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Transcript of Downside Abbey Country Life
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www.countrylife.co.uk108County Lif, Sptmb 14, 2011
Tere has cntly bn a vogu
fo count-factual histoy, an
intllctually igoous qustioning
of what would hav happnd had
cicumstancs bn dif fnt. If, fo xam-
pl, th Luftwaff had dfatd th rAF in
1940, would th magazin you a adingb in Gman? easi to answ is th qus-
tion of what th english landscap would
look lik if th dissolution of th monastis
had nv happnd. If ny VIII had did
in 1530, still maid to Cathin of Aagon,
and had bn succdd pacfully by his
daught, May, mo of ou countysid
would smbl th Somst villag of
Statton-on-th-Foss, south-wst of Bath,
which is psidd ov by Downsid Abby.
Th Bndictin Community of St Ggoy
th Gat at Downsid, which ncompasss
a famous public school as wll as a monas-
ty, povids a complling imag of how
monastic lif in england might hav con-
tinud had ny VII I not so abuptly ndd
it. Yt what w s dats no futh back than
th 19th cntuy. Th magnificnc of th
monastys buildings, spcially its gat
Gothic chuch, mbodis th momnt whnth roman Catholic Chuch, aft th
cntuis of posciption and discimina-
tion, flt abl fo th fist tim to asst its
idntity as Bitains histoic Chuch.
Th Downsid community was foundd in
1606 at Douai in what is now nothn Fanc.
Most of its monks w english xils, and
sval undtook dangous missionay wok
in thi nativ countysix w matyd
btwn 1608 and 1679. Fom aly on, th
monasty povidd an ducation fo th
sons of english cusant familis. A cucial
vnt fo th monks pcption of thi ightful
ol in english lif occud in 1607, whn
Dom Sigbt Buckly who was pofssd
as a monk duing th ign of May I in th
bif vival of th Bndictin community at
Wstminst Abby, gav th monastic habit
to two pists who joind th Douai commu-
nity, thus handing onto it th ancint ightsand pivilgs of th english Bndictins.
In 1795, th tid of histoy was vsd. As
th Fnch volutionay amis dvastatd
euopan monastic lif, th Douai community
fld to england. aving bn basd fo 20
yas at Acton Bunll in Shopshi, it movd
in 1814 into a small, aly-18th-cntuy hous,
Handsomely doneDownside Abbey Church, Somerset
Michael Hall describes the creation of a great Gothic church thatpersuasively suggests that the Reformation never happened
Photographs by Paul Barker
Fig 1 above: Downsides church from
the south. The tower was finished in
1938. Fig 2 facing page: The Lady
Chapel, designed by Dunn & Hansom.
Its furnishings are by Ninian Comper
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Mount Plasantwhich still suvivsat
Downsid, a hamlt on th dg of Statton-
on-th-Foss. Although th pnal laws had
falln into dsutud, english Catholics w
still xcludd fom public lif, and so th Bn-
dictin Od in england maind oganisdalong missionay lins. As a sult, as wll as
continuing its school, Downsid xpctd
most of its monks to wok in paishs acoss
th county onc thy had bn pofssd.
Fom 1829, with th Catholic rlif Act,
lgal discimination against Catholics bgan
to b dismantld, a chang that was cog-
nisd by th papacy in 1850 with th sto-
ation in england of th Catholic hiachy.
In spons, th was a gowing dsi in th
english Bndictin communitis to mov
away fom thi missionay, paochial ol
towads th nclosd, contmplativ lif
consistnt thm thoughout th stoy of th
nw chuch is achitctual ambition: th
monks wantd a gat building and w
ppad to wait ath than compomis thi
idals. Th succssiv schmstwo by
Pugin, dawn up in 1839 and 1841, and onby Chals ansom, in 1846poposd a nw
monasty on th gandst possibl scal,
but nothing was don fo lack of funds.
