Divine Mercy College

Divine Mercy College is a former Roman Catholic independent secondary boarding school for boys in the English county of Buckinghamshire. It was co-founded in 1953 by rev. Józef Jarzębowski of the Marian Fathers with lay members of the Polish community in Great Britain with the intention of providing an education that combined a British curriculum with Polish language, culture and history for the children of Polish displaced persons resettled in the United Kingdom. A Charitable foundation was formed to purchase, with a mortgage, the Grade I listed 17th-century country house with out-buildings and a park designed by Capability Brown on the banks of the River Thames.^[1] The property had been used by the British Army during the Second World War and had been vacated since.

The school was housed in purpose-built blocks in the grounds of Fawley Court, just outside Henley-on-Thames. The main house in neoclassical style, sometimes attributed to Christopher Wren, with interiors by James Wyatt was used for the library, a museum, the chapel and refectory and kitchens with administrative offices on the upper floors. The teaching staff consisted of lay women and men - some of them university teachers from pre-war Poland - and the small community of exiled Polish Marian fathers headed initially by Jarzębowski (1897-1964), also a writer, historian and Antiquarian. The name of the school was inspired by its first headmaster's devotion to the Divine Mercy of Jesus.^[2]

Although pupils were mainly of Polish descent, there were others who were from British families or the sons of foreign diplomats. Pupils sat British public examinations and a number went on to universities in England or abroad. After the early death of Jarzębowski, the following rector was a war veteran and writer, fr. Andrzej Janicki MIC.^[3] Over the years the school and its attractive setting had become a popular destination for the Polish community in Southern England, especially on religious feast days.^[4]

With the general fall in school rolls during the mid-1980s, Divine Mercy College did not escape the decline and was obliged to finally close its doors to pupils in 1986.^[5] The college became a conference and retreat centre for the next 20 years or so. The property was sold after a unilateral decision by the Marian Fathers in 2010 despite controversy, lawsuits and an extended campaign to save the Grade I listed asset and its valuable museum collection for the newly greatly expanding Polish community in the UK, following Poland's accession to the European Union.^{[6][7][8] [9]}

See also[edit]

• Holy Family of Nazareth Convent School
• Polish Catholic Mission

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Fawley Court former website
• Fawley Court described in John Preston Neale, Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, Second Series, Volume III, b1826
• Listed buildings in and around Fawley Court estate