Buckfast Abbey, England was not on
our agenda, but our van driver wanted to show it to us and the unexpected stop
turned out to be a real bonus! A short video before touring the abbey and
grounds informed us, “The Abbey was started in 1884, and took 32 years for four
French monks to build.”
Many years ago deer came to the Devonshire
valley to fill their thirst with water from the River Dart. Thus the name, buckfast, generally means safe place for
deer.
The history of the abbey goes back
to Saxon days with many ups and downs throughout history with modern history
starting in 1884. The leader of a Benedictine Abbey is called an abbot. The
Benedictine premise is prayer, study, and work.
From the video we learned that 44 monks live in the
Abbey. One is a novice for two years, taking his first vows at 12 months. After
four years one can leave, but if he elects to stay he must have the vote of the
entire community. Each monk must show stability, obedience, and conversion of
life. They are not called brother, unless one is a priest.
The
Parish church was founded over a hundred years ago, and must be
self-supporting. The abbey has the largest and most famous bee business with
800 hives and 16 million bees specially bred to be disease resistant. Farming,
stain glass, and a toxic wine all provide income.
The Abbey started a Catholic school
in the community, and also has a private school on the premises.
There are lovely gardens on the
property. The literature explained, “The gardens of Buckfast Abbey provide a
pleasant environment for visitors and monks alike. Modeled partly on medieval
plans, the gardens have been planted simply and boldly so as to provide a frame
for, rather than a distraction from, the Abbey Church which they surround.”
The lavender garden contained 150
species of the plant. In the summer the plants give off a wonderful aroma as
well as attract bees and butterflies. The variety of color and shape was
amazing.
Beyond a bank of
trees sat a 300 acre garden area which the monks farm.
There is a gift shop on the premises
as well as a book store and a monastic store in which products produced by the
abbey and other monasteries are sold. Of course beeswax and Buckfast tonic wine
are for sale.
The Abbey is beautiful, and I was
happy to learn that the hard working monks lived long enough to see their
accomplishment to completion. It is incredible what one can do if he has the
determination. It was a wonderful visit and one I’d like to repeat with a lot
more time and leisure.
