Abbey of Buckfast
| Buckfast Abbey | |
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| Abbey Church of St Mary | |
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 Buckfast Abbey
Location within Dartmoor
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| Coordinates: 50°29′34″N 3°46′32″W / 50.49278°N 3.77556°W | |
| OS grid reference | SX7414167369 |
| Location | Buckfastleigh, Devon |
| Country | UK |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www.buckfast.org.uk |
| History | |
| Founded | 28 October 1882 |
| Dedication | St Mary |
| Consecrated | 25 August 1932 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Benedictine Monastery |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 10 January 1951 |
| Architect(s) | Frederick Walters |
| Completed | 1937 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Buckfast |
| Deanery | Torbay |
| Diocese | Plymouth |
| Province | Southwark |
| Clergy | |
| Abbot | Dom David Charlesworth OSB |
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 finally demolished. The former abbey site was used as a quarry, and later became home to a Gothic mansion house.
In 1882 the site was purchased by a group of French Benedictine monks, who refounded a monastery on the site, dedicated to Saint Mary. New monastic buildings and a temporary church were constructed incorporating the existing Gothic house. Work on a new abbey church, which was constructed mostly on the footprint of the former Cistercian abbey, started in 1907. The church was consecrated in 1932 but not completed until 1938.
Buckfast was formally reinstated as an Abbey in 1902, and the first abbot of the new institution, Boniface Natter, was blessed in 1903. The abbey continues to operate as a Benedictine foundation today, and is a registered charity under English law.
The first abbey at Buckfast was founded as a Benedictine monastery in 1018. The abbey was believed to be founded by either Aethelweard (Aylward), Earldorman of Devon, or King Cnut. This first monastery was "small and unprosperous", and it is unknown where exactly it was located, and its existence was "precarious" especially after the Norman Conquest.
In 1134 or 1136, the abbey was established in its current position; King Stephen having granted Buckfast to the French Abbot of Savigny. This second abbey was home to Savignac monks. In 1147 the Savignac congregation merged with the Cistercian, and the abbey thereby became a Cistercian monastery. Following the conversion to the Cistercian Congregation, the abbey was rebuilt in stone. Limited excavation work undertaken in 1882 revealed that the monastery was built to the standard plan for Cistercian monasteries.
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Wikipedia