Downside Abbey
Abbey monastic basilica and library (left) | |
Location within Somerset | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Abbey of St Gregory the Great at Downside |
| Order | Benedictine |
| Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
| Established | 1606 |
| Mother house | Valladolid |
| Dedicated to | Gregory the Great |
| Diocese | Clifton |
| Controlled churches | St Benedict's Church, Stratton-on-the-Fosse Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton St Francis Xavier's Church, Hereford |
| People | |
| Founder | St John Roberts OSB |
| Abbot | Dom Nicholas Wetz OSB |
| Prior | Dom Anselm Brumwell OSB |
| Important associated figures | Architects Archibald Matthias Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom, Cardinal Gasquet, Ambrose Barlow |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Completion date | 1935 |
| Site | |
| Location | Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire, England
(until 13 March 2022 – Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England) |
| Coordinates | 51°15′20″N 2°29′43″W / 51.2556°N 2.4954°W |
| Grid reference | ST655508 |
| Other information | Relics of St Oliver Plunkett and St Thomas de Cantilupe |
| Website | www |
Downside Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in England and is the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged 11 to 18. Both the abbey and the school are at Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Westfield and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, South West England. In 2020, the community of Downside Abbey consisted of 15 monks. The community left the abbey in 2022, moving first to Devon and then in 2025 to Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire.
The Abbey Church of St Gregory the Great, begun in 1873 and unfinished, is a Grade I listed building; Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described its Gothic Revival style as "a splendid demonstration of the renaissance of Roman Catholicism in England". As of 2025, the monastic buildings on the Downside site are largely vacant.