Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery at
Buckfast
Buckfast is a small village near Buckfastleigh in Teignbridge district, Devon, England, on the bank of the River Dart. It is the home of Buckfast Abbey, an active Benedictine monastery, which gave its name to Buckfast Tonic Wine, originally made ...
, near
Buckfastleigh
Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a
Savignac (later
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
) abbey constructed on the site of the current abbey in 1134. The monastery was surrendered for
dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
in 1539, with the monastic buildings stripped and left as ruins, before being finally demolished. The former abbey site was used as a quarry, and later became home to a Gothic mansion house.
In 1882 the site was purchased by a group of French Benedictine monks, who refounded a monastery on the site, dedicated to
Saint Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
. New monastic buildings and a temporary church were constructed incorporating the existing Gothic house. Buckfast was formally reinstated as an Abbey in 1902, and the first abbot of the new institution,
Boniface Natter Boniface Natter (24 April 1866 – 4 August 1906), christened Anthony, was a German Benedictine Monk who became the first Abbot of the newly reformed Benedictine Abbey of Buckfast in Devon, England.
Biography
Boniface was born Anton Natter in ...
, was blessed in 1903. Work on a new abbey church, which was constructed mostly on the footprint of the former Cistercian abbey, started in 1907. The church was consecrated in 1932 but not completed until 1938. The abbey continues to operate as a Benedictine foundation today, and is a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ch ...
under English law. As of 2020, the abbey has 13 monks.
History
![Buckfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Buckfast.abbey.nave.arp.corrected.jpg)
The first abbey at Buckfast was founded as a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery in 1018.
[Beattie 83.] The abbey was believed to be founded by either Aethelweard (Aylward), Earldorman of Devon,
[ or King Cnut.][ This first monastery was "small and unprosperous", and it is unknown where exactly it was located,] and its existence was "precarious" especially after the Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
.[
In 1134][ or 1136,][ the abbey was established in its current position; King Stephen having granted Buckfast to the French Abbot of Savigny. This second abbey was home to Savignac monks. In 1147 the Savignac congregation merged with the Cistercian, and the abbey thereby became a ]Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
monastery.[ Following the conversion to the Cistercian Congregation, the abbey was rebuilt in stone.] Limited excavation work undertaken in 1882 revealed that the monastery was built to the standard plan for Cistercian monasteries.[
In medieval times the abbey became rich through fishing and trading in sheep wool,
By the 14th century Buckfast was one of the wealthiest abbeys in the south-west of England. It had come to own "extensive sheep runs on Dartmoor, seventeen manors in central and south Devon, town houses in ]Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, fisheries on the Dart and the Avon, and a country house for the abbot at Kingsbridge".[ The ]Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
killed two abbots and many monks; by the mid 1300s, there were few left to maintain the buildings, some of which collapsed. By the mid 1400s however, the abbey again flourished.
By the 16th century, the abbey was in decline. Only 22 new monks were tonsure
Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...
d between 1500 and 1539, and at the time of the abbey's dissolution in 1539, there were only 10 monks in residence.
Dissolution
At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the last Abbot, Gabriel Donne
Gabriel Donne or Dunne (died 1558) was an English Cistercian monk and was the last Abbot of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, before the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Origins
He was a son of Sir Angel Donne (d.1505/6), an Alderman of the City of Londo ...
(d.1558), despite the solemn oaths he had taken, on 25 February 1539 together with nine others of his religious community, surrendered his abbey into the hands of Sir William Petre
Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) (pronounced ''Peter'') was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I.
Educate ...
, as agent for King Henry VIII. On 26 April 1539 he was rewarded with a large annual pension of £120 which he enjoyed until his death. The other monks, who all co-signed the deed of surrender, also received smaller pensions.
Afterwards, 1.5 tons of gold, gilt and silver, from the treasures of the abbey, were delivered to the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
. The site was granted to the King who later granted it to others, including William Petre
Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) (pronounced ''Peter'') was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I.
