From this community, she founded Bar Convent in York in 1677, at the invitation of Sir Thomas Gascoigne. This was the first Convent to be opened in England after the dissolution of Monasteries in 1536 by Henry VIII. First they set up a boarding school for Catholic girls, and this was followed in 1699 by a free day school. Both houses continued despite frequent harassment by local authorities for their ties to the Catholic Church, being suspected of harboring Catholic priests. Bedingfeld supervised both communities until 1686, when she settled in York.