Caldey Abbey | |
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51°38′14″N4°41′04″W / 51.637303°N 4.684337°W | |
Location | Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire |
Country | Wales |
Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
Website | www |
History | |
Status | Abbey |
Founded | 1910 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade II* listed |
Administration | |
Deanery | Pembroke |
Caldey Abbey is an abbey of the Trappists [1] [2] situated on Caldey Island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, south of Tenby.
Caldey Island thrived as a centre of Cistercian activity in the Middle Ages. [3] [4] The current abbey is modern; it was built in 1910 by Anglican Benedictine monks; they converted to Catholicism and became members of the Trappist Order in 1929. [5] As of 2018, there are about 10 members. [6]
A Celtic monastery was founded on the island in the sixth century, and a Benedictine foundation existed from 1136 until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536. Pyro was the first abbot [7] and Saint Samson was one of the early abbots. [8]
William Done Bushell offered the island to Dom Aelred Carlyle in 1900. An Anglican Benedictine community, led by Carlyle, arrived six years later in 1906, and built the current abbey in the Italian style with assistance from Lord Halifax and others between 1906 and 1910. Initially a row of cottages were built for the people working on the building; hence the abbey was named as "cottage Monastery." The chapel was added in 1910. Three years later the monks were received by the Roman Catholic Church, [9] [5] except for a small Anglican remnant which left Caldey and moved into Abbey House, next to Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire. This was a house which had belonged to Caldey Abbey, but was returned in 1913 to its original, Anglican donor. [10] The Anglican Benedictine community moved on from Pershore to Nashdom Abbey in 1926. [11]
The Catholic Benedictines moved to Prinknash Abbey, Gloucestershire by 1928. [9] Monks from the Trappist Order, who now occupy the abbey, came in 1929 from Scourmont Abbey in Belgium. [12] The monastery was rebuilt in 1940, after a fire. [8]
Perfume, shortbread and chocolate production all provide income for the monks, [13] as well as the sale of prime beef. [3] The monastery opened an internet shop in 2001. [13] Chocolate is also sold under the "Abbot's Kitchen" brand. [14] The monastery used to operate a now-defunct dairy which would sell iced confectionery and cake. [3]
Profuse growth of wild lavender flowers on Caldey Island prompted the monks of the abbey to create scents with new fragrances. They branded the scents and marketed them with the brand name “Caldey Abbey Perfumes.” With rising demand for the scent, there was need to import scent oil from outside the island. [15] The scent is now manufactured throughout the year and is partly based on the island's gorse. [3]
Plans began in 1906, when architect J.C. Hawes designed a master plan to evoke the medieval abbeys of Cluny, Vézelay, or Durham. [16] John Coates Carter designed the structure in the Arts and Crafts style. [17] It was his largest project. [17] The roofs are of white roughcast with red tiling, while the large basement arches are of brick. The abbey church has a south tower, with five side-windows, and has a "tapering" tower with primitive crenellations. Originally, the fittings included silver and ebony altar decorations and other luxurious items, but many were destroyed in the 1940 fire. The refectory of the Abbey was made from fine timber. Inspired by an ancient pattern, it was nonetheless modern in design. [5] [18] Two large water tanks underground and a narrow water shaft eliminate the threat of water scarcity in dry seasons. [8]
It is a Grade II* listed building, [19] [20] as is the Abbey Shop, as well as a number of other buildings on the island. [21]
In August 2016, three women launched legal action against the abbey seeking compensation for sexual abuse they had suffered at the hands of one of the abbey's monks between 1972 and 1987, when they were children. They alleged that Father Thaddeus Kotik, who lived in the abbey from 1947 until his death in 1992, abused at least six girls whose families holidayed on the island. The abbey reached a financial settlement with six claimants [22] and apologised for failing to report the abuse [23] when they became aware of it in 1990. Dyfed–Powys Police were made aware in 2014 and 2016. [24] Six victims received financial compensation under an out-of-court settlement reached in March 2017. [25]
In November 2017, as a result of media coverage of the allegations, five more women came forward to accuse Kotik of abusing them. [26] At the same time it emerged that Paul Ashton, a fugitive child sex offender, had fled to the abbey in 2004 and remained there until 2011 using a pseudonym. He was arrested after a visitor recognised him from Crimestoppers' "Most Wanted" list. During his time at the abbey Ashton, who had absconded from West Sussex, operated the island's satellite internet and telephone systems, managed online accommodation bookings and accounts, and worked in the mail room. Ashton pleaded guilty to possessing more than 5,000 indecent images of children, including on computer equipment at the abbey. [26]
In 2021 a man came forward saying that he had also been a victim and demanding a public enquiry into the events and subsequent cover-up. [27] In 2024 the abbey announced an independent review, to be headed by Jan Pickles, a former assistant police and crime commissioner at South Wales Police. [25]
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
The Cistercians, officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard himself, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or cowl worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines.