Finally, in 1873, th foundation stons
w laid at Downsid, fo th chuch, th
monasty and th fctoy buildings that
w to b shad by th school and com-
munity. Accoding to tadition, Achbishop
(lat Cadinal) Manning, who laid th
chuchs foundation ston, askd th pio,
Dom Aidan Gasqut: A you building
a monasty o a town? Th dsigns w
a roman Catholic patnship, Achibald
nvisagd by th rul of St Bndict. Th
monks of Downsid took a lading pat in this
chang, which vntually sultd in Lo XIIIs
bullDiu Quidem of 1899, instucting th
english Bndictins to vis thi consti-
tutions on taditional monastic lins. In thsam ya, th Pop aisd th th piois
of english monks at Downsid, Amplfoth
and Douai to th status of abbys.
Cntal to this nw idal at Downsid was
th building of an abby chuch, which, six
tims a day, was to b th stting fo th
pays of th community, th opus dei that
St Bndict had stssd lay at th hat of
his rul. Downsid alady had a chapl,
dsignd in 1822 by th Bath achitct . e.
Goodidg, but within a gnation, it had
bcom too small fo th community (it still
suvivs, but has bn gatly altd). On
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www.countrylife.co.uk County Lif, Sptmb 14, 2011 111
Dunn and edwad ansom, Chalss son.
Lgnd calls that Dunn saw that it was
handsom, and ansom saw that it was don,
which may indd b an accuat account
of th way thy dividd thi sponsibilitis.
Th complx stoy of thi dsigns fo thchuch at Downsid has bn unavlld by
roy ODonnll. Dunn & ansoms oiginal
poposal was basd on aly-13th-cntuy
nothn english xmplas, most impot-
antly th Cistcian monastis at Fountains
and lswh, but Gasqut wantd som-
thing mo opulnt. Th chuch that was
bgun in 1880 was divd fom lat modls,
most impotantly Wstminst Abby, that
all-impotant link btwn th modn
Bndictins and th mdival past. Wst-
minst is a bui lding of vy dict Fnch
inspiation, and Dunn & ansoms dsign
has stuck most popl as stongly Fanco-
phil, spcially in its tall, naow po-
potions and fiv-sidd aps, suoundd
by an ambulatoy and adial chapls.
Th fist pat to b compltd was th
cossing and tanspts, which w opnd
fo woship in 1882. Th communitys
ambition is vidnt in th gat sca l of th
tansptit is 68ft high intnallyits ichly
modlld lvations, which incopoata gat dal of sculptu (by A lfd Wall of
Chltnham), and by th dcision to ct
a mighty tow (Fig 1) on axis with th
south tanspt, spaatd fom it by th
cloist (Fig 5). By 1884, th tow had
isn to 132ft, and was still not complt,
as a stpl was intndd. Funds w not
yt sufficint to allow th choi to b bgun,
and so, as mo altas w ndd, it was
dcidd to build th astn chapls. Poly-
gonal in plan, thy flank a th-bay apsd
Lady Chapl, aisd ov a cypt, which
pojcts fom th ast nd of th chuch.
By th tim th Lady Chapl was opnd
in July 1888, th communitys achitctual
tast was shifting. Dunn & ansoms dsign
was old-fashiond vn bfo it was bgun,
as in th Anglican Chuch, th Gothic vival
had movd away fom 13th-cntuy modls,
whth english o Fnch, towads lat,
mo distinctivly english, Dcoatd and
Ppndicula styls. edmund Fod, who
was pio in 188588, bgan th pocssof aligning th chuchs styl by having
Dunn & ansom cast thi dsign fo th
two astn chapls that w thn und way,
thos of St Bndict and St Isido. As built,
thy a unmistakably english in appaanc,
thanks to thi Ppndicula styl and th
staight ast nds that english mdival
achitcts almost always pfd to apss
(pobably bcaus thy showd off th nativ
lov of laboat window tacy so wll).