Educate ...
, the Secretary of State, and Sir Thomas Denys
Sir Thomas Denys ( – 18 February 1561) of Holcombe Burnell, near Exeter, Devon, was a prominent lawyer who served as Sheriff of Devon nine times between 1507/8 to 1553/4 and as MP for Devon. He acquired large estates in Devon at the Dissolut ...
(c.1477–1561) of Holcombe Burnell
Holcombe Burnell is a civil parish in Devon, England, the church of which is about 4 miles west of Exeter City centre. There is no village clustered around the church, rather the nearest village within the parish is Longdown. Only the manor hou ...
in Devon, who had married Donne's sister Elizabeth and was Chamberlain of the Household to Cardinal Wolsey.
After dissolution
Following dissolution, the abbey site and its lands were granted by the crown to Sir Thomas Denys
Sir Thomas Denys ( – 18 February 1561) of Holcombe Burnell, near Exeter, Devon, was a prominent lawyer who served as Sheriff of Devon nine times between 1507/8 to 1553/4 and as MP for Devon. He acquired large estates in Devon at the Dissolut ...
(c.1477–1561) of Holcombe Burnell
Holcombe Burnell is a civil parish in Devon, England, the church of which is about 4 miles west of Exeter City centre. There is no village clustered around the church, rather the nearest village within the parish is Longdown. Only the manor hou ...
, near Exeter, who stripped the buildings and "reduced them to ruins". The abbey site was subsequently used as a stone quarry.[
In 1800, the site was purchased by local mill owner, Samuel Berry. Berry had the ruins demolished, constructing a Gothic style "castellated Tudor" mansion house, and a wool mill on the site in 1806.][ The Gothic house was constructed on the site of the abbey's former west cloister. The only pieces of the former abbey to escape demolition were some of the outer buildings – which were retained as farm buildings – and the tower from the former abbot's lodgings, the only part which remains to this day.][
Over the next eighty years, the Buckfast site changed hands four times, finally falling into the hands of Dr. James Gale in 1872. Ten years later, Dr. Gale decided to sell the property, but was keen to offer it to a religious community. An advert was placed in The Tablet, describing the Abbey as "a grand acquisition could it be restored to its original purpose." Within six weeks of the sale, monks were again living at the abbey.]
Reconstruction
In 1880 the Abbaye Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire was suppressed under a new French law and some of the monks went to St. Augustine's Priory in Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...
. The community of Ramsgate gave the French monks use of a property it owned in Leopardstown
Leopardstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. Located at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, it is a residential suburb with institutional lands and a large racecourse. It is di ...
, Ireland. Learning that the property at Ramsgate was for sale, in 1882 "the whole site was purchased" by the French Benedictine monks for £4,700.[Smith, Leo. "The Life and Work of Abbot Anscar Vonier", English Benedictine Congregation History Commission, 1996]
/ref> On 28 October 1882, six Benedictine monks arrived at Buckfast.
Most of Samuel Berry's house was remodeled and incorporated into new claustral ranges which were built in 1882.[ A temporary church was constructed to the south of these new buildings, with the current abbey church constructed between 1906 and 1938,][ mostly on the footprint of the Cistercian Abbey (the east-end does not follow the original plan).][ The new abbey church was built in the "Norman Transitional and Early English" styles, to the designs of architect, ]Frederick Arthur Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (1849–1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches.
Life
Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, London, the son of the arc ...
.[ There were never more than six monks working on the project at any one time, although the whole community had repaired the ancient foundations up to ground level. Construction methods were primitive: wooden scaffolding was held together by ropes and no safety protection was worn by the monks. One monk fell 50 feet but survived; and three monks fell off a hoist without serious injury in 1931. Construction continued throughout ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
: some of the monks were of German nationality, but were not sent to an internment camp on condition that they remained confined to the Abbey grounds.
