The Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and the Senior House of the English Benedictine Congregation. The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman Benedictine refers to the Spirituality and Consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. The English Benedictine Congregation (abbr EBC comprises autonomous Roman Catholic Benedictine communities of Monks and Nuns and is technically One of its main apostolates is a school for children aged nine to eighteen. Downside School is a Roman Catholic Public School in Stratton-on-the-Fosse near Bath, situated next to Downside Abbey. Its graduates are known as Old Gregorians.
Both monastery and school are located at Stratton-on-the-Fosse, southwest of the English city of Bath. Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and Civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills north east of Shepton Mallet, and from Frome, in England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol.
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History
The community was founded at Douai, Flanders, then in the Spanish Netherlands, in 1605, under the patronage of St. Gregory the Great (who had sent St Augustine to England in 597). Douai ( Dutch: Dowaai) is a town and commune in the north of France in the département of Nord Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The Southern Netherlands (Zuidelijke Nederlanden Países Bajos del Sur Pays-Bas du sud were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain ( Spanish Events By Topic Education The King's School is founded in Canterbury. The founder was Saint John Roberts, who became the first prior and established the new community with other English monks who had entered various monasteries in the Spanish Benedictine Congregation, notably that at Valladolid. Saint John Roberts (1575-6 - 10 December, 1610) was a Benedictine Monk and Priest, and was the first Prior of St Prior is a Title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier first' with several notable uses ||-||} is an industrial city and it is a Municipality in north-central Spain, upon the Pisuerga River and within the Ribera del Duero wine-making region In 1611 Dom Philip de Caverel, abbot of St. Vaast's Abbey at Arras, built and endowed a monastery for the community. St Vaast's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery situated at Arras, département of Pas-de-Calais, France. Arras (Atrecht is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.
The Priory of St. Gregory's, Douai, was therefore the first English Benedictine house to renew conventual life after the Reformation. The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope For nearly 200 years the monastery trained monks for the English mission and six of these men were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Pope Pius XI ( Latin: Pius PP XI; Italian: Pio XI; May 31 1857 &ndash February 10 1939) born Two of them, SS John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970. The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales are a group of Christian martyrs who were canonized on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI to represent the Pope Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Expelled from France during the French Revolution, after a period of imprisonment, in March 1795 the community were permitted to proceed to England. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an They settled for some 20 years as guests of Sir Edward Smythe at Acton Burnell, Shropshire, before finally settling at Mount Pleasant, Downside, in Somerset, in 1814. There has been one creation of Baronet with the surname Smythe (as distinct from Smyth and Smith) Shropshire (ˈʃrɒpʃɪə/ /-ʃə alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated in print only Shrops, is a county in the
The Monastery was completed in 1876 and the Abbey Church in 1925, being raised to the rank of a minor basilica in 1935 by Pius XI. Pope Pius XI ( Latin: Pius PP XI; Italian: Pio XI; May 31 1857 &ndash February 10 1939) born
The Abbey Church
The building of Downside Abbey Church was begun in the 19th century, and ended with completion of the nave after World War I. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Abbey Church houses the relics of St Oliver Plunkett, an Irish martyr, who entrusted his body to the care of a Benedictine monk of the English Benedictine Congregation. Saint Oliver Plunkett ( 1 November 1629 &ndash 1 July 1681) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh The church is one of only two in the United Kingdom to be designated a minor basilica by the Roman Catholic Church, the other being St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Chad is the seat of the Roman Catholic Province of Birmingham, England, a province of the Catholic Church in Great This article is about the history and organisation of the cathedral Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um
The church is built in the Gothic Revival style, and is designed to rival in size the medieval cathedrals of England that were lost to the Catholic church through the Reformation. The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time A magnificent ensemble of work is represented by a galaxy of architectural talent of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The earliest part is the richly decorated transepts by Archibald Matthias Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom, dating from 1882. The choir is the masterpiece of Thomas Garner (who is buried there), dedicated in 1905. Thomas Garner (1839–1906 was one of the leading English Gothic revival church Architects of the Victorian era. The soaring nave by Giles Gilbert Scott (c. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA ( November 9 1880 – February 8 1960) was an English Architect 1923-25) remains unfinished, with its western wall in crude Lias stone standing bare and undecorated. The Lady Chapel is acknowledged as one of the most complete and successful schemes of Sir Ninian Comper, with a reredos and altar furnishings incorporating medieval fragments and a reliquary containing the skull of St Thomas de Cantilupe. A Lady chapel is a traditional English term for a Chapel inside a Cathedral or large church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sir John Ninian Comper, ( June 10, 1864 – December 22, 1960) was a Scottish Architect. There are two common meanings of the word reredos. In general architecture the word can mean the back of an open hearth of a fireplace or a screen placed behind a table Thomas de Cantilupe (c 1218 &ndash 25 August 1282) was an English Saint and Prelate. The tower, completed in 1938, at 166 feet (55m), is the second highest in Somerset. The choir stalls are modelled on the famous stalls in Chester Cathedral. Chester Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire,
