans. Now, as a rule, going to greet an esteemed resident would just be a case of common courtesy – until you realize that the gentleman in question was executed nearly four hundred years ago.
Intrigued, we were directed to the main staircase of Wardley Hall, the Tudor manor which today serves as the bishop’s house, and there, set in a glass case, we were confronted with the skull St. Ambrose Barlow, serenely gazing out at the grounds (which, as it happened, were the reason for our visit).
For non-believers, this sort of thing could appear somewhat macabre. However, from the Catholic point of view, relics are a source of inspiration. They remind us of great and holy people from the past who are NOT dead, but very much alive, enjoying eternal happiness with the Lord and interceding for our efforts in the here and now.
One effort in particular had brought this Columban delegation to Wardley Hall. We were there to see the “Laudato Si Centre”, which occupies the gardens and woods around the building, and is described by the diocese as, “a flagship for effective action on climate change”.
The Diocese of Salford (which covers much of the Greater Manchester conurbation in the north of England), under the guidance of Bishop John, established the centre in 2019 in response to the recently published “Laudato Si” papal encyclical. In that document, Pope Francis had warned that the planet – our “common home” – was being destroyed by irresponsible human action and had urged the world and the Church to adopt radical measures to combat the evils of environmental catastrophe and increasing world poverty.
The Columbans also rose to the Pope’s challenge, and we’d come to Salford to see what their initiative could teach us.
First, though, we wanted to know more about the remarkable connections between the saint, the hall, the diocese and the centre.
Ambrose was born in 1585 on the banks of the River Mersey in what is now the Manchester suburb of Chorlton. His birthplace, Barlow Hall, still stands. (Although, as a sign of how times have changed, it is now the club house of the local golf course!)
This was the high point of the English Reformation and Ambrose Barlow grew up as an Anglican, but in 1607 he converted to Catholicism, travelled to France to study for the priesthood, was ordained as a Benedictine and returned home secretly on mission in 1617. For the next 24 years he ministered to the Catholic population of Lancashire, moving covertly between the houses of Catholic gentry. One of these houses was none other than Wardley Hall, at that time the home of his cousin Francis Downes. Finally in 1641, with Civil War looming and tensions rising, Ambrose’s luck ran out. He was arrested while celebrating Mass on Easter Sunday and taken in chains to Lancaster Castle, where he was imprisoned, tried, condemned and subsequently hanged, drawn and quartered on 10th. September 1641.
His loyal cousin Francis Downes managed to recover the head from the dismembered body and spirited it away to Wardley Hall…..little suspecting that almost 300 years later, in 1930, quite independent of all this background, a new owner would be moved to donate the hall to the diocese as the seat of its bishop.
It seems Ambrose Barlow had worked a miracle.
What we went on to see in the grounds of the hall suggested he was working another one.
Under professional horticultural guidance these grounds have been transformed. The gardens and woods have been seeded, planted and renewed with native species of flowers, plants, trees and shrubs. Habitats have been revived, soil conservation improved and water features introduced. Furthermore, the centre has been opened to the public and developed as an “open air classroom”, in this way (as our guide Emily enthusiastically explained) “creating a space for all to learn how to take practical action to tackle climate change” and so “work towards a sustainable world”.
In the first half of 2024 alone, some 2,300 people have visited the centre, from schools, parishes and community groups, taking part in workshops, retreats and (as in the case of us Columbans) “how to do it yourself” seminars.
Where Salford has led, we are following. Already we are engaging in a major project around our Columban house and offices in Solihull, West Midlands, where we are reintroducing natural meadowland, planting up to 6,000 trees and opening the property to groups. We hope to go much further over the coming years.
Ambrose Barlow must surely be proud of us. They thought they’d killed him, but he’s alive, and instrumental in fostering new life – spiritual and natural – from the Local Church in Salford, to the Columbans in Solihull, and far, far beyond.
Postscript: In June 2024 the worldwide Columban General Assembly adopted as a priority of the Society the care of our common home, and specifically committed the Columbans to promoting the protection and restoration of biodiversity.