Buckfast was formally reinstated as an Abbey in 1902, and Boniface Natter Boniface Natter (24 April 1866 – 4 August 1906), christened Anthony, was a German Benedictine Monk who became the first Abbot of the newly reformed Benedictine Abbey of Buckfast in Devon, England.
Biography
Boniface was born Anton Natter in ...
– who died at sea in 1906, when the SS ''Sirio'' was shipwrecked – was blessed as the new abbot on 24 February 1903.[ His travelling companion ]Anscar Vonier
Ansgar Vonier, engl. Anscar Vonier, Order of Saint Benedict, O.S.B. (11 November 1875 in Biberach an der Riss, Ringschnait, Upper Swabia, Oberschwaben – 26 December 1938 in Buckfast), was an Abbot of Buckfast Abbey (1906–1938).
Life
Born Marti ...
became the next abbot and pledged to fulfill Natter's dying wish, namely to rebuild the abbey.
The abbey church was consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
on 25 August 1932, but the building was not finished for several years: the last stone was laid in late 1937 and final works completed the following year.
The only portion of the medieval monastery which survives is the "much restored", former abbot's tower, which dates from 14th or 15th century. This was incorporated into the abbey's guesthouse, which was constructed during 1982 and 1994, when the abbey's precinct was rebuilt.[
The abbey's former well, which was located in the crypt of the former abbey and which may have dated from Saxon times, was destroyed when the new abbey was built.][ A church was erected and opened in March 1884. In that year, reconstruction of the south wing of the monastery began; it was intended to include a refectory and cloister.]
The final phase
It was not until 25 August 1932, after most of the building had been completed, that the Abbey Church was consecrated. Reconstruction of the tower was completed in July 1937 with painting completed the following December. In 1968 Dom Charles completed the huge east window in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Charles employed the technique known as dalle de verre in which tiles of coloured glass are chipped into shape and laid, like a mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
, in a matrix of resin.
Buckfast receives many visitors; men are lodged in the guest house belonging to the monastery, and men and women in a restored building.[ Various tours are offered at the site. The hair shirt of Roman Catholic Saint Thomas More is now preserved at a side altar in the Abbey. In 2017, pipe organs were being installed inside the Abbey church; the work was expected to finish in October.
]
The grounds
There is a conference and seminar centre, and a restaurant (the Grange). On the west side of the Abbey are two gardens with plants ranging from herbs used in cooking or medicine to poisonous plants. Behind the public area is an enclosed garden for the monks. A bridge leads over the river to the abbey farm.
Self sufficiency
The Abbey is self-supporting, with a farm where vegetables are grown and bees, pigs and cattle are kept, a shop which sells wine, honey beeswax, fudge and other items made by religious communities throughout the world, and a gift shop, book shop, and restaurant.
Buckfast Tonic Wine
The monastery's most successful product is Buckfast Tonic Wine
Buckfast Tonic Wine is a caffeinated alcoholic drink consisting of pure caffeine added to fortified wine, originally made by monks at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England, now made under a licence granted by the monastery, and distributed by J. Ch ...
, a fortified wine which the monks began making in the 1890s. Its perceived links to violent anti-social behaviour – especially in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
– have been a controversial issue for the abbey which has employed a youth worker in one area affected.
Following a decision by Police Scotland
Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...
to attach anti-crime labels to bottles in some areas, the abbey's bottler and distributor, J Chandler and Co. announced its intention to pursue legal action.
Beekeeping
Brother Adam (born Karl Kehrle
Karl Kehrle OSB OBE (3 August 1898, Mittelbiberach, Germany – 1 September 1996, Buckfast, Devonshire, England, UK), known as Brother Adam, was a Benedictine monk, beekeeper, and an authority on bee breeding, developer of the Buckfa ...
in 1898 in Germany, died in 1996) was put in charge of the Abbey's beekeeping
Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...
in 1919, and began extensive breeding work creating the honeybee now known as the Buckfast bee
The Buckfast bee is a breed of honey bee, a cross of many subspecies and their strains, developed by Brother Adam (born Karl Kehrle in 1898 in Germany), who was in charge of beekeeping from 1919 at Buckfast Abbey in Devon in the United Kingdom ...