Downside Abbey has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. English Heritage is a Non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government ( Department for Culture Media and Sport) with a broad remit of A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural historical or cultural significance [1] Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the Abbey as "the most splendid demonstration of the renaissance of Roman Catholicism in England. Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, ( January 30, 1902 &ndash August 18, 1983) was a German-born British scholar of If ever there was an excuse for building in period forms in the twentieth century, it is here".
The Organs
The G. P. England organ
The first pipe organ at Downside was built in 1805 by George Pike England[2] of Tottenham Court Road[3] for the The Music Room in Brighton Pavilion: when removed in 1882 to the South Transept gallery of the new church, it consisted of 16 stops over 2 manuals and pedals. The pipe organ is a Musical instrument that produces sound when pressurized air (wind is driven through a series of pipes, controlled by a keyboard Tottenham Court Road is a road in Central London, England, running from St Giles' Circus (the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. [4] Removed to the parish church of Saint Vigor in nearby Stratton-on-the-Fosse in 1907, it survives today somewhere in America, having been sold following water damage sustained in Stratton during 1969. A parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a Parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches Saint Vigor (Saint Vigor Vigeur (d 537 AD was a French bishop and Christian missionary Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and Civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills north east of Shepton Mallet, and from Frome, in Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year [5]
The Garrard organ
The England organ was to be replaced in 1905[6] with a new instrument by Garrard of Lechlade,[7] consisting of three manuals and 55 speaking stops: it was supplied two years later by the renamed firm of Garrard, Spooner & Amphlett, but was never completed satisfactorily. Lechlade is a Town in Gloucestershire, England. It is located at the southern edge of the Cotswolds. [8]
The Compton organ
The current organ in the Abbey Church was built by John Compton in 1931 to replace the Garrard organ: it has 142 speaking stops over four manuals and pedals. [8] This extraordinarily large number of stops is derived from a mere 38 ranks of pipes by means of extension and transmission. An organ stop (or just stop) is a component of a Pipe organ which admits pressurized air (known as wind) to a set of Organ pipes Its name The whole instrument is enclosed within three stone and concrete chambers with swell shutters facing upwards. [8] Unusually, the casework (designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and carved by Ferdinand Stuflesser of Ortesei in the Austrian Tyrol)[8] has no pipefronts: it is of solid oak with fretwork, but has no roof: consequently, the whole organ speaks up into the transept vaults and projects itself down the nave remarkably well. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA ( November 9 1880 – February 8 1960) was an English Architect Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of Trees and Shrubs in the Genus Quercus (from Latin for stringed instrument manufacturing see Luthier. Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background A Vault (French voute Italian volta German Gewölbe Polish sklepienie, Spanish The console, a typical Compton luminous stop button affair which faces West from near the crossing down the North side of the Nave, is made from timber from H. The Pipe organ is played from an area called the console, which holds the manuals pedals and stop controls A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a Cruciform (cross-shaped church M. S. Bellerophon, which transported Napolean after the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. In the Battle of Waterloo (Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo Belgium [8]
The Community's Martyrs
Blessed George Gervase
George Gervase was born at Bosham, Sussex in 1569, and seems to have been received into the Catholic Church when he was aged about thirty. Blessed George Gervase (1571&ndash11 April 1608 was an English Benedictine Priest who worked as a missionary in England during the period Bosham (pronounced Bozzum is a small coastal village and Civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, situated three miles Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. He studied for the priesthood at the English seminary at Douai and was ordained in 1603. In 1604 he came to England to begin his missionary work among the recusant Catholic families. In February 1605 he was arrested and banished, at which time he returned to his old college in Douai. In September 1607 he returned to England, but before doing so he visited the monastery of St Gregory at Douai and was clothed as a novice. His novitiate was to be in England, but proved to be very short.
