St Augustine's Abbey or Ramsgate Abbey is a former

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

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' ...

. It was built in 1860 by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

and is a Grade II listed building. It was the first Benedictine monastery to be built in England since the Reformation. In 2010, the monks moved to

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 ...

in Chilworth, Surrey. The site is now owned by the Vincentian Congregation from Kerala, India. The church of St Augustine, across the road from the abbey site, belongs to the Archdiocese of Southwark and is a shrine of St Augustine of Canterbury.

History

had built his home, The Grange, in Ramsgate, and St Augustine's Church next door. He donated the church to the Catholic Diocese of Southwark before his death in 1852, and The Grange remained in private hands. In 1856, the Bishop of Southwark, Thomas Grant, invited the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation of the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

to form a monastic community in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and take over the running of the church. The abbey was built across the road from the church and this was designed by

Edward Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton. His father was an architect in the Gothic Revival style, and after his early death in 1 ...

and Peter Paul Pugin. The monastery became independent in 1876, a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in 1881 and was raised to the status of an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

in 1896. In 1865, a school was established by the monks which lasted until 1995.Chilworth Benedictines
retrieved 25 February 2014 In 1936, in nearby

Minster-in-Thanet Minster, also known as Minster-in-Thanet, is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is the site of Minster in Thanet Priory. The village is west of Ramsgate (which is the post town) and to the north east of Ca ...

, a group of Benedictine nuns arrived and set up a priory on the remains of a 7th-century abbey and named it St Mildred's Abbey.

Abbots Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
of St Augustine's

James Alcock
1872 - 1893 (individual title) # Thomas Bergh: 1893 - 1909 (individual title) # Erkenwald Egan: 1909 - 1934 # Frederick Lewis Taylor: 1934 - resigns 1st Aug 1954. # Anselm Thatcher: 1954 – 8th March 1957 # David Parry: 1957 – 1972
Gilbert Jones
1972 - 1988) # Bernard Waldron: 1988 - 1996 # Laurence O'Keeffe: 1996 - 2008 # Paulinus Greenwood: 2008 up to this day, continued in St Augustine's in Chilworth.

Departure of the Monks

On 15 October 2009, it was decided by the monks to relocate to a smaller property which would be easier to maintain. On 23 December 2010, they agreed to move to a former Franciscan friary in Chilworth, Surrey. When they moved in 2011, they named the friary

maintaining continuity between the abbey in Ramsgate and their new home. St Augustine's Church was returned to the care of the Archdiocese of Southwark. On 1 March 2012, the

Archbishop of Southwark The Archbishop of Southwark (''Br'' �sʌðɨk is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark. As such, he is the Metropolitan of the Province of Southwark. The archdiocese has an area of and covers the London Boroughs south o ...

, Peter Smith established the church as a Shrine to St Augustine of Canterbury. On 20 May 2012, the church was inaugurated as a shrine at Solemn Vespers and a relic of

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, donated by the

Oxford Oratory The Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga (or Oxford Oratory for short) is the Catholic Church, Catholic parish church for the centre of Oxford, England. It is located at 25 Woodstock Road (Oxford), Woodstock Road, next to Somerville Col ...

, was placed in the church. The abbey was sold by the monks to the Vincentian Congregation in 2014. It is now Divine Retreat Centre UK, and hosts charismatic Catholic retreats.Divine UK
retrieved 26 February 2014

Gallery

File:St Augustine's Abbey by N Chadwick Geograph 3117091.jpg, View of the abbey

Published works

References

External links

Divine UK site

Shrine of St Augustine site

Ramsgate and Minster Parish site

Chilworth Abbey site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate Monasteries in Kent Benedictine monasteries in England Grade II listed buildings in Kent 1852 establishments in England Roman Catholic churches in Kent Gothic Revival church buildings in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1852 Gothic Revival architecture in Kent Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom