Overton House

Overton House

Overton House

Overton House, 74 Castlebar Road W5

Overton House at 74 Castlebar Road is an elegant red-brick, neo-Gothic house. This is a typically Victorian suburban house, containing 19th century stained glass, floor tiles, and carved wood features. A short walk through the monastery gardens behind Ealing Abbey monastery and Church leads to this charming spot.


This charming building currently houses a number of activites dedicated to translating Catholic and Benedictine values into language and expressions more accessible to post Christian generations. One of the interpretive tools we have used for some time is toolkit of ‘human strengths’ of the Eriksonian system of psychology; trust, hope, overcoming obstacles, competence, fidelity and love.

The summer school focuses exclusively on the activities of  the the Institutum Liturgicum which includes Classical languages. St Bede Library serves all the activities in the house including the Arts Studio and Benedictine Institute throughout the year.

Name and Associated people:

The name Castlebar features in a number of street names in this part of Ealing north of Ealing Broadway, including Castlebar Road, Castlebar Park, Castlebar and Castlebar Hill. There may be an Irish connection with Castlebar in Co Mayo.

Castlebar is the name of a hill nearby that is 51 metres (167 feet) high. In the 18th century, the hill was the location of Castle Beare or Castle Bear, a grand mansion or country seat on the western fringes of London.

Over the generations the residents of Castle Bear included the publisher Archibald Constable, General Wetherall, who conquered Java during the Napoleonic Wars, and Queen Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent. That explains why other street names here include Albert Road, Kent Gardens, Queen’s Walk, and Prince’s Gardens.

Overton House was built by John George Bartholomew (1860-1920), a grandson of the founder of John Bartholomew and Son, the famous 19th century mapmakers. Bartholomew lived in Edinburgh before moving to London. J.G. Bartholomew’s longest lasting legacy is in naming Antarctica – until he first used the term in 1890, the continent had been largely ignored because its lack of resources and because of its harsh climate.

Monastic history

Overton House was bought by Downside Abbey in 1930 and was the sold to Ealing Abbey in 1955. The house is within Ealing Borough’s “Mount Park” conservation area so that the heritage of the house and its design are respected and the garden is cared for appropriately.

The Scriptorium, where students now attend Liturgy seminars, was once the research workplace of Dom Bernard Orchard (1910-2006), the Biblical scholar and former headmaster. This later became the London base for the liturgical research project “Appreciating the Liturgy,” founded and directed by Dom James Leachman and Dom Daniel McCarthy of Saint Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kansas. Both are part of the Liturgy summer school and they both studied and taught at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome.

The extensive gardens at the side and behind the house have a variety of trees, including banana (Musa basjoo), strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) and olive (Olea europaea). The gardens are friendly to wildlife, and no insecticides are used on the plants and trees.

The name “JM Bartholomew” also features in some of the carved stones in the walls of the garden. Stones of a different sort have been used to shape labyrinth on the north lawn, surrounded by apple trees.

Ealing Abbey JL 3 Feb 2017