Buckfast Abbey

Buckfast Abbey has everything a modern pilgrim could need: a medieval place of worship restored into a thriving community, with tonic wine on the side.‍

Highlights

• ‍‍Rebuilt medieval monastery
• Multidenominational activity

Buckfast Abbey is one of a handful of medieval monasteries that have been restored to Catholic use. It is a popular attraction for tourists and pilgrims alike.

The abbey does not have a central shrine but rightly celebrates the heroic efforts of Abbot Anscar Vonier, who began its restoration in 1906. A brass in the south choir aisle depicts scenes from his life, looking more like a Celtic missionary’s exploits than a 20th-century monk’s.

Anscar Vonier was already living near the ruins of the abbey in a small Benedictine community. He survived a shipwreck off the coast of Spain that killed the community’s abbot in 1906 and decided to rebuild the medieval abbey in fulfillment of his leader’s dying wish. Equipped with just £5, a horse, and a cartload of stone, the six monks uncovered the medieval foundations and began work. One trained as a mason, and the others worked with him for the next three decades. The church was consecrated in 1933 and finally completed in 1937. Abbot Anscar died a few days after the last scaffolding was removed and is buried in the abbey church.

This is the only abbey rebuilt during the course of a single lifetime. The fact that it was achieved by a team of just six monks does not seem humanly possible as you wander through its lofty confines. It is dedicated to St. Mary.

Buckfast stands as a symbol for more than monastic renewal, helping lay to rest the ghosts of the Reformation. There is an Anglican/Methodist chapel within the grounds of the abbey, peaceful coexistence after centuries of recrimination.

The abbey is even of interest to the Orthodox, since it was founded in the early 11th century when there was no schism between Christian denominations. The ceiling of the tower has been painted in Byzantine-style iconography, using traditional egg tempera materials. Christ is surrounded by the Evangelists, angels, prophets, early martyrs, and saints.

The monks support their community from the monastery shop and café, and also through the manufacture of the famous Buckfast Tonic Wine. This fortified drink has often been in the news, its 15% alcohol rating and caffeine content blamed for antisocial behavior in Scotland—though the abbey and the wine’s distributors point out there is no comparative data on the behavioural impact of different alcoholic brands.

The abbey has moved on from the controversies of the Reformation, only to find itself embroiled in some thoroughly modern ones.‍

Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast Road, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0EE‍

www.buckfast.org.uk‍

W3W: rejoined.reprints.resold

GPS: 50.4929N 3.7776W‍

The abbey is a short distance out of Buckfastleigh, signed from the road and the nearby A38 dual carriageway. Free parking is available at the front of the monastic complex. The monastery and gardens are also free to enter, with details of the shop, restaurant, and exhibition opening times available on the abbey’s website.