Downside Abbey, Stratton on the Fosse
Downside Abbey, Stratton on the Fosse
The Abbey Church of St Gregory the Great at Downside is a Grade I Benedictine abbey church at Stratton on the Fosse, Somerset, a major Gothic Revival basilica built in phases from the 1870s and still unfinished at the west end.
- Location
- Stratton on the Fosse, Somerset
- Country
- England
- County
- Somerset
- City / town
- Stratton on the Fosse
- Address
- Stratton on the Fosse, Somerset, BA3 4RH
- Postcode
- BA3 4RH
- Built
- 1873–1938; west front unfinished
- Architect
- A M Dunn and E J Hansom; Thomas Garner; F A Walters; Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
- Denomination
- Catholic Church
- Dedication
- Gregory
- Diocese
- Clifton
- Parish
- Downside Abbey
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Gothic Revival (Early English and Perpendicular)
- Materials
- Bath stone ashlar with red plain-tile roofs
- Grid reference
- ST 655 508
- Opening hours
- Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England lists the abbey church and north cloister (list entry 1058633). Work began in 1873 (Heritage Gateway notes transepts from 1872) for Benedictines who had settled at Downside after leaving Douai. Architects in date order are A. M. Dunn and E. J. Hansom, Thomas Garner, F. A. Walters and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott; interior fittings include work by those architects and Sir Ninian Comper. The fabric is Bath stone ashlar with red plain-tile roofs.
The listing and later summary describe transepts and the tower base of the 1880s by Dunn and Hansom in Early English; a Lady Chapel and radiating chapels of about 1890 in French Perpendicular; a chancel of about 1901–05 by Garner in Early Perpendicular; a nave of about 1923–25 by Scott; and the tower finished in 1938 by Scott in Somerset Perpendicular. The west front remains incomplete. Heritage Gateway grid is ST 6550 5084. The church is a minor basilica as well as the monastery church.