Joan is a woman weighed down by responsibilities. She faces the outside world carrying the crozier, the symbol of her responsibility for the fate of her community, and has done since the death of the old Abbess Henrietta a decade ago. Yet within the abbey she is the object of admiration, resentments and ambition. She tries to be the best shepherd of her community that she can, but her desire to please every member of the flock sometimes leads to avoidance of conflict. Her recent recovery from an illness has shown everyone what she means to them as mother, teacher, leader. She will be in charge of leading the abbey through the visitation of the King’s Commissioner, but how can she meet this challenge without compromising her prized gentleness?

Maud is well-suited to her responsibilities in upholding order and the Rule within the community. She holds her sisters to tight compliance with their vows of obedience; even stricter perhaps with those closest to her. She knows her place as second only to the Abbess, so she expects everyone else to know their place as well. She hasn’t always understood kindness or indulgence, and she is certainly more familiar with the mundane than the mystic. But her practical hand has kept the loom weaving through difficult times before. 

How complex are the finances of such a huge estate, and even more so how complex those patchwork pieces of holdings, bequests and inheritances of this ancient institution? Poor Philippa never seems to rest, like a mouse fleeing from corner to corner collecting crumbs and titbits. No one but she knows the exact state of the Abbey’s finances, but everyone knows what happened to the formerly-great Abbey of Grantham when it became insolvent: the stakes are high. Phillippa coming late to sing Offices with ink on her fingers is a familiar sight. Perhaps she will relax a little now her blood-sister Mary has joined the Abbey as a postulant.

High-born Sybil had a life before joining the Abbey - she was the daughter of the Earl of Rotherham, she was married for a time, and widowed. The last Abbess respected her status and hoped she would have a lot to teach the sisters, but after she died, Sybil was not the one elected to replace her. Still, Sybil strikes an imposing figure as Almoneress. She embodies the best of courtly manners, looking after the Abbey’s guests, who are vital if the community is to continue to prosper and bring in donations and dowries. Sybil maintains a wide network of friends in court and beyond, recently bringing her noble-born niece Katherine in as a novice. 

Dorothy was created to nourish others, and was born to her role as Cellaress. Some feel that the Abbey should follow a stricter Rule with perhaps fewer flesh-days and less wine, but she knows that a well-nourished body will survive to pray for longer. She knows exactly what comes in and out of the Abbey, managing all its deliveries, and if there’s anything unexpected or illicit she deals with it with mercy and God’s love. Somehow she even manages to nourish her earthly family, keeping close ties with her aged parents.

As Cantrix, Clemence plans and leads the singing of the daily Offices. Beyond this, Clemence is a theologian to rival most men. When some say most English nuns read nearly no Latin, and hardly even French; then Clemence pulls out her works of Hebrew and Greek scholars. Persuasive, eloquent, and educated, she isn’t perhaps the most flexible or empathetic. A problem, yes, when the religious settlement of the country is in such flux. She has correspondence with men of religion all over the country, and some of those are in very hot water nowadays. She relishes order and routine, and she keeps her sisters to time in their Offices. Each arrangement of psalms is always carefully matched with events of the day - even if, perhaps, the significance goes over some heads.

Agnes arrived in Whitwood 6 years ago when her small abbey at Grantham was dissolved by the Church. She fitted in well to her new community and brought an expertise in maintaining sacred vestments and relics which has suited her to the appointment as Sacrista. If she missed her brothers and sisters from her former abbey, she hadn’t mentioned it for many years. Recent events seem to have brought old reflections back to mind, and she seems to be brooding on her memories.

Scripture says that “He that spareth the rod, hateth his child; but he that loveth him, teacheth busily”. Bess has lived her entire religious life at the Abbey, from postulant to today, and lives and breathes the Rule and the community. She cares deeply about the education of the novices and she has a fair and firm hand with them. She knows she has the right to discipline and chastise novices as she sees fit - even if sometimes the abbess or prioress might sometimes alter the penance. She has a true love of her sisters, and sees God in that love.

A woman is always expected to flourish in charge of a household. Alice never wanted to be a wife… but the Abbey is a large household indeed. She enjoys the spirituality as well as the organisation of her life, and she has deep love for her sisters. She makes sure that the Abbey’s little possessions are well-ordered, whoever has them in their keeping, and enjoys managing her sisters’ letters in and out of the Abbey. Religious life has given this woman from the Guild class a chance to enjoy reading and learning, and to come to a deeper understanding of the Church. And all this without having to trouble herself in the company of men.  She is great friends with Maud and has become something of a mentor in faith to Isabel.

