Buckfast Abbey

Buckfast Abbey
Abbey Church of St Mary
Buckfast Abbey is located in Dartmoor
Buckfast Abbey
Buckfast Abbey
Location within Dartmoor
50°29′34″N 3°46′32″W / 50.49278°N 3.77556°W / 50.49278; -3.77556
OS grid referenceSX741673
LocationBuckfastleigh, Devon
CountryEngland
DenominationRoman Catholic
Websitewww.buckfast.org.uk
History
StatusBenedictine Monastery
Founded28 October 1882 (1882-10-28)
DedicationSt Mary
Consecrated25 August 1932
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II*
Designated10 January 1951
Architect(s)Frederick Walters[1]
Completed1937
Administration
ProvinceSouthwark
DiocesePlymouth
DeaneryTorbay
ParishBuckfast
Clergy
AbbotRt Rev. Dom David Charlesworth, O.S.B.
Laity
Director of musicMatthew Searles (Master of the Music), Dr. Robert Pecksmith (Assistant Master of the Music)
Organist(s)Charles Maxtone-Smith[2]

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 largely demolished after its dissolution in 1539. In 1882 the site was purchased by French Benedictines who refounded a monastery on the site. New monastic buildings incorporated the remaining Gothic house. Buckfast was formally reinstated as an abbey in 1902. Work on a new abbey church, which was constructed mostly on the footprint of the former Cistercian abbey, started in 1907. The church was completed in 1938. As of 2020, the abbey has 13 monks.[3]

  1. ^ The Return of the Benedictines to London, Ealing Abbey: 1896 to Independence by Rene Kollar, Burnes and Oates 1989, ISBN 0-86012-175-5, p.53
  2. ^ "Music at Buckfast". Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  3. ^ The Benedictine Yearbook. London: English Benedictine Congregation Trust. 2020. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-901089-58-8.