He was arrested only two months after his return to England and condemned to death for his refusal to take the new oath of allegiance, accepting the King as the head of the Church. He was brutally martyred on 11 April 1608 at the age of thirty-nine years.
Saint John Roberts
John Roberts was born in North Wales in 1576 and educated at St John’s College, Oxford and the Inns of Court, London. Saint John Roberts (1575-6 - 10 December, 1610) was a Benedictine Monk and Priest, and was the first Prior of St He was received into the Catholic Church in Paris and entered the English seminary at Valladolid, Spain, in 1598. In the following year he joined the Benedictine Order and made his vows at St Martin’s Abbey, Compostella on 26 April 1600. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1602 and arrived in England in 1603, where he was appointed vicar of the English monks of the Spanish Congregation on the Mission.
Though arrested, imprisoned and banished, he returned four times. During one exile, he played a role in the foundation of St Gregory’s at Douai in Flanders. On his fifth visit to England, whilst working in London, he was seized immediately after Mass on Advent Sunday 1610 and dragged through the streets, still wearing his vestments. He was arrested for the crime of being a Catholic priest, and refused to gain his freedom by taking the oath against papal authority.
On 10 December 1610 he was drawn to Tyburn where he was hanged and quartered. Two nights later his body was rescued by a party of Catholics, and his relics were taken to St Gregory’s, Douai.
Blessed Maurus Scott
Maurus Scott was born in about 1578 of Protestant parents in Chigwell, Essex. Blessed Maurus Scott, born William Scott (c 1579 - 30 May 1612 was a Lawyer who became a Benedictine Monk and Priest, serving He studied law at Cambridge and in 1603 met John Roberts and was received into the Church. He entered a Benedictine monastery in Spain, made his vows and was ordained to the priesthood in 1610. It was at this time that he went to Douai where he stayed at St Gregory’s before crossing over to England. He arrived in England in time to witness the martyrdom of St John Roberts and was himself arrested and imprisoned for a year before being banished to France. On his arrival in France he went to St Gregory’s and asked to be received into the community. After staying there for a few months he returned to England and once more was arrested.
On 25 May 1612 he was tried at the Old Bailey and condemned to death for being a Catholic priest. He was taken to Tyburn where he was hanged.
Saint Ambrose Barlow
Ambrose Barlow was born in 1585, the son of Sir Alexander Barlow, a fervent Lancastrian Catholic. Saint Ambrose (Edward Barlow (1585 &ndash September 10 1641) was a Catholic priest and Martyr. He entered the English seminary in Douai in 1608 and in 1610 was sent to continue his studies at Valladolid, Spain, returning to Douai two years later.
On a visit to England in 1614 he was imprisoned, and on release he returned to Douai where he entered the Benedictine community of St Gregory’s, where he made his vows on 5 January 1616. After his ordination in 1617 he was sent to England, where he worked diligently on the English Mission in Lancashire for twenty-four years. He was four times arrested for the crime of being a Catholic.
Shortly after celebrating Mass on Easter Sunday, he was arrested by the local Anglican parson and a mob numbering 400, tried and condemned for being a Catholic priest. He was hanged and quartered at Lancaster on 10 September 1641.
Blessed Philip Powell
Philip Powell was born in Wales in 1594. Blessed Philip Powell (sometimes spelled Philip Powel) ( 2 February 1594 &ndash 30 June 1646) was a Lawyer who became a He studied in London and then became a novice at St Gregory’s in Douai in 1619. After making his vows and being ordained to the priesthood, he returned to England where he was chaplain to the Poyntz family at Leighland in Somerset.
