Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire
| Belmont Abbey | |
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| Abbey Church of St Michael and All Angels, Hereford | |
View from the Abbey gardens
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 Belmont Abbey
Location in Herefordshire
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| Coordinates: 52°02′21″N 2°45′23″W / 52.0393°N 2.7564°W | |
| OS grid reference | SO4821038149 |
| Location | Hereford, Herefordshire |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | BelmontAbbey.org.uk |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Pro-Cathedral of Newport and Menevia |
| Founded | 1859 |
| Founder(s) | Francis Wegg-Prosser |
| Dedication | St Michael |
| Consecrated | 4 September 1860 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Benedictine monastery |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 22 October 1986 |
| Architect(s) | Edward Welby Pugin |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1857 |
| Completed | 1875 |
| Construction cost | £45,000 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | Hereford |
| Archdiocese | Cardiff |
| Province | Cardiff |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Most Rev. George Stack |
| Abbot | Rt. Rev. Paul Stonham OSB |
| Priest(s) | Very Rev. Nicholas Wetz OSB |
Belmont Abbey, in Herefordshire, England is a Catholic Benedictine monastery that forms part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It stands on a small hill overlooking the city of Hereford to the east, with views across to the Black Mountains, Wales to the west. The 19th century Abbey also serves as a parish church.
Francis Wegg-Prosser, of nearby Belmont House, who had been received into the Catholic Church, can be called its founder. He decided to build a church on his Hereford estate in 1854. He later invited the Benedictines to reside there so that there would be a permanent Catholic presence in the area. In 1859, the Benedictines arrived and it became a priory. It was the Common Novitiate and House of Studies for the English Benedictine Congregation. It was also a pro-cathedral for the Diocese of Newport and Menevia. The Benedictine Thomas Joseph Brown, who was its first bishop, is buried in the church. Belmont was unique in England for having a monastic cathedral chapter. This was the case in mediaeval England where monks were the canons of the cathedral, such as in Canterbury, Winchester and Durham.
A move to transfer the training of monks to the individual monasteries of the English Benedictine Congregation led to Belmont being allowed to take its own novices in 1901, and become an independent house in 1917. In 1920 Belmont was raised to the rank of an Abbey by the papal bull Praeclara Gesta. In 1895, the Diocese of Newport and Menevia split and the abbey remained as the pro-cathedral for the Diocese of Newport. On 7 February 1916, the Diocese of Newport became the Archdiocese of Cardiff and it was decided to make St. David's Church in Cardiff the cathedral. On 12 March 1920, St. David's church officially became the cathedral for the archdiocese and the abbey ceased to be a pro-cathedral.
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