Quarr Abbey

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Old Quarr Abbey circa 1910

Quarr Abbey (grid reference SZ562927) is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It belongs to the Order of St Benedict.

[edit] The Medieval Quarr Abbey and Its Aftermath 1132–1902

[edit] Cistercian Monastery

The ancient Quarr Abbey was part of the Cistercian Order and was founded in 1132 by Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon, fourth Lord of the Isle of Wight. The founder was buried in the Abbey in 1155 and his remains, along with those of a royal princess, Cecily of York (d. 1507), second daughter of King Edward IV of England and godmother of Henry VIII, still lie on the site of the mediaeval monastery, as do other important personages.

The name Quarr comes from 'quarry', because there used to be a stone quarry in the neighbourhood, and so the original title of the monastery was the Abbey of our Lady of the Quarry. Stone from the quarry was used in the Middle Ages for both ecclesiastical and military buildings, for example for parts of the Tower of London.

This site became a valuable and productive property. Because of this, it was common for the Abbot of the Quarr Abbey to be appointed Warden or Lord of the Island.

There was a problem with piracy in the area, and in 1340 special permission was granted to fortify the area against attack. A stone wall, sea gate and portcullis were constructed. The ruins of these defences are still visible.

[edit] Secular Ownership

Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. The land was acquired by a Southampton merchant, George Mills.

Mills demolished most of the abbey and its stone was used for fortifications at the nearby towns of Cowes and Yarmouth. One of the three abbey bells is preserved in the belfry of the nearby Anglican parish church, originally built by the monks of Quarr Abbey for their lay dependents. Salvaged stone was also used to build Quarr Abbey House.^[1]

[edit] The Modern Quarr Abbey

[edit] The Exile of Solesmes

Throughout the nineteenth century there were laws in force in France to the effect that religious orders were not allowed except by special law, but the application varied with the changes of government. A major crisis came in 1880, when congregations were ordered to apply for authorization with three months. Although at first brutally applied to men's communities, protests meant that gradually these measures became a dead letter the congregations were re-constituted. On July 1, 1901, however, the regime of tolerance towards religious communities came to an end with the passing of a new law.

Immediately after the passing of the legislation, Abbot Paul Delatte (1848–1937) of the Benedictine Solesmes Abbey sent a monk to England to look for a house to shelter the community. In fact, the founder of Solesmes, Prosper Guéranger, had had thought of England as a possible place of refuge should the community have to go into exile. Moreover, since 1896, at the invitation of the former Empress Eugénie, the Solesmes Benedictines had taken over as a priory the former Premonstratensian house of Farnborough Abbey, which sheltered the tomb of Napoleon III.

In this new emergency, several places were considered as a possible refuge. Farnborough was far too small. Other possibilities included the ancient Battle Abbey near Hastings on the Kent coast of England. The Solesmes monks were, however, in urgent need of a home and the transactions at Battle Abbey would have been lengthy and the expense beyond their limited means.

[edit] A New Home at Appuldurcombe House

Finally, at the end of July attention was drawn to a suitable 'large house on the Isle of Wight which seems to meet the requirements of the monks', Appuldurcombe House near Wroxall on the Isle of Wight. The house was viewed and accepted, and a lease contract was signed on August 19, 1901. A former monastic site, the construction of the house had been begun in 1701 by Sir Robert Worsley on the site of a Tudor manor house and completed much later (1773) by Sir Richard Worsley, who from 1787 also established there what was to become a well-known art collection. On the death of Sir Richard in 1805, the estate passed to his niece, who was married to the second Baron and first Earl of Yarborough. The family connexion with the house ended in 1855, when the estate was sold off by her son, the second Earl of Yarborough.

The monks wasted no time in beginning their transfer from Solesmes to the Isle of Wight and on Saturday September 21, 1901, practically the entire community of Solesmes reached Appuldurcombe.

Already, by September 1904, the community at Appuldurcombe was considering that it might prove necessary to seek another home. They had been at Appuldurcombe for three years, and the lease must have been renewed about this time for another four years. Nevertheless, they had begun to look around for another property, probably because they were already aware of the unreasonable attitude of the landlord, who refused to undertake any repairs, so that the community would have the alternative of continuing to renew the lease on a property which they would have to keep in repair themselves, or buying it outright in a state of disrepair.

[edit] The Purchase of Quarr Abbey House

The lease on Appuldurcombe, initiated in 1901, had to be renewed, or terminated, at the end of three years, four years, or seven years. The second period would come to an end in 1908 and, if the intention were to abandon the lease, notice had to be given on January 1, 1908. To abandon the lease obviously meant that new accommodation would have to be found. Consequently, on Saturday January 5, 1907, the estate agents Wallis Riddett were contacted and serious consideration began to be given to the possibility of acquiring Quarr Abbey House and its estate which had featured in their portfolio of properties since 1902.

[edit] A New Abbey Built

The first monks arrived at Quarr Abbey House from Appuldurcombe on June 25, 1907, to prepare the way by making ready the grounds and the beginnings of a kitchen garden. They also put up fencing round the property, established a chicken farm, and prepared an orchard.

One of the monks, Dom Paul Bellot, aged 31, was an architect, and it fell to him to design and draw up the plans for the new abbey, some distance from the ruins of the mediæval monastery, on the site of Quarr Abbey House. Under the direction of the monk-architect, 300 builders from the Isle of Wight, accustomed only to building dwelling-houses, raised a building whose design and workmanship is admired by all who visit the Abbey. The building of the refectory and three sides of the cloister began immediately in 1907 and was completed within less than a year. The rest of the monks came from Appuldurcombe, and, in April 1911, work began on the Abbey church and was completed quickly, so that it was consecrated in the following year, on October 12, 1912.

In 1922, after World War I, and the many changes it brought with it, the community of Solesmes returned to France. A small community of monks was left at Quarr, which became an independent house, first as a priory, and then, from 1937, as an abbey. Gradually, English monks were recruited to the community. The last French monk, Fr. Peter de Curzon, who arrived in 1945, died in 2006.

[edit] Abbots

Dom Marie-Gabriel Tissot, OSB, abbot 1937 - 1964
Dom Aelred Sillem, OSB, abbot 1964 - 1992
Dom Leo Avery. OSB, abbot 1992 - 1996
Dom Cuthbert Johnson, OSB, abbot Aug 1996 - March 2008 ^[2]

[edit] References

^ Some of the medieval monastic ruins have been restored. A farm operates on part of the land.
^ "Abbot of Quarr retires". Retrieved on 2008-03-24.

[edit] Bibliography

S.F. Hockey, Quarr Abbey and Its Lands, 1132–1631, Leicester University Press, 1970.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 50.7310° N 1.1996° W

Articles and Categories about the Isle of Wight, England