buckfast abbey wine tour

Buckfast Abbey

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Experience serenity and an inspirational day out at Buckfast Abbey. Nestled in a valley on the edge of Dartmoor, the Abbey is home to a working community of Benedictine monks and is one of the top tourist attractions in the Westcountry.

This jewel in Devon’s crown boasts a fascinating history: Founded by King Canute in 1018, Buckfast Abbey was at the heart of the community until Catholic monasteries were dissolved by King Henry VIII.

The site gradually fell into ruins, but several hundred years later, it was brought back to life by a group of exiled French monks. Between 1906 and 1937, they lovingly re-built the Abbey Church on the medieval foundations and re-established the monastery.

Ideally located mid-way between Plymouth and Exeter, the Abbey Church and gardens are visited by thousands of people every year. Entry is free and there is ample free parking.

Visitors can enjoy the extensive grounds – including The Sensory, Physic and award-winning Millennium Gardens. A highlight during the summer months is The Lavender Garden, boasting 50 varieties of this soothing and colourful plant.

The Abbey Church is a centre of musical excellence and hosts choirs and performers from the local area and wider afield. With its dramatic Lantern Ceiling, various art treasures and stunning Blessed Sacrament Chapel depicting a modern interpretation of Christ in stained glass, the church is a haven of peace.

Complementing the religious life of Buckfast Abbey, is the Monastic Way Exhibition. This inter-active attraction gives a fascinating insight into the lives of the monks at Buckfast along with a history of religious communities throughout Europe.

The Abbey shops have an extensive range of unusual gifts, cards, books, food and drink. Many items are made by monks and nuns across the continent. Also on sale is Buckfast Abbey fudge, hand-made in the monastery kitchens.

No visit would be complete without a stop at The Grange Restaurant. Delicious cream teas, home-made lunches, cakes and pastries are available, with the emphasis on locally produced ingredients. The Grange has a glass-covered outside seating area, affording great views of the gardens and the surrounding countryside.

Key Facilities

Restaurant/Cafe

Disabled Access

Facilities for Hearing Impaired

Facilities for Visually Impaired

Guide Dogs permitted

Toilets for Disabled Visitors

Additional Facilities

Shows for kids
Well behaved dogs, on a short lead are permitted. Only registered assistance ones are allowed inside buildings
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Buckfast Abbey

Buckfast Road, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0EE

Buckfast Abbey has everything a modern pilgrim could need: a medieval place of worship restored into a thriving community, with tonic wine on the side. ‍

‍ ‍ Rebuilt medieval monastery
Multidenominational activity

Buckfast Abbey is one of a handful of medieval monasteries that have been restored to Catholic use. It is a popular attraction for tourists and pilgrims alike.

The abbey does not have a central shrine but rightly celebrates the heroic efforts of Abbot Anscar Vonier, who began its restoration in 1906. A brass in the south choir aisle depicts scenes from his life, looking more like a Celtic missionary’s exploits than a 20th-century monk’s.

Anscar Vonier was already living near the ruins of the abbey in a small Benedictine community. He survived a shipwreck off the coast of Spain that killed the community’s abbot in 1906 and decided to rebuild the medieval abbey in fulfillment of his leader’s dying wish. Equipped with just £5, a horse, and a cartload of stone, the six monks uncovered the medieval foundations and began work. One trained as a mason, and the others worked with him for the next three decades. The church was consecrated in 1933 and finally completed in 1937. Abbot Anscar died a few days after the last scaffolding was removed and is buried in the abbey church.

This is the only abbey rebuilt during the course of a single lifetime. The fact that it was achieved by a team of just six monks does not seem humanly possible as you wander through its lofty confines. It is dedicated to St. Mary.

Buckfast stands as a symbol for more than monastic renewal, helping lay to rest the ghosts of the Reformation. There is an Anglican/Methodist chapel within the grounds of the abbey, peaceful coexistence after centuries of recrimination.

The abbey is even of interest to the Orthodox, since it was founded in the early 11th century when there was no schism between Christian denominations. The ceiling of the tower has been painted in Byzantine-style iconography, using traditional egg tempera materials. Christ is surrounded by the Evangelists, angels, prophets, early martyrs, and saints.

The monks support their community from the monastery shop and café, and also through the manufacture of the famous Buckfast Tonic Wine. This fortified drink has often been in the news, its 15% alcohol rating and caffeine content blamed for antisocial behavior in Scotland—though the abbey and the wine’s distributors point out there is no comparative data on the behavioural impact of different alcoholic brands.

The abbey has moved on from the controversies of the Reformation, only to find itself embroiled in some thoroughly modern ones. ‍

Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast Road, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0EE ‍

www.buckfast.org.uk ‍

W3W: rejoined.reprints.resold

GPS: 50.4929N 3.7776W ‍

The abbey is a short distance out of Buckfastleigh, signed from the road and the nearby A38 dual carriageway. Free parking is available at the front of the monastic complex. The monastery and gardens are also free to enter, with details of the shop, restaurant, and exhibition opening times available on the abbey’s website.

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Britain’s Pilgrim Places

Find this place, and hundreds of others, in Britain’s Pilgrim Places book by Nick Mayhew-Smith and Guy Hayward.

Proceeds from sale of the book directly support the British Pilgrimage Trust, a non-profit UK charity. Thank you.

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