In the wake of the Reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries, the ancient Benedictine tradition in England and Wales was almost extinguished, but not quite. English and Welsh Catholics desiring to continue the monastic tradition moved to the Continent and in time began to form communities in exile. From them emerged the restored English Benedictine Congregation, which sought to combine the English Benedictine tradition with the pressing demands of the day, above all by returning to their native land as priests to serve the small but vigorous number of Catholics who refused to renounce their faith. In doing so they faced persecution and risked martyrdom; Saint Alban Roe, a founding member of our community, is a prime example.

Our community was founded in Paris in 1615, under the title of Saint Edmund, King and Martyr. Situated on the Rue Saint-Jacques in the Latin Quarter, the priory was close to the Sorbonne, and it developed what would become a strong tradition of scholarship. An example of this is Charles Walmesley, who received a doctorate from the Sorbonne, became a bishop serving as a vicar apostolic in England and, despite the laws against Catholics, was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on the basis of his scientific scholarship. Walmesley also consecrated the first Catholic bishop for the United States of America, John Carroll. The community’s first prior, Gabriel Gifford, was a noted preacher, and became archbishop of Rheims. The community had strong links to the House of Stuart and was a centre for Catholic Jacobites. The tomb of the exiled King James II was housed in the community’s church until the French Revolution dispersed the community and despoiled its buildings. Before ecumenism was even imagined, non-Catholic English speakers would make visits to the community when in Paris, among them Dr Johnson and Benjamin Franklin. Of course, from the outset, the community sent monks to serve on the English Mission.

With the French Revolution the community lost its property in Paris, and was reduced to a mere handful of monks living on the English Mission. In 1818 the community re-established itself in Douai, in French Flanders, using the buildings vacated by the monks of Saint Gregory’s, who had returned to England some years earlier. In Douai a school was founded, which also served as a minor seminary. The community flourished in Douai and its numbers grew, enabling it to send more monks to the English Mission. Indeed, its missionary horizons expanded beyond England and Wales, and monks were sent as far afield as Australia and Mauritius, several of them serving as bishops of Port Louis.

In 1899 the monastery was raised to the status of an abbey, and Dom Laurence Larkin was elected the first abbot of Douai in 1900. However, the politics of France darkened yet again for Catholics, and as a result of the Laws of Association the monks at Douai were among the many religious communities forced to leave France.

In 1903, the community returned to England, refuges yet again. It settled in Upper Woolhampton, on a property offered by the bishop of Portsmouth, where there was a small college, Saint Mary’s. The monks merged their school with the college, and Douai School became a boarding school in the English tradition. The name of Douai was retained, honouring what had been a happy home for the monks, and a long-standing centre for English Catholics more generally. In Upper Woolhampton the community flourished anew, and by the 1950s it had around 90 monks and over 30 parishes (still referred to as missions). Monks were sent to Oxford for studies, as well as to Louvain in Belgium, Munich in Germany, and Salzburg in Austria.

Douai was not unaffected by the decline in religious vocations from the 1970s. It gradually handed over to the bishops many of its missions, especially in Wales and the north east, north west, and the midlands of England. In 1999 Douai School was closed, too small to be financially viable in the modern world. Its alumni are organised and remain very active.

Today the community numbers 22 monks, and has 7 parishes of its own which it continues to serve, as well as providing parish priests in the dioceses of Menevia and Portsmouth. One of our monks works in Rome. Abbot Paul heads up the liturgy office for the bishops’ conference of England and Wales. The community offers a pastoral programme of retreats and workshops, and the guesthouse is an important part of the community’s outreach. We regularly welcome groups of clergy and ordinands on retreat. The abbey church hosts well-regarded concerts of sacred music. The purpose-built library-archive is an important resource for scholars and students and houses the archives of a number of religious orders and communities. There is also an active community of lay oblates associated with the monastery.

The community is now exploring ways to expand and enhance our work and witness at the monastery, and the Society of Saint Edmund at Douai Abbey was formed in 2023 to help the community in this endeavour. The monks of Douai continue to serve the Church in parish ministry, and by offering hospitality at the monastery, as well as celebrating the Church’s liturgy in the monastic tradition. Scholarship and writing remain important features of our life. A flourishing apiary producing fine honey, which appears on our tables along with jams made by one of the monks, demonstrates that there is scope for more arts and crafts to be undertaken in the future.

As we prepare for a vigorous future in our Benedictine life and service to the Church, we invite you to experience the hospitality we offer. We also invite young men who are considering a religious vocation to visit and see if they might be called to serve God with us in our fifth century of Benedictine witness in the Church.