John Anne, Martyr of Burghwallis

They dragged John Anne and Robert Dalby on a hurdle to the place of their execution on the Knavesmire at York on March 16, 1589.

John was the first to die. With the rope fitted, he turned to the people watching, declaring the cause of his death was not treason, but religion.

Cut down while still alive, he was drawn, dismembered and quartered.

These events during the persecution of Roman Catholics 400 years ago were remembered in 1950 by the Dominican sisters of the congregation of Saint Catherine of Siena in Natal, South Africa who took over Burghwallis Hall, the Anne family home for four centuries, as a rest home for elderly ladies in 1946.

The Anne family were well known Catholics, living in constant fear in Elizabethan times. John – beatified in 1929 as the Blessed John Amyas (the alias he took in France) – was one of four members of the family to suffer death or imprisonment for their faith over 200 year period.

Sister Jane-Francis, administrator at Burghwallis was one of the 22 members of the order in this country and told something of the Anne family story. They came from Normandy in the 11th century, establishing themselves at both Frickley and Burghwallis, William becoming becoming a priest at Rheims in 1581.

In those times it was treason for anyone to attend Mass, for a priest ordained abroad to return to this country; and for a layman to harbour a priest. John Anne was one of many captured and martyred, but Mass continued to be celebrated in secret at Burghwallis in the tiny Attic chapel.

They used portable altars in those turbulent times of the 16th century. They carried a tiny silver paten and a chalice which could be unscrewed into several parts in seconds.

The chalice and paten used by John Anne are still treasured in the library.

But it is at the top of the house that excites the visitor. Sister Francis took me to the once secret chapel. You have to climb up and then down to get into it. It was near here in 1907, that Major Crathorne Anne discovered the priest hole. Measuring up for alterations, he realised the calculations did not fit into the plan. There was a space which could not be accounted for.

Breaking in, he found a room about the size of the small bedroom in a modern semi. He deduced that the terrified priest crawled from the chapel under the apex of the roof for 30 feet and then dropped down into an airless windowless space. The chapel has a tiny mullion window which commands a view of all the entrances to Burghwallis. Sister Francis pictures the scene:

"It is easy to think of George Anne and his terrified wife and their 12 little children gathered for mass. There are watchers at the window; then the priest, disguised, comes in. When this is over all is hidden away and life goes on".

"Should danger approach, there is the courtyard to be got through, then the back door, then along staircase to the third floor. Then a searcher must pass through the three doors – all of which gives the pursued ample time to climb up to the triangular plaster covered secret door into the Gable, crawl along and drop down into the secret room".

The attic chapel of daub and wattle, is preserved; a little haven of tranquility for the sisters and those who come to Burghwallis Hall in these more tolerant times to spend a quiet moment in prayer.

The "Blessed John, a gentleman by birth of ancient house" and no traitor, who walked to the gallows with a serene countenance, remains an inspiration. He did not die in vain.