I'm a Buckfast Bee!!! (Buckfast Abbey (Buckfastleigh, South Devon))

Member Name: tartlette

Product:	Buckfast Abbey (Buckfastleigh, South Devon)
Date:	12/05/06 (810 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, free, quite a lot to see, beautiful location

Disadvantages: Not very old, expensive shop

A visit to Devon for a wedding on the weekend meant that I found myself a couple of miles away from Buckfast Abbey. As someone who loves history and all things old, I thought great! I read up on the Abbey in a local guidebook and although it told me that the current Abbey was a 19th century creation I still thought it might be worth a look.

HISTORY:

Buckfast Abbey was originally founded in around 1018, as a Benedictine house. In the 1147 the Abbey joined the Cistercian order. The Cistercians rebuilt the Abbey in their style, and when the Abbey was rebuilt in the 19th century it was rebuilt in this style.

Along with the country's other abbeys, Buckfast lost its status after the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. Buckfast was closed in 1539. The monks left and the treasures of the Abbey were taken to the Tower of London. The lead from the roof was melted down.

Some of the Abbey's land was sold off. By the early 19th century the Abbey still stood, albeit in ruins. It was finally demolished by Samuel Berry, who built a mansion on the site.

In 1882 the property was in the hands of a Dr James Gale, who decided to sell it but wanted it to go to a religious communtiy. It only took 6 weeks before monks were living on the site again.

The Abbey we see today was begun in 1907 and took 32 years to complete.

OPENING TIMES AND ACCESS:

Buckfast is fairly easy to get to. It is about 30 minutes south of Exeter on the A38. It is signposted. There are also buses from Newton Abbot, Totnes, Exeter and Plymouth.

The great thing about the Abbey is that its free, which is abviously a huge advantage!! We weren't going to go in if it cost more than a couple of pounds so we were pleasantly surprised.

There is a very big car park, but I would think it gets very full in the summer because the Abbey is a base for lots of walks around the area.

The Abbey's opening times are:

Monday-Thursday: 9am - 6pm
Friday: 10am - 6pm
Saturday: 9am - 6pm
Sunday: 12pm - 6pm
(sometimes services will interupt these)

Almost all areas are accessible for disabled.

There is a restaurant at the Abbey, although I didn't go in. There is also a shop, which I found very expensive, but understandably so as they don't charge admission and they have to maintain the Abbey somehow. The shop sells lots of things, I imagine it would be a nightmare in the summer if it was full, it was one of those shops where one wrong move could bring a shelf tumbling down!! In the shops they sell the famous Buckfast Bee honey as well as Buckfast Tonic Wine. They also sell various books, candles, pottery as well as the usual tourist fare of rubbers and pencil sharpeners.

THE EXPERIENCE:

We didn't spend too long at the Abbey as a 3 hour drive awaited me. We firstly went into a small video room which is located near the car park. This gave an outline of the Abbey and showed the monks in their daily lives. This was very interesting and gave a very good introduction to the visit. We then progressed to the church itself. As we went inside we heard the monks singing. It was a service so we did not move around for a while but it was very peaceful listening to the monk's service. When they had finished you could walk around in the church. The church was very peaceful. The interior is quite plain, with lots of bare stone. there were various side altars but none were garrish. I thought that the marble mosaic pavements inside the church were beautiful.

One part of the church which I really disliked was the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. It is meant to be an area for quiet prayer but how anyone can concentrate on prayer when they are confronted with the hideous window is beyond me. The chapel is very modern looking (or concrete looking to me) with its 'crowning glory' being an enormous stained glass window which depicts Christ. I found this garrish and loud and totally out of keeping with the Abbey as a whole.

Outside there are lots of areas to walk around. There are many gardens which contain different plants which the monks have used for centuries for cooking and medicine (although some of the plants looked a bit worse for wear to me!).

There are some medieval buildings left to look at, including the Abbot's Tower and the Guest Hall.

There is also the beehives (although I'm not actually sure how close to these you can get as I not the world's greatest bee fan...OK I'm petrified of the little b****rs!!). These are home to the famous Buckfast Bee, which has supposedly be specially bred to be hardworking and more friendly (well I don't care if they want to shake my hand, I'm not getting close!!).

Another part I didn't go to was the exibition on medieval monks but I wish I had seen this bit.

MY VERDICT:

I enjoyed my visit but don't think I would go back to Buckfast. It was very interesting and there is lots to see there. If I was in the area in ten years time I may pop in but I wouldn't go there specially for a visit. I found the Blessed Sacrament chapel absolutely horrible but the rest of the church was very peaceful and I enjoyed that. With more time I think I would have explored the grounds more. It is definately a good base for walks around the Devon countryside and the location is beautiful. If you're in the area pop in - its free so at least if you don't like it then you don't feel like you need to get you monies worth! You will probably learn something, especially if you watch the introductory video. For me, I prefer older heritage sites but obviously I can't go and shout at old Henry VIII!! (That would be fun though....!) Enjoy!

Summary: Good for a day out if you're in the area