. Brother Adam had to replenish the bee colonies as 30 of the monastery's 46 colonies had been wiped out by a disease known at the time as the Isle of Wight Disease, but later called "Acarine
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...
", all the bees that died were of the indigenous Old British Black bee (a now extinct British strain of the A. m. mellifera). The 16 hives that survived were of Italian Ligurian origin ( A. m. ligustica). At the request of the government, Brother Adam helped in restocking the British Isles with his disease resistant Buckfast bees. Today the breeding of pedigree Buckfast bees is regulated by the ''Federation of European Buckfast Beekeepers'' (G.D.E.B.) in over twenty six countries with numerous breeders.
Schools
Buckfast Abbey Preparatory School
From 1967 until 1994, the abbey ran a prep school
Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools
*Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools
*College-preparatory school, ...
for boys aged 7 to 13, but was obliged to close it as the school became financially non-viable due to dwindling numbers of boarders. Two former monks were later convicted and imprisoned for sexually abusing boys during this period.
St Boniface's Catholic College
With the outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
-based St Boniface's Catholic College evacuated its pupils to Buckfast Abbey between 1941 and 1945. The school later named one of its Houses "Abbey" in memory of this period in their history.
School of the Annunciation
The School of the Annunciation was a place of learning for adults and was a charitable company based in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey. It was founded in 2014 by Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, and Dr Caroline Farey, who had left the Maryvale Institute
Maryvale Institute is a college of further and higher education, an International Catholic Distance-Learning College for Catechesis, Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education in Old Oscott, Great Barr, Birmingham, England. It specialises in t ...
, with the Abbot of Buckfast. It offered distance learning, part-time programmes, summer schools and short courses in theology, philosophy, catechetics, sacred beauty, liturgy and other associated subjects to support the New Evangelisation. The School closed on 31 August 2019 due to a lack of funding.
Bells
The tower contains fifteen bells. There is a ring of twelve bells with a tenor weighing 41 long hundredweight (with two extra semi tone bells) surrounding the 7.5 ton bourdon bell
The bourdon is the heaviest of the bell (instrument), bells that belong to a musical instrument, especially a chime (bell instrument), chime or a carillon, and produces its lowest tone.
As an example, the largest bell of a carillon of 64 bells, t ...
called Hosanna. They are widely regarded as one of the finest sets of change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...
bells in the world. In August 2018, the Abbey hosted the Millennium Bell Ringing Festival in celebration of its 1000th year since the foundation of the monastery.
The bells were cast in 1935 by John Taylor and Co. and were donated by a local benefactor, Sir Robert Harvey.[ They are hung in the traditional change ringing style around the bourdon Hosanna. They also have an ]Ellacombe chiming apparatus
The Ellacombe apparatus is a mechanism devised for performing change ringing on church bells by striking stationary bells with hammers. It does not produce the same sound as full circle ringing due to the absence of Doppler effect as the bells do n ...
for single-handed ringing, but this is currently out of use.
List of abbots
Benedictine abbots
* Alwin (Aelwinus) first mentioned as having attended Shire-mote in Exeter in about 1040. Known from the Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
to have been Abbot in 1066.
* Eustace first mentioned in 1143 in a Totnes Deed. He was Abbot when Buckfast was affiliated to the Abbey of Citeaux (Cistercian).
Cistercian abbots
Buckfast still followed the Rule of St. Benedict, as the Cistercians also live by that Rule.
* William acted as Papal Legate in 1190.
* Nicholas elected in 1205.
* Michael mentioned in the Cartulary of Buckfast Abbey (C.B.A.) in 1223.