Ellen is a woman of sophisticated French education, who came to Whitwood in her youth and has been a key part of the community ever since. She has a good knowledge of theology and philosophy, and is close to the Cantrix, Clemence. She has a keen wit and loves to make her sisters laugh and smile, although sometimes there are those who would say that silence might be more appropriate. Lately she seems to be troubled by something, though she hasn’t said what.

Peggy has been at the Abbey longer than anyone, and is the eldest of all the sisters. Over the years, she has developed significant skill in dispensing herbal teas, wise words, and tender loving care. She looks after the sick and tends to those who need her. If she knows secrets of the sick-bed, she keeps them close to her chest. Of course, things that happen in the cloister or the refectory are fair game for a little gossip.

Ecstatic visions and mysticism are incredibly popular in these unstable times, and Margery has been an overwhelming blessing to the Abbey in a number of ways. She hears the voices of the saints and shares prophetic words - direct from God. Cynics say visionaries are self-serving, but Margery doesn’t have a selfish bone in her body. Other words that wouldn’t be used for her would be discreet, politic or practical. Nevertheless her sisters are more than happy to provide what she lacks, for the sake of the sister that they love, and the fame and financial benefits brought by her pilgrims and disciples.

Ursula joined the Abbey after a series of spectacular religious visions in her childhood. Since taking her vows, she hasn’t been visited again, but nevertheless has made an excellent nun. If she feels something is missing, she has never seemed to complain. Nowadays she spends her time with Margery, who has regular visions. Ursula attends to Margery’s more earthly needs; her constant chaperone. Lately she has also taken the postulant Mary under her wing.

Although an obedient and loving sister, Isabel has seemed to struggle with her relationship with Christ since taking her vows a few years ago. Recently, she tried to grow her faith with privations and fasting, but she became so unwell that she was sent to her family home for some time to recover. It must have truly been a blessing to her to see her blood-sister’s large family and household, for she rallied quickly and returned to the Abbey. She will surely grow closer to God now, and the prioress has assigned Alice to mentor her through this acedia.

Life under the Rule is strict, and the vow of Obedience requires constant and conscious struggle. The most recently professed of the sisters, Frances has really struggled. Perhaps if her home had been friendlier she would have gone back to it. Yet, she took her full vows before the bishop a few months ago, and surely that demonstrates her commitment to succeed? Admittedly the Prioress has had to punish her already for breaking a glass water clock, but that must lead her to closer fellowship with Christ.

Blanche is the latest arrival to the Abbey, having transferred here from being a nun at the fashionable Syon Abbey. A lady of some status, she was popular at court before taking her vows. She loves to entertain us with tales about courtly life and fashionable people, but they don’t always seem to cast anybody in the most flattering light… except Blanche herself. She has fewer stories about how she came to leave court, or indeed leave Syon. If she finds friends at Whitwood, she will surely prosper here.

Edith is the Abbey’s historian and biographer, interviewing her sisters and writing about life at Whitwood. She is friendly and obedient these days, but there are rumours around her past. It seems that once, many years ago, she was a runaway: an apostate, and lived life outside the cloister. She did her penance years ago, and all that is in the past, except perhaps for making her somewhat of a worrier. Perhaps it makes it easier for her to sit and listen to the lives of others now.

Now into her second year at the Abbey, Letty came from a London family of merchants, and is well-read in modern philosophies and forward-thinking views. A country convent like Whitwood is the perfect place to learn the more traditional ways of religion, and will surely prove a settling influence on one so passionate. She seems willing to follow the rigours of religious life and the Rule, and after all, the young are meant to unsettle their elders and bring in ‘the new’.

Katherine is a lady of high birth, niece of Sybil the Almoneress. She served Queen Anne at court for a season, but came to Whitwood last year with a strong vocation. She seems like a very model novice - following every precept given to her and shouldering her obligations with quiet obedience. She is always happy to tell her fellow novices where they too can improve, and to let their seniors know if they are recalcitrant. She’s sure to go far.

Sometimes a convent is a sanctuary. Mary was brought into the Abbey just a few short months ago, by her blood-sister Phillippa the Treasuress, after the death of her husband in a horrific accident. Thank goodness that the family were able to afford a second nun’s dowry, for she seems to be truly finding her feet again, here in the company of women.