Abbotskerswell Priory, on the outskirts of the village of Abbotskerswell, near Newton Abbot, Devon, England, was the home of a community of Augustinian nuns from 1861 until 1983. It has now been converted into apartments for retired people.
Abbotskerswell Priory, on the outskirts of the village of Abbotskerswell, near Newton Abbot, Devon, England, was the home of a community of Augustinian nuns from 1861 until 1983. It has now been converted into apartments for retired people.
Abbotsleigh House [1] [2] [3] was built on high ground on the outskirts of Abbotskerswell during 1847-48. The land had formerly belonged to the Abbot of Sherborne. The house, with about 36 acres (150,000 m2) of land, was purchased by the Catholic Church in February 1860, and became the hub around which the new Priory of St. Augustine was built. During those early days it was sometimes known as Abbots Leigh Priory.
Joseph Hansom was appointed to prepare plans for buildings to accommodate 50 nuns. Hansom had recently completed work on Plymouth Cathedral, but is probably better known as the designer of Hansom Cabs. [4] His ground plan for the whole development is still available for inspection at the Priory and, although later details were completed by Benjamin Bucknall, the general layout is as he originally planned it. The convent wing was completed by the autumn of 1861 and the new Church of the Holy Ghost was completed in autumn 1863. The east, or guest, wing and the north services wing were added during the next 20 years.
In 1794 a group of English nuns living in St. Monica's convent in Louvain, Belgium, was driven back to England by the French Revolution. They lived in Amesbury, Wiltshire, for five years but in 1800 they moved on to Spetisbury in Dorset. Here they created a boarding school for about 40 young ladies at what became known as St. Monica's Priory. In 1861 they found their final home in Abbotskerswell at the instigation of the Bishop of Plymouth, William Vaughan. Their experiences during the revolution may explain why Hansom was instructed to build two elaborate escape tunnels at the priory.
At Abbotskerswell Priory the nuns lived as an enclosed order and had very little communication with the village until about 1952. As is traditional in monasteries of this kind, local people were admitted to worship in a small side chapel which was so arranged that they could follow services being conducted in the church, but could not see the nuns. Village residents recall that during the 1960s the nuns were given more freedom to associate and to sell produce such as honey and eggs from their small farm.
The particular work of the community was reparation for the sins of mankind. They prayed for the conversion of sinners and the spread of the faith, especially in England. The postulants and novices were trained in singing and reciting the Divine Office. Besides taking part in the domestic work of the community they were trained in various handicrafts according to their gifts and talents. Their time was largely devoted to religious exercises, daily Mass and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and the Divine Office in Choir, the sisters each taking their appointed watch, day and night. [5] [6]
Among the relics which were preserved at the Priory was the hair shirt of Sir Thomas More, presented for safe keeping by Margaret Clements (1508–1570), his adopted daughter. [7] It is now in the custody of Buckfast Abbey, near Buckfastleigh in Devon. [8] [9]
By the 1960s the buildings had started to fall into disrepair and the number of nuns slowly declined, the last three departing in March 1983. In 1985 a local company, Clennon Developments, purchased the property to develop as a retirement complex and the project was launched in April 1987. [2] A second block, named Priory Court, was completed by the middle of 1991 and the small farmhouse and various outbuildings adjacent to Priory Road were converted into seven cottages by 1997, becoming known as Priory Yard.
In 2011 the priory was purchased by Retirement Villages Ltd who continue to run it as a retirement complex.
Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Savignac abbey constructed on the site of the current abbey in 1134. The monastery was surrendered for dissolution 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.
Joseph Aloysius Hansom was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, The Builder, in 1843.
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior, is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370. They follow the Rule of Saint Augustine. There are today several different branches of Bridgettines.
Syon Abbey, also called simply Syon, was a dual monastery of men and women of the Bridgettine Order, although it only ever had abbesses during its existence. It was founded in 1415 and stood, until its demolition in the 16th century, on the left (northern) bank of the River Thames within the parish of Isleworth, in the county of Middlesex, on or near the site of the present Georgian mansion of Syon House. It was named after the Biblical Holy “City of David which is Zion”, built on the eponymous Mount Zion.