* Peter (I) mentioned in the C.B.A. 1242.
* William (II) mentioned in the C.B.A. 1249.
* Howell mentioned in the Leger Book (L.B.) of Buckfast (Brit. Mus.) – no dates.
* Henry mentioned in C.B.A. 1264 and 1269.
* Simon mentioned in C.B.A. and Petre Archives (P.A.) between 1273 and 1280.
* Robert mentioned in L.B. and Exeter Episcopal Registers (Ep. Reg.) between 1280 and 1283.
* Peter de Colepitte mentioned in the P.A. between 1291 and 1313
* Robert II mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1316.
* William Atte Slade mentioned in the Banco Rolls 1327.
* Stephen I mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1328.
* John of Churchstowe mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1332.
* William Gifford mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1333.
* Stephen of Cornwall mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1348.
* Philip (Beaumont) mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1349.
* Robert Symons mentioned in the Ep. Reg. and P.A. between 1355 and 1390.
* William Paderstow mentioned in the Ep. Reg and P.A. 1395.
* William Slade mentioned in the Ep. Reg 1401 and 1415.
* William Beaghe mentioned in the Ep. Reg. and P.A. between 1415 and 1432.
* Thomas Roger mentioned in Ep. Reg. and P.A. He was Prior Administrator c. 1422 – 1432, and blessed as Abbot in 1432.
* John Ffytchett mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1440.
* John Matthu (Matthew) mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1449.
* John King mentioned in the Statuta Cap. Gen. Ord. Cist. from 1464 to 1498.
* John Rede (I) mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1498.
* John Bleworthy mentioned in 1505 – Cal. of Early Chancery Proceedings, also in Powderham MSS.
* Alfred Gyll mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1512.
* John Rede (II) mentioned in the Ep. Reg. 1525. There is no record of death or resignation from his office.
* Gabriel Donne
Gabriel Donne or Dunne (died 1558) was an English Cistercian monk and was the last Abbot of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, before the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Origins
He was a son of Sir Angel Donne (d.1505/6), an Alderman of the City of Londo ...
(died 1558) (''alias'' Dunne), who was appointed by the Bishop of Exeter with the encouragement of Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
in 1535. He surrendered the Abbey to the king on 25 February 1539.
Benedictine abbots
Monastic life was restored at Buckfast in 1882; it became an abbey, under the direction of an abbot, in 1902.
* Very Rev Dom Thomas Duperou – Superior: 1882 – 1884 (became Abbot of Sacred Heart, USA)
* Very Rev Dom Leander Lemoine – Superior: 1884 – 1885
* Very Rev Dom Benedict Gariador – Prior: August 1885 – February 1899
* Very Rev Dom Leander Lemoine – Superior: March 1899
* Very Rev Dom Ignatius Jean – Superior: April 1899 – March 1900 (not a Monk of Buckfast)
* Very Rev Dom Leander Lemoine – Superior: March 1900 – July 1902 (was also Abbot Visitor)
* Very Rev Dom Savinian Louismet – Superior: July 1902 – November 1902
* Right Rev Dom Boniface Natter Boniface Natter (24 April 1866 – 4 August 1906), christened Anthony, was a German Benedictine Monk who became the first Abbot of the newly reformed Benedictine Abbey of Buckfast in Devon, England.
Biography
Boniface was born Anton Natter in ...
– Abbot: elected 19 November 1902. Died 4 August 1906.[Beattie 303.]
* Right Rev Dom Anscar Vonier
Ansgar Vonier, engl. Anscar Vonier, Order of Saint Benedict, O.S.B. (11 November 1875 in Biberach an der Riss, Ringschnait, Upper Swabia, Oberschwaben – 26 December 1938 in Buckfast), was an Abbot of Buckfast Abbey (1906–1938).
Life
Born Marti ...
– Elected 14 September 1906. Died 26 December 1938.
