Downside Abbey, Bath, Somerset

Saint Edmund's parish is served by Downside Abbey.

Downside Abbey was established in 1814 by monks from the monastery of St Gregory's, Douai, in Flanders. In 1607, St. Gregory's was the first house after the Reformation to begin conventual life, with a handful of exiled Englishmen. St.Gregory's trained monks for the English Mission for nearly 200 years and six of them were martyred for the Faith. Two of these monks, SS John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the forty English and Welsh martyrs canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Driven from France at the French Revolution, the community of St Gregory's settled for twenty years at Acton Burnell, Shropshire, before finally arriving at Downside in 1814.

Some of the community of Downside Abbey are employed outside the monastery with parish work. The earliest record of the School for Catholic boys attached to the monastery is in 1618. It has continued, with a brief interruption by the French Revolution, to this day. Its members, present and past, are, like the members of the monastic community, known as Gregorians.

To visit the Downside Abbey web site please click here.