St Augustine's Abbey or Chilworth Abbey, formerly Chilworth Friary, is a Roman Catholic

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey in

Chilworth, Surrey Chilworth is a village in the Guildford borough of Surrey, England. It is located in the Tillingbourne valley, southeast of Guildford. Geography The village is in the Surrey Hills AONB and most of its land is outside the settlement boundary ...

. The building, which is Grade II listed, was designed by

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (5 February 1849–3 December 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, Lond ...

and was built in 1892. It was formerly a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friary and a

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

for the order.Ramsgate Benedictines move to Chilworth
from ''Independent Catholic News'' retrieved 25 February 2014 The abbey church is open to the public 365 days a year.

Friary

Construction

Construction of the friary started in 1890 and it was designed by the architect Frederick Walters, who also designed the nearby St. John's Seminary in

Wonersh Wonersh is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Waverley, Surrey, Waverley district of Surrey, England and Surrey Hills AONB, Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It contains three Conservation Areas and spans ...

. It was financed by a £7,000 bequest from Mary Anne Alliott who was the aunt of the founder of the friary, Fr Arthur Wells. On 18 June 1892 the friary and church was dedicated and consecrated by the Bishop of Southwark. The friary was built to serve as a novitiate for the Franciscans in Britain.Chilworth News
from

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

retrieved 25 February 2014

Developments

The

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

tree in the centre of the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

was planted from a cutting taken from the Ancient Yew at

Muckross Abbey Muckross Abbey (Irish language, Irish: ''Mainistir Locha Léin'' and ''Mainistir Mhucrois'') is one of the major ecclesiastical sites found in the Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was founded in 1448 as ...

in Killarney, Ireland. In 1915, an organ, built by

Lewis & Co Lewis and Company was a firm of organ builders founded by Thomas Christopher Lewis (1833–1915), one of the leading organ builders of late 19th-century Britain. Born in London in 1833, the son of Thomas Archdeacon Lewis (1780–1862), a secret ...

was installed. It was paid for by John Courage of Derryswood, Wonersh (owner of both Lewis & Co and

Courage Brewery Courage was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in London, England, in 1787. History Origin and family ownership The Courage Brewery was started by John Courage (1757 – October 1793). He was a Scottish shipping agent believed to b ...

) and was done with permission from the architect. The same year,

Albert Ketèlbey Albert William Ketèlbey (; born Ketelbey; 9 August 1875 – 26 November 1959) was an English composer, conductor and pianist, best known for his short pieces of light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham and moved to Lon ...

wrote his light classical music piece, ''

In a Monastery Garden ''In a Monastery Garden'' is a piece of light classical music by Albert Ketèlbey, who composed it in 1915 after a visit to a real monastic garden, now the Benedictine monastery of St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth in Surrey. It was especially s ...

'', having visited the friary.

Parish

In 1945, the parish of Holy Ghost Church was entrusted to the friary. It expanded and the friary also served a Mass centre in

Gomshall Gomshall is a village in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England.OS Explorer map 145:Guildford and Farnham. Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton. It is on the A25, roughly halfway between Guildford and Dorking, and ...

, Our Lady of the Angels.

Abbey

In 2011, it was announced that the friars would leave Chilworth. The friars were distributed amongst the other Franciscan houses in Britain and the parish church of the Holy Ghost was closed. That year,

St Augustine's Abbey St Augustine's Abbey (founded as the Monastery of Ss Peter and Paul and changed after its founder St Augustine of Canterbury's death) was a Benedictine monastery in Canterbury, Kent, England. The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a mon ...

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

also closed and the Benedictine monks from the Order of St Benedict, of the

Subiaco Cassinese Congregation The Subiaco Cassinese Congregation is an international union of Benedictine houses (abbeys and priories) within the Benedictine Confederation. It developed from the Subiaco Congregation, which was formed in 1867 through the initiative of Dom Pietro ...

, looked for a smaller property to move into. When Chilworth Friary became available, they agreed to move to the area and it became St Augustine's Abbey. The monastic community follows the Rule of St Benedict under the guidance of an Abbot, centred on the Divine Office and Mass prayed daily in the Abbey Church, often in a mix of Latin and English including Gregorian Chant. The community currently numbers eight monks and one postulant. There are a number of lay

oblate In Christianity (specifically the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person associated with a Benedictine monastery or convent who is specifically dedicated to God and service. Oblates are i ...

s. The monks run a guest house and offer a programme of retreats, monastic vocation visits, study days, meditation sessions and healing days. They also make and sell skin creams and furniture polish made from bees wax. St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth compiles 'The Book of Saints, A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary' by Dom Basil Watkins OSB. St Augustine's Abbey is not a parish church but the abbey church is open to the public to attend services every day of the year, along with other regular events in the church calendar.

Gallery

Exterior

St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, view.jpg, South side of the abbey File:St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, Church.jpg, East side File:Church of the Holy Ghost (Greyfriars Church), Sample Oak Lane, Blackheath Village (March 2014) (1).JPG, Abbey Church File:Greyfriars Monastery - geograph.org.uk - 624481.jpg, Southeast view of the abbey

Interior

File:Inside St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth.jpg, Interior File:St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, interior (1).jpg, Organ File:St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, interior (2).jpg,

Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

File:Christ figure on the Abbey Church's Rood Screen at St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, UK.png, Christ figure in Abbey Church

References

External links

St Augustine's Abbey site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth Monasteries in Surrey Benedictine monasteries in England 1892 establishments in England Franciscan monasteries in England Grade II listed churches in Surrey Roman Catholic churches in Surrey Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1892 Frederick Walters buildings 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom