Hare Street House is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building in the hamlet of Hare Street that lies between Buntingford and

Great Hormead Great Hormead is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hormead in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It stands near the River Quin, on the B1038 road. The village of Little Hormead ...

in the

East Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Bunti ...

district of Hertfordshire, England. It is mainly associated with the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest and writer

Robert Hugh Benson Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS (18 November 1871 – 19 October 1914) was an English Catholic priest and writer. First an Anglican priest, he was received into the Catholic Church in 1903 and ordained therein the next year. He ...

who owned the house from 1906 until his death in 1914. The earliest parts of the building date from the late 16th or early 17th century. The brick frontage was added in the early 18th century, possibly for William Benn (

Sheriff of Hertfordshire The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provis ...

and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

in 1747). The house was in disrepair when Benson saw it in 1903 and purchased it for "an extraordinarily low sum". Benson carried out many internal alterations, with the help of the artist Gabriel Pippet. Benson left Hare Street House to the

archdiocese of Westminster The Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne (in Surrey), and th ...

following his death. It has been used as a country retreat for the archbishop and remained under the ownership of the archdiocese until 2019. Further restoration was carried out in 1962 for William Cardinal Godfrey who had earlier appointed the poet and mystic

John Bradburne John Randal Bradburne, Secular Franciscan Order, OFS (14 June 1921 – 5 September 1979) was an English lay member of the Third Order of Saint Francis, a poet, and warden of the Mutemwa leper colony at Mutoko, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Bradburn ...

to be caretaker. A charitable trust "to generate income for the upkeep and repair of Hare Street House" was maintained by the archdiocese of Westminster. Cardinal Hinsley died at Hare Street House in 1943. It was reported in 2018 that the archdiocese could no longer afford the upkeep and was putting the property up for sale. It was sold in October 2019. Rev

A 17th century

brewhouse A brewhouse is a building made for brewing beer and ale. This could be a part of a specialized brewery operation, but historically a brewhouse is a private building only meant for domestic production. Larger households, such as noble estates, o ...

in the grounds was converted to a chapel by Benson. This too has listed status as do the gates to the grounds. A further chapel stands in the grounds of the house, built over the grave of Benson and dedicated to St Hugh. Benson chapel

The Benson Memorial Church, dedicated to St Richard of Chichester, is a Roman Catholic church in Buntingford. Benson helped fund construction of the church and laid the foundation stone but died before the building was completed.

References

{{Listed buildings in Hertfordshire, G2* Houses in Hertfordshire Grade II* listed buildings in Hertfordshire