The Benedictine community at Quarr Abbey, situated near Ryde on the Isle of Wight, has applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to compile a Conservation Plan which will include an archaeological survey of the ancient Cistercian abbey ruins dating back to 1132. The medieval abbey and the ‘modern’ abbey stand almost side-by-side.

The present abbey at Quarr is also of special architectural importance, and was built by local labourers, being the only British example of the work of the continental church designer and monk, Dom Paul Bellot. He was a member of the Solesmes community, then at Appuldurcombe House on the Isle of Wight. His designs were enthusiastically embraced in Holland, Belgium, France and Canada.

Abbot Cuthbert Johnson OSB, said: “The aim of our Quarr Abbey Heritage Project is the conservation of the ancient abbey ruins so that they can be enjoyed by the public and in particular the many visitors to the Isle of Wight.

“We attach special significance to the character of Quarr Abbey as a place of peace, where visitors of all religious backgrounds and cultures can enjoy a time of tranquillity in surroundings of exceptional natural beauty.”

Abbot Johnson added: “The Quarr Abbey Heritage Project is unique in presenting a ruined medieval monastery a couple of hundred yards from a living monastic community of the same name. Not only will it conserve two very important building groups, but present them to the public in such a way that they can benefit from and enjoy the experience.”

The original title of the monastery is the Abbey of our Lady of the Quarry because there used to be a stone quarry in neighbouring Binstead. Quarr stone was used in the Winchester cathedral, Canterbury cathedral and the Tower of London.

The ancient Quarr Abbey was founded in 1132 by Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon and Fourth Lord of the Isle of Wight. When the abbey was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1536, the church and the buildings around its cloister were demolished so that its stone could be re-used in the fortifications in the King’s new coastal fortresses at Cowes and Yarmouth. However, not all was removed, and in the meadows at Quarr there still survives a scheduled ancient monument of great beauty and historical value.

The abbey ruins are currently on the Buildings at Risk Register. The above ground structures include a substantial part of the dormitory (now used as a barn), and parts of the infirmary chapel, the refectory, kitchen, wood store and warming room.

The massive precinct wall is a particularly unusual survival and it is defended by England’s earliest documented gun-ports. These defences were installed around AD1360 when the monks lived in fear of a French invasion. Archaeological research into the site is a continuing long-term activity.

Benedictine monks resumed monastic life at Quarr in the summer of 1908. The imposing abbey church, a Grade II* Listed Building, is dedicated to Our Lady and has been an inspiration to artists, students of architecture and ordinary visitors alike who see something of the beauty of God reflected there.

Seven times a day the monks gather together in the church to pray the psalms, listen to the Word of God being read or to celebrate Holy Mass. When they are not in church they are involved in some form of work such as bookbinding, pottery, orchard and garden work, and general maintenance, there is also time for study and reading and relaxing together as a community. But whatever the monk is doing, it is Jesus Christ who is his model and inspiration and Him alone whom he seeks to follow. In this the monk of the 21st century is at one with his medieval predecessor who tramped the colonnades and corridors of the ancient Cistercian monastery. The Abbey remains a constituent house of the Solesmes Congregation.