page_title: Quarr Abbey
section_title: New abbey on site of Quarr Abbey House
hierarchical_section_title: Quarr Abbey / Modern abbey / New abbey on site of Quarr Abbey House
caption_attribution_description: English: Quarr Abbey IoW
context_page_description: Quarr Abbey is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor". It belongs to the Catholic Order of St Benedict.
  The Grade I listed monastic buildings and church, completed in 1912, are considered some of the most important twentieth-century religious structures in the United Kingdom; Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the Abbey as "among the most daring and successful church buildings of the early 20th century in England". They were constructed from Belgian brick in a style combining French, Byzantine and Moorish architectural elements. In the vicinity are a few remains of the original twelfth-century abbey.
  A community of fewer than a dozen monks maintains the monastery's regular life and the attached farm. As of 2013, the community provides two-month internships for young men.
context_section_description: The first monks arrived at Quarr Abbey House from Appuldurcombe on 25 June 1907 to prepare the grounds and the beginnings of a kitchen garden. They also put up fencing around the property, established a chicken farm and planted an orchard.
  One of the monks, Dom Paul Bellot, aged 31, was an architect. He designed and draughted plans for the new abbey, incorporating and extending Quarr Abbey House, some distance from the ruins of the medieval monastery.  300 workers from the Isle of Wight, accustomed to building only dwelling-houses, raised a building whose design and workmanship is admired by all who visit the Abbey. The building of the refectory and three sides of the cloister began in 1907 and was completed inside one year. The rest of the monks came from Appuldurcombe and, in April 1911, work began on the Abbey church which was quickly completed and consecrated on 12 October 1912. It was built with tall pointed towers of glowing Flemish brick, adding a touch of Byzantium to the skyline. The monastic buildings are considered some of the most important twentieth-century religious structures in the United Kingdom.
  In 1922, after World War I, the community of Solesmes returned to France. A small community of monks was left at Quarr which, from being a priory of Solesmes, became in 1937 an independent abbey, with English monks recruited to the community.
  With a shrinking community and ageing buildings the World Monuments Fund identified Quarr Abbey as one of the 100 most endangered historic sites in the world. In July 2012 the Heritage Lottery fund awarded Quarr a £1.9 million matching grant. The project includes repair and conservation of the abbey remains and existing abbey church, as well as a visitor information centre and education and training placements in construction for local college students.  In the Bellot Abbey, repairs will be carried out to remedy rain penetration.
  In July 2013, the Abbey hosted a Chant Forum, a five-day course on early polyphony and Gregorian Chant.
caption: Quarr Abbey
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