* Right Rev Dom Bruno Fehrenbacher
Bruno Fehrenbacher was a German-British Benedictine monk and Abbot of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England.
Biography
Bruno Fehrenbacher, born (as Hermann Fehrenbacher) on 27 July 1895 in Mengen, Germany, Mengen, Württemberg, was one of five childre ...
elected 10 January 1939. Resigned 1956. Titular Abbot of Tavistock till his death on 18 July 1965.[
* Right Rev Dom Placid Hooper elected 5 January 1957. Ruling Abbot till 1976. Titular Abbot of Tavistock till his death on 11 December 1995][
* Right Rev Dom Leo Smith elected 30 January 1976. Ruling Abbot till 1992. Titular Abbot of Colchester till his death on 10 July 1998][
* Right Rev Roger David Charlesworth elected 3 January 1992. Ruling Abbot till 1999. Titular Abbot of Malmesbury.][
* The Very Rev Sebastian Wolff appointed Prior Administrator in January 2000
* Right Rev Dom William Philip William Manahan elected Abbot 10 December 2003. Resigned December 2006 and was convicted and imprisoned for child sex abuse.][
* Right Rev Dom Richard Yeo appointed Abbot Administrator February 2007 until January 2009
* Right Rev Dom Roger David Charlesworth re-elected Abbot 27 January 2009. January 2018 appointed Abbot Administrator after the community failed to elect an Abbot.
* Very Rev Dom Gavin Francis Straw OSB appointed Prior Administrator March 2019.
* Right Rev Dom Roger David Charlesworth re-elected Abbot 09 April 2021.
]
Gallery
File:004 Buckfast Abbey (5930470356).jpg, Abbey Gardens
File:Sequoiadendron giganteum at Buckfast Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1159747.jpg, Trees in Abbey Garden
File:The Sensory Garden, Buckfast Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 219593.jpg, Sensory Garden
File:Lavender Garden, Buckfast Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1056754.jpg, Lavender Garden
File:Buckfast Abbey Mill - geograph.org.uk - 90062.jpg, Abbey Water Mill
File:Monastic produce shop, Buckfast Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1249276.jpg, Monastic Produce Shop
File:013 Buckfast Abbey (5930472692).jpg, Side Altar
File:016 Buckfast Abbey (5929915599).jpg, Side Chapel
File:The Altar, Buckfast Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 646927.jpg, Main Altar
See also
* Charles Norris (artist)
Dom (title), Dom Charles Norris Order of St Benedict, OSB (1909-2004) was an influential artist who created works in stained glass and dalle de verre for Roman Catholic churches in the UK. He is thought to be the most prolific artist working in da ...
* Buckfastleigh
Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...
* St Boniface's Catholic College
* Dartmoor crosses
The Dartmoor crosses are a series of stone crosses found in Dartmoor National Park in the centre of Devon, England. Many of them are old navigational aids, needed because of the remoteness of the moorland and its typically bad weather. Some mark ...
* English Benedictine Congregation
* List of monastic houses in Devon
* List of monastic houses in England
References
General sources
*
* Clutterbuck, Robin ''Buckfast Abbey – A History''
* Heald, Clair
"Binge drinking — the Benedictine connection"
''BBC News'', 26 September 2006, retrieved 8 October 2006.
* St Boniface's Catholic College Historical Archives – 1951
External links
Buckfast Abbey
Buckfast Abbey Images
{{Authority control
1018 establishments in England
Anglo-Saxon monastic houses
1539 disestablishments in England
Benedictine monasteries in England
Christian monasteries established in the 11th century
Roman Catholic churches in Devon
Cistercian monasteries in England
Monasteries in Devon
Monasteries of the English Benedictine Congregation
Religious organizations established in 1882
Tourist attractions in Devon
19th-century Christian monasteries
Charities based in England
Frederick Walters buildings
Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation
Buckfastleigh
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom