Teignmouth Abbey or St. Scholastica's Abbey is a former abbey in

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The Benedictine community at Teignmouth dated back to the establishment of the first English Benedictine convent on the continent, founded in Brussels in 1598 by Lady Mary Percy. From Brussels, Dame Lucy Knatchbull, Magdalene Digby, sister of

Everard Digby Sir Everard Digby (c. 1578 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant household, and married a Protestant, Digby and his ...

, and several other nuns established a daughter house in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

in 1624. In 1662, Ghent founded, in turn, a daughter house in Dunkirk. In 1784, the sister community at Pontoise was dissolved with the nuns joining those at Dunkirk.Nolan, Patrick. "English Convents in the Low Countries", ''The Irish Dames of Ypres'', Benziger, 1908, p. 26 et seq.
/ref> According to

Bede Camm Dom Bede Camm, O.S.B., (26 December 1864 – 8 September 1942) was an English Benedictine monk and martyrologist. He is best known for his many works on the English Catholic martyrs, which helped to keep their memories alive in the newly reemer ...

, the Teignmouth community had a reliquary cross supposedly from

Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 40 ...

. It is traditionally believed that it was brought to them by Lady Abbess Messenger of Pontoise, who was related to the owners of Fountains. In 1793, the convent at Dunkirk was sacked by revolutionaries and the religious imprisoned at

Gravelines Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. As ...

for eighteen months. Eleven of them died before permission was granted for the removal of the community to England. They arrived in London in May 1795 and took up residence in an old convent in Hammersmith. It was built in 1863 by

George Goldie Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie (20 May 1846 – 20 August 1925) was a Manx administrator who played a major role in the founding of Nigeria. In many ways, his role was similar to that of Cecil Rhodes elsewhere in Africa but he did ...

for a community of

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 ...

nuns, who transferred from

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London, where they had been since fleeing

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. When the Benedictine community at Haslemere (of the former

East Bergholt Abbey East Bergholt Abbey was an abbey in Suffolk, England. It was built on land purchased in 1857 on the site of Old Hall manor. History Old Hall Old Hall was the principal manor of East Bergholt. It was acquired in 1701 by Joseph Chaplain, wine coop ...

) was dispersed in 1975, some of the nuns went to Teignmouth. The building is grade II listed and has been converted to private apartments. The Abbey Lodge is now a private house."Abbey Lodge", Geograph
/ref>

References

External links

Monasteries in Devon Teignmouth {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub