Paul Waddington looks at one of Edward Pugin’s lesser known churches
Belmont Abbey owes its existence to one Francis Wegg-Prosser, who was a mathematician and astronomer, as well as being a member of the English establishment. He was born Francis Richard Haggitt, the only son of the Rev. Prebendary Francis Haggitt, Rector of Nuneham Courtenay in Oxfordshire. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, he graduated in 1845 with a degree in mathematics. From 1847 to 1852 he served as the Member of Parliament for Herefordshire, during which time he inherited the extensive estates of his great-uncle, the Rev. Dr Richard Prosser, Archdeacon of Durham. In recognition of this inheritance, he changed his name to Wegg-Prosser.
In 1852 he became a Catholic, being received into the Church by Bishop Grant of Southwark. Soon after his conversion, he resolved to use his newly acquired wealth to promote the Catholic faith in the neighbourhood of Belmont House, his home three miles south west of Hereford.
Hereford already had a Catholic Church, that of St Francis Xavier, which was served by Jesuits. So, there would have been little demand for another church in the small settlement of Belmont. Instead of a church, no doubt at the suggestion of the local bishop, Wegg-Prosser built a small school and chapel in the grounds of his estate. Not surprisingly, in view of its rural location, the school was not a great success.
Undaunted, Wegg-Prosser pressed ahead with his real ambition, which was to build a church of some distinction at Belmont. He engaged Edward Pugin, eldest son of Augustus Welby Pugin and the most distinguished Catholic architect of the time, to produce drawings. Pugin designed a small but relatively lofty church with clerestory windows. In common with most of his early period works, it was in the Decorated English Gothic style, with a relatively shallow sanctuary under the same roof line as the nave. The foundation stone was laid in 1854, and the church was opened in 1856 under the patronage of St Michael and All Angels.
At the time, Hereford was in the Diocese of Newport and Menevia, whose bishop, Thomas Joseph Brown, had been the Vicar Apostolic for the Western District until the restoration of the hierarchy in 1850. Bishop Brown, who, before becoming a bishop, was a monk of Downside Abbey, was to have a big influence on developments at Belmont. It was his idea that the underused church at Belmont should become the nucleus of a common noviciate and house of studies for the whole of the English Benedictine Congregation. This was accepted by the Congregation, which at the time consisted of Downside Abbey, Ampleforth Abbey and St Edmund’s Abbey, still located at Douai in France. Edward Pugin was commissioned to design buildings for the noviciate, which opened 1859. The noviciate, together with Wegg-Prosser’s church, became known as Belmont Priory.
Bishop Brown had ideas for the school as well. In 1860, it was transformed into the Junior Seminary for the diocese. Perhaps this was a little ambitious, because it closed 14 years later, never having attracted more than about a dozen pupils. In 1917, the Benedictines reopened it as a Public School, this time with more success. It prospered for many years, but ultimately suffered from declining enrolments and finally closed in 1994.
Pro Cathedral of the Diocese
The Diocese of Newport and Menevia lacked a cathedral, and Bishop Brown decided that Belmont Priory should become the pro-cathedral of the diocese, as well as serving as the noviciate for the English Benedictines. It was consecrated as a cathedral priory in 1860, reviving the uniquely English pre-Reformation practice of the monastic Cathedral Chapter. This status was retained until 1916 when the Archdiocese of Cardiff was created, and the cathedral of the new diocese was located in that city.
Belmont became an independent abbey in 1920 and continued to prosper. In 1981, a daughter house was set up at Tambogrande in Peru, which was later transferred to Lurin, nearer the capital city of Lima. Today, the community numbers about 40, including those in Peru, although the majority of the monks are dispersed in parishes.
The Abbey Church of St Michael and All Angels has been enlarged several times since it first opened in 1856. By 1859, when the noviciate opened, the nave had been doubled in length, and the tower added. In the following year, a new sanctuary and side aisles were added. This sanctuary was later extended by two bays in time for the consecration of the High Altar in December 1865. The chapel of St Benedict, provided specifically for the use of the novices, was added to the south side around the same time, and enlarged in 1869.
All this was the work of Edward Pugin. By the time of Edward’s death in 1875, all the major works had been completed, although Edward’s half-brother, Peter Paul Pugin continued to work on decorative schemes. Peter Paul was also responsible for further work on the adjacent monastic buildings, which continued to expand until 1904.
Viewed from the outside, the church and its associated monastic buildings present a very pleasing composition. Built of a uniform stone, it is hard to believe that the various extensions and additions were built in many stages and over a period of twenty years. The elegant fenestration, the steeply pitched roofs and the prominent central tower all contribute to the picturesque scene.
Internally, the various extensions are more apparent, as is the post Vatican II reordering that has moved the High Altar once again to a position under the central crossing. Nevertheless, the work has been carried out with sensitivity to the original design. The church has a spacious nave with side aisles. Above the elegant arcading, the clerestory windows provide plenty of light. The current sanctuary with its rather modern altar is on a raised platform behind a tall chancel arch. Further to the East, and behind a second chancel arch are the nicely carved choir stalls. Still further to the East is the site of the former High Altar, now reduced to a tabernacle. The Lady Chapel is to one side. There is an ambulatory, so that the choir stalls and the Lady Chapel can be reached without the need to pass through the sanctuary.
Belmont Abbey is pleasantly located in a semi-rural setting, with good views of the Black Mountains across the border in Wales. Regrettably, there is a proposal that a new road, designed to relieve traffic in Hereford, will pass very close to the Abbey. It is to be hoped that, if it does come about, the new road will not disturb the tranquillity of the site.
Low Mass is offered in the Extraordinary Form at 4pm every Sunday at Belmont Abbey. There is also a Low Mass at 7pm every Wednesday.