Oxfordshire: Edmund Campion's pamphlet on view at Stonor Park

A copy of the famous document written by Jesuit Saint Edmund Campion has been returned to the house in south Oxfordshire where it was secretly produced more than four hundred years ago and has now gone on display to visitors. The pamphlet was printed on a press hidden in the roof of Stonor Park, a recusant home, in 1581. 'Decem Rationes' ('Ten Reasons') argued against the validity of the Anglican Church and its publication led to the eventual arrest, torture and execution of Edmund Campion.

The copy of Decem Rationes, believed to be one of just five in the world, has been loaned by the Diocese of Portsmouth. It has been put on public display in the Long Gallery in the house. When four hundred copies of it were distributed in Oxford in 1581, it caused a sensation and Campion was tracked down within weeks. It also led to a raid of Stonor and the printing press was removed. An exhibition at Stonor features St Edmund's life and work.

The return of the pamphlet to Stonor coincides with a large scale renovation of the thirteenth century chapel there, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant making trusts. The medieval Catholic Chapel was used throughout the years of the Catholic repression. Stonor has been lived in by the same family for over eight hundred years. Lord Camoys, whose ancestors gave shelter to Campion, says the restoration of the Chapel - the biggest in his lifetime -- is a vital step in keeping this important part of Catholic heritage alive and hopes more visitors will come to see it for themselves.

The whole roof of the Chapel has been retiled, a new stone floor installed and Stations of the Cross given by the writer Graham Greene, who was a frequent visitor to Stonor, have been put on display around the walls. Lord Camoys says that "if the Chapel goes, the family goes" - so they see themselves as the guardians of the Chapel and the house.

Mass is celebrated every Sunday in the Chapel of the Blessed Trinity at 10.30am and Stonor Park is open Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday afternoons.

For more information see: www.stonor.com