In 1894, Fod tund to Downsid,
initially as pio onc mo, and thn, fom
1899, as th fist abbot. continud th
Fig 3 left: The sacristy, designed by F. A. Walters and completed in 1915. Fig 4 above:
The view from Giles Gilbert Scotts nave into the choir designed by Thomas Garner
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anglicisation of th chuch by appointing
Ninian Comp to dcoat and funish th
Lady Chapl in 1894(Fig 2). Comp basd
his dsign on his scholaly study of th
chancl aangmnts of english mdival
chuchs. Th alta, nclosd by cutainssuppotd by fou iddl posts, is st against
a wall that squas off Dunn & ansoms aps;
it has a low, cavd dos of paintd and
gildd alabast basd on 15th-cntuy modls.
Comp wokd on th chapl fo many yas
(th glazing was not compltd until 1927),
and th sulting nsmbl is on of th
most bautiful, and bst psvd, xps-
sions of his english, lat-Gothic idal.
In 1895, Fod was facd with a difficult
poblm. Just as th mony to mbak on
th choi had bn aisd, Dunn & ansom
signd as th chuchs achitcts, bcaus
of ansoms ill halth. Th was no obvious
succsso, as englands lading roman
Catholic achitct, J. F. Bntly, was too busy
with Wstminst Cathdal. Thn, in 1896,
Lo XIII issud his bullApostolicae Curae,
which dclad that Anglican ods w
invalid, stiking at th notion that th Chuch
of england was pat of th univsal Catholic
Chuch. As a sult, th achitct Thomas
Gan convtd to roman Catholicism and
ndd his patnship with G. F. Bodly, whoas fa back as th 1860s had ld th Gothic
vival in th diction of lat english
mdival modls. Gan was pfctly
qualifid fo th challnging task of inst-
ing th choi into th spac btwn Dunn
& ansoms tanspts and astn chapls.
Th tchnical d ifficultis w compoundd
by Gan and Fods dcision to bak not
only with th styl of Dunn & ansoms build-
ing, but also with its plan. Gans choi
(Fig 4), which voks english chuchs of
about 1400, has a squa ast nd, with
th gat achs, miniscnt of thos in
th choi at Wlls Cathdal, and a tipa-tit ast window divd fom that at St
Albans Cathdal, which in th Middl Ags
had bn a Bndictin abby chuch.
Although whn Gan did in 1906, having
compltd th choi, th was no going back
on th stylistic chang that h had mad,
his dsigns fo th st of th chuch w
not followd. This was patly fo asons of
pacticalityfo xampl, his poposal fo
th sacisty was too small and was placd
by a Ppndicula dsign by F. A. Walts
(Fig 3). Thn, in 1917, th community com-
missiond Gils Gilbt Scott, dsign of
Livpools Anglican cathdal (wh th
choic of a roman Catholic achitct had
bn contovsial) to bui ld th nav. Thy
assumd that h would follow Gans intn-
tions, but Scott thought that was a dull ida
and poposd instad a dsign of his own.Th sult, opnd in 1925, is a subtl
finmnt and simplification of th dsign
of th on nav bay built by Dunn & ansom
to povid abutmnt fo thi cossing. This
was not all that Scott did at Downsid: h com-
pltd to his own dsign Dunn & ansoms
tow (without a stpl), ovsaw th con-
stuction of th choi stalls, which w
copid, at th monks qust, fom thos at
Chst Cathdal, and dsignd th sanctu-
ay aangmnts, lft unsolvd at Gans
dath. Scott also dsignd a splndid tomb
fo Cadinal Gasqut, th monastys fom
pio, who had bgun th building of th chuch,half a cntuy bfo. This bought th stoy
in a full ciclo almost. Th nav now con-
sists of svn bays, but Scott intndd two
mo, which xplains th last satisfactoy
aspct of th building, th navs tmpoay
wst font. Might th abby, which in 2014
clbats th 200th annivsay of its aival
at Downsid, choos to mak th occasion
by complting this gat bui lding?
Downside Abbey: An Architectural
History, edited by Dom Aidan Bellenger,
with photographs by Paul Barker, will
be published by Merrell in October
Fig 5: Benedictine monks process from the monastery along Dunn & Hansoms linking cloister towards the church
The monks ambition
is evident in the greatscale of the transept
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