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, later Cistercian, 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 demolished. The former abbey site was used as a quarry, and later became home to a Gothic mansion house.
Pershore Abbey, at Pershore in Worcestershire, was an Anglo-Saxon abbey and is now an Anglican parish church, the Church of the Holy Cross.
Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain— produce beer, but the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the International Trappist Association (ITA) to just ten breweries which meet their strict criteria. As of 2021, Achel is no longer recognized as a Trappist brewery because it does not have any monks.
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from the Cistercians. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and have communities of both monks and nuns that are known as Trappists and Trappistines, respectively. They are named after La Trappe Abbey, the monastery from which the movement and religious order originated. The movement first began with the reforms that Abbot Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé introduced in 1664, later leading to the creation of Trappist congregations, and eventually the formal constitution as a separate religious order in 1892.
Caldey Island is a small island near Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, less than 1 mile (1.6 km) off the coast. With a recorded history going back over 1,500 years, it is one of the holy islands of Britain. A number of traditions inherited from Celtic times are observed by the Cistercian monks of Caldey Abbey, the owners of the island.
The Tironensian Order or the Order of Tiron was a medieval monastic order named after the location of the mother abbey in the woods of Thiron-Gardais in Perche, some 35 miles west of Chartres in France). They were popularly called "Grey Monks" because of their grey robes, which their spiritual cousins, the monks of Savigny, also wore.
Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged eleven to eighteen. Both the abbey and the school are at Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Westfield and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, South West England. In 2020, the monastic community announced that it would move away from the present monastery and seek a new place to live. In October 2021, the monastic community further announced that as part of their transition they would move in Spring of 2022 to the temporary accommodation of "Southgate House, in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey, Devon, where we will live as the Community of St Gregory the Great". As of 2020, the monastic community of Downside Abbey was home to fifteen monks.
Mount St Bernard Abbey is a Trappist monastery near Coalville, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1835 in the parish of Whitwick and now in that of Charley. The abbey was the first permanent monastery to be founded in England since the Reformation and is the sole Trappist house in England. The monks brew the only Trappist beer in Britain.
Prinknash Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery in the Vale of Gloucester in the Diocese of Clifton, near the village of Cranham. It belongs to the English Province of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation, which is itself part of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation. It is noted for its manufacturing of incense.
The Cistercian Way is a waymarked, long-distance trail which circumnavigates Wales, linking the Cistercian historic sites of Wales. It is a circular walk and can be started from any point along its route. The total length is approximately 650 miles (1,050 km).
Scourmont Abbey is a Trappist monastery on the Scourmont plateau, in the village of Forges which is part of Chimay in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey is famous for its spiritual life and for running the Chimay Brewery, one of the few producers of Trappist beer.
The Monastery of Our Lady of Jordan was a Strict Observance Cistercian (Trappist) monastery in the community of Jordan in Linn County, Oregon, United States, founded in 1904 and lasting for about six years.
Aelred Carlyle OSB founded, around 1895, the first regularised Anglican Benedictine community of monks.
Anglican Cistercians are members of the Anglican Communion who live a common life together according to the Cistercian tradition. This tradition is usually dated to 1098 in origin. The term Cistercian is derived from Cistercium, the Latin name for the village of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was in this village that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict. Monks following this rule are known as Benedictine, and were at that time the dominant force in Christian monasticism. The monks of Cîteaux Abbey effectively founded a new order, but one that remains closely associated with the Benedictine Order. As a mark of their distinctive charism and rule, Cistercian monks have long worn white habits to distinguish themselves from Benedictine monks who wear black habits. Within Anglicanism there has historically been less interest in the Cistercian Order than certain other monastic Rules, although Cistercian life has been represented continuously in the Church of England since at least 1966.
Peter Frederick (Charles) Anson was an English non-fiction writer on religious matters and architectural and maritime subjects. He spent time as an Anglican Benedictine monk before converting to Roman Catholicism.
Caldey Priory is a Grade I-listed priory on Caldey Island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, some 300 metres (330 yd) south of the modern Caldey Abbey. The priory gardens are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Nashdom, also known as Nashdom Abbey, is a former country house and former Anglican Benedictine abbey in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed in Neo-Georgian style by architect Edwin Lutyens, it is a Grade II* listed building. It was converted into apartments in 1997. The gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Llanthony Abbey is a former Anglican monastic institution founded in 1869 by Joseph Leycester Lyne, in the Welsh village of Capel-y-ffin, a few miles from the medieval Llanthony Priory. It survived until 1908, after which it was the home of artist Eric Gill. It is now holiday accommodation.