Clare of Assisi was born in 1194 into the nobility of Assisi.  She refused several offers of marriage and on the night of Palm Sunday 1212 she fled to join Francis and his brothers. After several struggles and uncertainties, she was joined by other young women from all levels of society, and they lived at the church of San Damiano under the guidance of St Francis of Assisi. Essential to the Franciscan way of life was the conformity to the poverty of Christ whose only possessions were the clothes He wore. Clare begged Pope Innocent III to grant them a special privilege that they should never have to possess or accept property from anyone, but should be allowed to live simply, without revenues, working for their living and relying on the gifts that people would give them. To safeguard this Privilege of Poverty for all Poor Clares, Clare wrote her 'Rule of St Clare', being the first woman to write a rule, and it received papal approval two days before her death in 1253. Our Origins came in 1619, when seventeenth century persecution in England forbad religious life for British citizens 1619 two English women went to Brussels and received the Franciscan Habit in the church of the Franciscan Friars.  At great danger, other English women joined them where they established a small community. Attacks of the plague forced them first to Nieuport and then to Bruges. Despite hardship the nuns,all from England, flourished in Bruges until the revolutionary wars on the continent forced them to risk returning to England in 1794. After a dramatic escape from Belgium, they settled in Winchester until 1808, then moved to Taunton.    From here sixteen volunteers started the Woodchester community. Constant hardship ensured that the nuns had always earned their living from various sources. Currently the Woodchester community is developing a retreat and conference centre. The chief work of the nuns however, has never been interrupted - that of singing or chanting the Divine Office.