Whilst sailing to South Wales, he was arrested, taken to London and imprisoned. At his trial he freely acknowledged that he was indeed a Benedictine monk and a priest.
On 30 June 1646 he was drawn on a hurdle to Tyburn where he was hanged until dead and then quartered. His only crime was that of being a Catholic priest.
Blessed Thomas Pickering
Thomas Pickering was born in 1621 and in 1660 made his vows at St Gregory’s in Douai as a lay brother. Blessed Thomas Pickering (c 1621 - 9 May, 1679) was a Benedictine Lay brother who served in England during the time of Recusancy In 1665 he was sent to London to be steward for the Benedictine monks who were chaplains to the Catholic wife of King Charles II.
In 1678 Titus Oates bore false witness that Blessed Thomas had attempted to shoot the King. The story was believed and he was arrested.
Although reprieved by the King many times, pressure to execute Blessed Thomas was too great, and on 9 May 1679 he was taken to Tyburn where he was hanged and quartered.
The School
Downside School is a Roman Catholic public school situated near Bath. Downside School is a Roman Catholic Public School in Stratton-on-the-Fosse near Bath, situated next to Downside Abbey. The term public school has two distinct (and virtually opposite meanings depending on the location of usage in the United States, Australia and Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. Monks from the Priory of St. Gregory the Great, which had been established at Douai, Flanders, in 1605, first arrived at Downside by canal in 1814.
The School attached to the monastery is for Roman Catholic boys from the age of 10 to 18 years and one of Britain's most distinguished Catholic schools. The school began accepting girls in certain year groups from October 2005. As in most Roman Catholic schools in the 21st century, non-Catholic students are accepted.
During the nineteenth century Downside remained a small monastic school. It was Dom Leander Ramsay who was the founder of modern Downside. He planned the new buildings that opened in 1912 and now form two sides of the Quad.
Downside has been undergoing something of an academic renaissance in the last two years. With the decision to accept girls and to build a new Music School, Downside has become a more viable option for Catholic families who are seeking a Benedictine education for their son or daughter.
The current headmaster is Dom Leo Maidlow Davis.
Superiors
- John Bede Polding (later archbishop) (1805-1819)
- Prior/Abbot Edmund Ford (1894-1906)
- Abbot Cuthbert Butler (1906-1922)
- Abbot Leander Ramsay (1922-1929)
- Abbot John Chapman (1929-1933)
- Abbot Bruno Hicks (1933-1938)
- Abbot Sigebert Trafford (1938-1946)
- Abbot (later Bishop) Christopher Butler (1946-1966)
- Abbot Wilfrid Passmore (1966-1974)
- Abbot John Roberts (1974-1990)
- Abbot Charles Fitzgerald-Lombard (1990-1998)
- Abbot Richard Yeo (1998-2006)
- Abbot Aidan Bellenger (2006-present)
References
- ^ Abbey Church of St Gregory The Great, Downside Abbey and School. John Bede Polding OSB ( 18 october 1794 – 16 March 1877) was the first Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop of Sydney Edward Cuthbert Butler (1858-1934 was an English Benedictine historian and Abbot of Downside Abbey. The Right Reverend Dom John Chapman OSB (born 1865 died 7 November 1933) received into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of 25 For the British Conservative politician see Chris Butler. Basil Christopher Butler OSB ( May 7, 1902 &ndash September 20 Images of England. Retrieved on 2007-03-24. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland
- ^ The National Pipe Organ Register - The Music Room, Brighton Pavilion.
- ^ The National Pipe Organ Register - George Pike England.
- ^ The National Pipe Organ Register - Downside Abbey's G. P. England organ.
- ^ The National Pipe Organ Register - St. Vigor's Church, Stratton-on-the-Fosse.
- ^ The National Pipe Organ Register - Downside Abbey: The Garrard organ.
- ^ The National Pipe Organ Register - Garrard of Lechlade.
- ^ a b c d e The National Pipe Organ Register - Downside Abbey - The Compton Organ.
External links
- Official website of Downside Abbey & School
- Downside on the website of the English Benedictine Congregation
- Downside Abbey in the Catholic Encyclopaedia
- grid reference ST656507
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