Bovey Tracey is a small town and civil parish in Devon, England, on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the "slogan" used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". It is often known locally as "Bovey". It is about 10 miles south-west of Exeter and lies on the A382 road, about halfway between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead. The village is at the centre of the electoral ward of Bovey. At the 2011 census the population of this ward was 7,721.
Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is 214 miles 5 chains from London, measured from the zero point at London Paddington to the junction for the branch to Paignton. The station today is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide train services along with CrossCountry.
Abbotskerswell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. The village is in the north part of the parish and is located two miles (3 km) south of the town of Newton Abbot, 7 miles (11 km) from the seaside resort of Torquay and 32 miles (51 km) from the city of Plymouth. The A381 road between Newton Abbot and Totnes runs down the western side of the parish and the main railway line between these two towns forms part of its eastern boundary.
Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and has a population of 1,332, reducing to 1,217 at the 2011 census.
Kingskerswell is a village and civil parish within Teignbridge local government district in the south of Devon, England. The village grew up where an ancient track took the narrowest point across a marshy valley and it is of ancient foundation, being mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a church dating back to the 14th century and the ruins of a manor house of similar date. The coming of the railway in the 1840s had a large effect on the village, starting its conversion into a commuter town. The village is a major part of the electoral ward called Kerswell-with-Combe. This ward had a population of 5,679 at the 2011 census.
Ipplepen is a village and civil parish located within the Teignbridge district of the county of Devon in south-west England. A priory was located there. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census is 2,469.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface in Plymouth, England, is the seat of the Bishop of Plymouth and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth, which covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. The Diocese of Plymouth was created in 1850 after the issuing of the papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae. In 1858 the new condign cathedral was opened and put under the patronage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Boniface, the latter thought to have been born in Crediton in the area of the diocese.
William Joseph Vaughan was a British clergyman who held high office in the Roman Catholic Church as the second bishop of Plymouth.
Carisbrooke Priory was an alien priory, a dependency of Lyre Abbey in Normandy. The priory was situated on rising ground on the outskirts of Carisbrooke close to Newport on the Isle of Wight.
Benjamin Bucknall was an English architect of the Gothic Revival in South West England and South Wales, and then of neo-Moorish architecture in Algeria. His most noted works include the uncompleted Woodchester Mansion in Gloucestershire, England and his restoration of the Villa Montfeld in El Biar, Algiers.
Alvingham Priory was a Gilbertine priory in St. Mary, Alvingham, Lincolnshire, England. The Priory, established between 1148 and 1154, was a "double house", where religious of both sexes lived in two separate monasteries. They did not commonly communicate with one another, and there was an internal wall dividing their priory church. The superior of every Gilbertine house was the prioress, the prior being really an official of her house.
Sempringham Priory was a priory in Lincolnshire, England, located in the medieval hamlet of Sempringham, to the northwest of Pointon. Today, all that remains of the priory is a marking on the ground where the walls stood and a square, which are identifiable only in aerial photos of the vicinity. However, the parish church of St Andrew's, built around 1100 AD, is witness to the priory standing alone in a field away from the main road.
Atherstone Priory was a priory in Warwickshire, England.
West Ogwell is a village and former civil parish and manor in Devon, England, located 2 miles south-west of the town of Newton Abbot and 1 mile west of the village of East Ogwell. It is now in the civil parish of Ogwell, administered by Teignbridge District Council. The church and manor house "lie hidden away on their own".
St Gregory the Great Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in 1809 and rebuilt from 1854 to 1857. It is situated on the corner of St James' Square and Clarence Street. It was designed by Charles Hansom and is a Grade II* listed building.
Our Lady Help of Christians and St Denis Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in St Marychurch, Torquay, Devon, England. It was built in 1869 and designed by Joseph Hansom in the Gothic Revival style. It is located between Priory Road and St Margaret's Road in St Marychurch. It is a Grade II* listed building.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)