Downside Abbey

Downside Abbey, abbey church and modern library from the east

North side

Downside Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Stratton-on-the-Fosse in the district of Mendip the southwestern English county of Somerset . The abbey has a boarding school ( Downside School ). Sir Nikolaus Pevsner describes the abbey as "the most beautiful and impressive example of the Roman Catholic Renaissance in England."

history

The history of the abbey dates back to the Elizabethan Age , when Catholicism in England was considered treasonable and bloody persecuted. A number of young English and Welsh people who had become Benedictines in Spain were able to set up a settlement in Douai in the Spanish Netherlands in 1606 . They chose Pope Gregory the Great as their patron , who in 597 had sent St. Augustine to England as a messenger of faith.

The community grew, established a school for English Catholics and sent missionaries home. Six of them died as martyrs .

The revolution in France , to which Douai belonged since 1672, resulted in the sacking and abolition of the monastery. At the same time, the Catholic repression in England eased. In 1794 the monks crossed the English Channel, and in 1814 they settled in Downside. School operations were also resumed. Today's representative buildings were built from 1870 onwards. In addition to a church, convent and school, they also include a guest house.

Abbey church

The Abbey Church of St. Gregory the Great ( St. Gregory the Great ) was built in several stages between 1872 and 1938, with the overall plan remaining unfinished. Still, it is the largest neo-Gothic church in the UK . Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called the abbey the "most beautiful and impressive example of the Roman Catholic rebirth in England."

In 1935 Pope Pius XI awarded her . the rank of minor basilica . It has been listed as a Grade I structure since 1986 .

Abbots and Priors

• 1805–1819 John Bede Polding, later Archbishop
• 1894–1906 Prior / Abbot Edmund Ford
• 1906–1922 Abbot Cuthbert Butler
• 1922–1929 Abbot Leander Ramsay
• 1929–1933 Abbot John Chapman
• 1933–1938 Abbot Bruno Hicks
• 1938–1946 Abbot Sigebert Trafford
• 1946–1966 Abbot Christopher Butler , later bishop
• 1966–1974 Abbot Wilfrid Passmore
• 1974–1990 Abbot John Roberts
• 1990–1998 Abbot Charles Fitzgerald-Lombard
• 1998–2006 Abbot Richard Yeo
• 2006–2014 Abbot Aidan Bellenger
• 2014– 0000Prior Leo Maidlow Davis

architecture

Although the basilica was built by different architects in several stages at long intervals, it shows an amazing stylistic cohesion. In 1882, under the direction of Archibald Matthias Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom, the transept and crossing were completed. By 1905 the choir followed plans by Thomas Garner . The Lady Chapel and the Sacrament Chapel had already been built to the east of it . Giles Gilbert Scott built the nave by 1925 . In 1938 the 55 m high square tower on the south side was finally completed.

Furnishing

One of the most precious treasures of the church is the reliquary of St. Oliver Plunkett , through which Downside is also connected to the monastery church of Lamspringe in Lower Saxony. The rest of the historicist furnishings with stained glass windows , altars and statues are of high quality and were created over decades thanks to the generosity of wealthy donors.

organ

The organ was built in 1931 by the organ builder John Compton. The instrument has 142 stops , including 38 extended stops and transmissions, on four manuals and a pedal . The organ case was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott.

I Choir C – c 4 Double Dulciana 16 ′ Lovely drone 16 ′ Open diapason 8th' Melodic Diapason 8th' Gemshorn 8th' Flauto Traverso 8th' Covered 8th' Dulciana 8th' Vox Angelica 8th' Salicional 8th' Voix Celestes 8th' Prestant 4 ′ Gemshorn 4 ′ Dulcet 4 ′ Vox Angelica 4 ′ Open flute 4 ′ Lovely flute 4 ′ Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Dulcet Twelfth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Gemshorn 2 ′ Flautino 2 ′ Dulcet 2 ′ Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Acuta III Petite Cymbals IV-VI Krummhorn 16 ′ Clarinet 8th' trombone 8th' musette 8th'

II Great C – c 4 Double diapason 16 ′ Double flute 16 ′ Salicional 16 ′ First diapason 8th' Second diapason 8th' Third diapason 8th' Fourth diapason 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Flauto Traverso 8th' Salicional 8th' Fifth 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Octave 4 ′ Principal 4 ′ Flood 4 ′ Salicet 4 ′ Twelfth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Great Octave 2 ′ Fifteenth 2 ′ Plein Jeu VIII Cymbals Conique VII Contra trumpet 16 ′ trombone 8th' Tromba 8th' Clarion 4 ′

III Swell C-g 3 Violone 16 ′ Open diapason 8th' Flood 8th' Viola da gamba 8th' violoncello 8th' Violins 8th' Stop diapason 8th' Strings 8th' Violins Octave 4 ′ Stop Octave 4 ′ viola 4 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Duplicate 2 ′ Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Octavine 1' Cymbals V Trombones 16 ′ Bassoon 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' horn 8th' Skin boy 8th' Clarion 4 ′ Octave skin boy 4 ′

IV Solo C – c 4 Violone 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Strings 16 ′ violoncello 8th' Strings 8th' Stop diapason 8th' Flood 8th' Violin 4 ′ Flood 4 ′ Strings 4 ′ Stopped Twelfth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Piccolo 2 ′ Celestina 2 ′ Quartanes II-IV Double horn 16 ′ Baryphone 16 ′ horn 8th' Basset horn 8th' tuba 8th' Calophones 8th' oboe 8th' Octave Horn 4 ′

V Bombarde C – c 4 Sub diapason 16 ′ Open diapason 8th' Major flute 8th' Covered 8th' Dulciana 8th' Vox Angelica 8th' Octave Diapason 4 ′ Sesquialtera VII Grand Cornet XII Contra Tromba 16 ′ tuba 8th' Tromba 8th' Octave Tromba 4 ′ Tuba Clarion 4 ′

Pedal C – g 3 Great bass 32 ′ Sub bass 32 ′ Great bass 16 ′ Open diapason 16 ′ Contra bass 16 ′ Violone 16 ′ Salicional 16 ′ Dulciana 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Lovely drone 16 ′ Fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octave 8th' Principal 8th' violoncello 8th' Salicional 8th' Flood 8th' Covered 8th' Twelfth 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Fifteenth 4 ′ Octave Flute 4 ′ Bass Cornet VII Baryphone 32 ′ tuba 16 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trombones 16 ′ Baryphone 16 ′ Bassoon 16 ′ Krummhorn 16 ′ tuba 8th' tuba 4 ′

Individual evidence

1. ^ The East Wing and Monastery Library
2. ^ Downside School
3. ^ ^{A b} Colin Amery: Amazing grace. In: The Spectator . December 3, 2011, accessed June 28, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Life at Douai
5. ↑ ^{a b} The Abbey Church
6. ↑ St. Oliver and the Benedictine Order ( Memento from September 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ information on organ (English)

Web links

Commons : Downside Abbey  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Online presence of the Benedictine Abbey Downside (English)
• Description of the church on British Listed Buildings (English)

swell

• Abbey Church of Saint George the Great, Downside Abbey and School . In: English pictures . English Heritage . Retrieved February 9, 2013.
• Aidan Bellenger: Downside Abbey: Architecture History (English Title: An Architectural History) . Merrell Publishers Ltd, 2011, ISBN 978-1858945422 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 20.4 "  N , 2 ° 29 ′ 44.8"  W.