Douai Abbey is a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, situated within the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church that covers the Channel Islands as well as parts of England (Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of Berkshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire). The ep ...

. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

, France, came to Woolhampton in 1903 when the community left France as a result of anti-clerical legislation. The abbey church is listed Grade II* on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

History

The community of St. Edmund was formed in Paris in 1615 by Dom Gabriel Gifford, later Archbishop of Rheims and primate of France. With his backing the community flourished. Expelled from Paris during the Revolution, the community took over the vacant buildings of the community of St Gregory's in

in 1818. Amid the political upheavals caused by the Dreyfus affair around the turn of the 19th century, the French prime minister Waldeck-Rousseau introduced an anti-clerical Law of Associations (1901) that "severely curbed the influence of religious orders in France". This led to the community being given the minor

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of St Mary in Woolhampton by Bishop Cahill of Portsmouth, moving from Douai to Woolhampton in 1903. The abbey church was opened in 1933 but only completed in 1993 due to financial constraints. The monastery was greatly expanded in the 1960s with the building of the new monastery designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd. The abbey had in its charge Douai School until the latter's closure in 1999. In 2005, two monks returned to Douai, France to form a community there and restore the historic links to English monasticism.

Jacobitism

The monastery and its community have traditionally maintained strong links to the Stuart dynasty and the Jacobite cause; with King

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

buried in the monastery in

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

, near Paris (the community's home from the early 17th century till the French Revolution and the community's relocation to Douai in northern France), members of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

(present pretenders to the Jacobite claim) being educated at the community's former boarding school (at their present location), and the immediate past abbot, Geoffrey Scott OSB, is a member of the Jacobite Society.

Present

In July 2014 a monk was ordained priest, the first priestly ordination since 2007. As of 2020, the community consisted of 23 monks. The monks serve in parishes across five dioceses. The patron of the monastery is St Edmund King and Martyr, whose feast day is 20 November.

Music

The Abbey Church houses two

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

s, a smaller organ of 1978 in an Italian style by Tamburini and a larger organ of 1994 in a modernised English Classical style by Kenneth Tickell. Because it contains these organs, and especially because of its unique and reverberant

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

, the Abbey Church is frequently used as a recording location by musical performers. Commercial albums recorded there include: * Carlo Gesualdo - Tenebrae by The Hilliard Ensemble (March 1990). * Pierre de la Rue - Missa Cum Iocunditate, Motets by The Hilliard Ensemble (1997). * The Old Hall Manuscript by The Hilliard Ensemble (1990). * Cristobal de Morales - Mass For The Feast Of St. Isidore Of Seville by the Gabrieli Consort & Players, directed by

Paul McCreesh Paul McCreesh (born 24 May 1960) is an English conductor. Paul McCreesh is the founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players. With them he has performed in major concert halls and festivals across the world. He has been the ...

(2003). * A New Venetian Coronation 1595 by the Gabrieli Consort & Players, directed by

(2012). *

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

Organ Concertos by Baroque Belles and David Willcocks (1999). * MacMillan And His British Contemporaries by the choir of

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

(2006). * Rutter: Requiem by the choir of

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

(2003).

List of Abbots

* 1900–1904: Lawrence Larkin * 1904–1905: Ambrose Bamford * 1905–1913: Stanislaus Taylor * 1913–1921: David Hurley * 1921–1929: Edmund Kelly * 1929–1969: Sylvester Mooney * 1969–1989: Gregory Freeman * 1989–1990: Leonard Vickers * 1990–1998: Finbar Kealy * 1998–2022: Geoffrey Scott * 2022-present: Paul GunterMonks of St Edmund's
from ''douaiabbey.org.uk'' retrieved 14 March 2018

Gallery

File:Douai Abbey by Edmund Shaw Geograph 3900102.jpg, Abbey File:Douai Abbey view by Bill Nicholls Geograph 2723831.jpg, Abbey and school File:Douai Abbey Chapel by David Lally Geograph 3019406.jpg, Abbey church

References

External links

*
Douai Parish Website
* * * * * * * {{authority control Christian organizations established in 1903 Benedictine monasteries in England Grade II* listed churches in Berkshire History of Berkshire Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England Monasteries in Berkshire Monasteries of the English Benedictine Congregation Organisations based in Berkshire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1933 Roman Catholic churches in Berkshire 1903 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 20th century 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Woolhampton