Keen to open up to the public and share its monastic heritage, Downside Abbey will be presenting an exhibition, ‘Voices from the Cloister: Medieval Treasures at Downside’ in the coming weeks, curated by the Centre for Monastic Heritage, and the Department of Religion and Theology of the University of Bristol.

The Abbey is open every day from Dawn until Dusk and free to look around – it is a staggering building for such a small village, which has been home to Benedictine monks since 1814 and chosen due to its proximity to Bath.The neo-Gothic Abbey Church began construction in 1888, and was completed in 1925, with pilgrims across the world coming to visit, including many from Australia. Yet locals are seemingly unaware of what it has to offer.

Inside, there is a memorial to the 109 boys of Downside School, who lost their lives in the Great War; beautiful carvings, magnificent stained glass, rare medieval treasures, shrines, chapels and the tombs of former bishops; all of whom visitors can learn about. In fact, it is one of the largest neo-Gothic post-Reformation Catholic Churches in England.

Guided tours of the Abbey, Archives and Library can now be booked, with organisers keen to open up this rich, local resource. Indeed, in the Visitor Centre, locals are welcome to come in and enjoy a cup of tea and a chat with friendly faces — with biscuits and homemade cakes available by donation.

Tamsyn Richardson-Aitken,Visitor Centre Manager, explains: “We want this to be a place people feel they can come and not be alone. Some people give a donation for refreshments, some cannot afford one. It really does not matter. What does matter is making people feel part of the community. This is a thriving hub — offering a welcoming cup of tea and a listening ear.”

The Visitor Centre is open from 9.30 a.m. – 12 noon and 2 – 4 p.m., Monday to Friday and 9.30 a.m. until 12 noon on Saturdays. It is also open after Mass on Sundays. Currently, groups such as the Salvation Army, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families’ Association and Churches Together use the space, but Tamsyn is keen to include all sorts of groups that may like to meet; including local residents and walkers passing through.

What is most remarkable though, are the treasures that are inside the Visitor Centre. A literary display here reveals some incredible finds, all associated with the Abbey. There are letters from Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Siegfried Sassoon – who converted to Catholicism at Downside in later life; a ticket to poet Tennyson’s funeral and the documentation that Thackeray had based one of his characters on a monk’s grandmother. There is also a signed copy of Roald Dahl’s Boy, after he visited to give a lecture in 1984.

Steven Parsons comments: “We want residents to be proud of the fact that the Abbey is on their doorstep — much like Wells Cathedral. We want people to come back and keep finding new things.”

As part of this discovery, the new exhibition, which will be open on 14th and 28th February, 14th and 28th March and 11th April, will reveal hidden treasures shared with the public for the very first time.

The library collection hosts half a million volumes of books — all collected by the monks; some of whom were keen archaeologists, gardeners, astronomers and more — or just had an eye for collectors’ items. Locals are able to use the library by appointment.

Downside Abbey has around thirty local volunteers, who are currently sifting through a whole treasure trove of items and keep uncovering some very exciting finds.

There are also 50,000 rare books and medieval manuscripts, a first edition of Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World and all sorts of treasures, including (more recently) a first edition of The Lord of the Rings. Former school pupils have also been instrumental in building the collection, including David Rogers, once Head of Rare Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Other items that will be on display include medieval books, beautifully crafted by hand, containing gold leaf and lapis lazuli from Afghanistan on vellum, a Nun’s Processional, maps from 1676 and old charters, including one from King Henry VIII.

Steven adds: “We are incredibly lucky to be able to share this kind of material with local people and look forward to welcoming them.”

The Abbey will also be hosting a series of donation-only talks, due to begin in February. The first, a talk on the life of Dom Joseph Coombe-Tennant, will be on 27th February at 11 a.m. in the Visitor Centre. Dom Joseph had an incredible life, from escaping a German POW camp in World War II, to joining MI5 after the war and then settling down as a monk of Downside, running the parish church in Radstock. Please email: [email protected], if you would like to put your name down to attend.