St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth - formerly Chilworth Friary - is a Roman Catholic Benedictine abbey in Chilworth, Surrey. The building, which is Grade II listed, was designed by Frederick Walters and was built in 1892. It was formerly a Franciscan friary and a novitiate for the order.
Construction of the friary started in 1890 and it was designed by the architect Frederick Walters, who also designed the nearby St John's Seminary in Wonersh. It was financed by a £7,000 bequest from Mary Anne Alliott who was the aunt of the founder of the friary, Fr Arthur Wells. There is a dedication stone in the rear of the Abbey Church, as pictured above, which expresses everlasting gratitude to her. On 18 June 1892, the friary and church was dedicated and consecrated by the Archbishop of Southwark. The friary was built to serve as a novitiate for the Franciscans in Britain.
In 1915, an organ, built by Lewis & Co was installed. It was paid for by John Courage of Derryswood, Wonersh (owner of both Lewis & Co and Courage Brewery. The same year, Albert Ketelbey wrote his light classical music piece, 'In a Monastery Garden', having been inspired by a visit to the friary gardens.
In 1945, the parish of Holy Ghost Church was entrusted to the friary. It expanded and the friary also served a Mass centre in Gomshall, Our Lady of the A
ngels.
In 2010, it was announced that the friars would leave Chilworth. The friars were distributed amongst the other Franciscan houses in Britain and the parish church of the Holy Ghost was closed. That year, St Augustine's Abbey in Ramsgate (and until 1995 an independent school, St Augustine’s Abbey School, Ramsgate) also closed and the Benedictine monks from the Order of St Benedict, of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation, looked for a smaller property to move into. When Chilworth Friary became available, they agreed to move to the area and it became St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth.
For more information about the now closed St Augustine’s Abbey School, Ramsgate, please see the Old Augustinians website: https://www.oldaugustinians.org.uk
An important note in Chilworth's history by Fr Patrick Lonsdale OFM – March 2010
The Franciscan Friary, Chilworth, 1892-2010
The foundation stone for the new friary at Chilworth was laid in 1890. The architect was F. A. Walters, who also designed St John's Seminary at Wonersh and Buckfast Abbey. The overall cost of building the church and friary (about £7,000) was met from a bequest of Mary Anne Alliott, an aunt of Father Arthur Wells, who is regarded as the founder of the friary.
The first friars took up residence in 1892. While most Franciscan friaries are to be found in urban settings, this friary was built in a relatively quiet place to be the Novitiate for the order. Every friar spends his first year of Franciscan life as a Novice, and the purpose of that year is to make a break with the previous way of life, and to embrace the new way of living. In those days, novices did not generally have holidays or meet with their families, although they did write, and could receive letters.
Since 1892, therefore, for the next hundred years or so, every man who has entered this particular branch of the Franciscan Order has spent his first year at Chilworth. Towards the end of the last century, the English friars joined with their Irish brethren for the initial training of new members, part of the time being spent in England, and part in Ireland. Though Chilworth is no longer used as the Novitiate house, it has been the location of the Postulancy for the past three years. This is a year prior to the Novitiate, and the Order introduced it to help prepare the candidates more thoroughly for the Novitiate year.
In 1945, the friars were asked to take on the pastoral care of a newly formed Catholic parish, largely a rural area between Guildford and Dorking. They had already been celebrating Mass and other Sacraments for small groups of Catholics in the area. From then on, a small congregation gathered at the friary on Sundays, but since the1970s the congregation has grown, so that now there is a full church for the main Mass on Sunday morning. Another chapel was built at Gomshall, and opened in 1964, to accommodate parishioners at that end of the parish.
It may be of interest to hear of one small claim to fame in which the friary rejoices. The music publisher Joseph Larway visited Chilworth when his brother, Edgar, was in the Community. With him was the composer, Albert Ketelby, and it is said he was inspired to compose his well-known In a Monastery Garden on that occasion.
For many years, the friary, apart from the church, was 'enclosed', which meant that members of the public were not allowed in to the residential areas, except for maintenance work or emergencies. With the growth of the parish, and the renewal of the life of the friars after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, efforts were made to open up the friary, so that it became a sort-of pastoral centre for the parish, and for other groups who wanted to come for meetings or quiet days. It was at this time that the annual Garden Fête was launched, first as a parish social celebration, but later as an important fund-raising event for the friary, parish and other charities. Some of the major refurbishment work of recent years has been partly funded in this way.
The last few years have seen the numbers of friars decline in the United Kingdom, and generally in Western Europe. This fact, taken with the ageing of many of the brethren, had led the friars, on more than one occasion to review their commitments, and to withdraw from friaries. All the friars were invited to take part in a period of discernment and prayers, and eventually the Minister Provincial, who is in charge of the friars in the United Kingdom, together with his Council, decided we would withdraw from Chilworth. This decision was made early in 2010, and communicated to the friars at Chilworth, and then to the parishioners.
