I was looking up something about Lady Zia Wernher, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich and thus a great-granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I,
and found that her former home, called Luton Hoo [strange name !] was run into the ground by her son, Nicholas.
I thought it quite interesting that there was a Russian Orthodox chapel. I am not sure which jurisdiction she was in
while an emigre in England. Anyone know ? I put this in World Orthodoxy assuming she may not have been in Rocor,
though I would be curious to find out for sure.
"[Nicholas' widow Luxye and] executors of the estate had struggled to pay off the £23 million debts left by Nicholas. She sold some of the family's art work, and Luton Hoo was also rented out for concers and film locations, most notably for .... a BBC version of Rebecca -- the house became Manderley.
In September 1997, Luton Hoo was put on the market for £25 million. The house was in a dilapadated condition. Elite Hotels bought the estate in 1999 with plans to turn the house into a grand hotel. The Russian Orthodox Church has been decoconsecrated and is now used for meetings."
The author of this item did not seem familiar with deconsecration enough to get the spelling correct.
THE THOUGHT that that chapel is being used for -- MEETINGS ? -- is awful.
What if someone could get it back and have it function again as a small Russian Church ?
I doubt we True Orthodox have funds for that. It's a shame for it to house only probably business meetings, or paltry gatherings.
Any ideas ? The location is a good one, in Bedfordshire, not far from the famous St Albans Cathedral, where the relics of the Protomartyr of Britain lie to this
day, though the once-great Cathedral is now run by anglicans.