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BEGINNINGS
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Interior Abbey Church
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Portsmouth Abbey Monastery was founded as a Benedictine house of the English Benedictine Congregation under the jurisdiction of Downside, one of twelve abbeys in the Congregation, three of which are in the United States.
Dom Leonard Sargent, an Anglican convert, acquired the Hall Manor in 1918 and intended his foundation to be a center for the “contemplative, liturgical and intellectual life.” His foundation emphasized the traditional features outlined in the Rule of Saint Benedict of prayer, manual work in running a farm, and a ministry of hospitality in a peaceful setting remarkable for its natural beauty.
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OUR FOUNDING ABBEYS
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Downside Abbey
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Fort Augustus Abbey
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In 1926 a school was added when the governance of the Monastery was transferred to Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland, with the distinguished educator, Dom Hugh Diman, appointed Headmaster. As an Episcopalian, he had previously founded Saint George’s School in Newport and a vocational school in Fall River, Massachusetts, eventually named after him. Dom Hugh later converted to Catholicism.
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THREE CORNER STONES
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Founder - Monastery
Dom Leonard Sargent
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First Prior of Monastery
Dom Wulstan Knowles
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Founder - School
Dom Hugh Diman
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1947 - Community
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Monks from Scotland on loan from Fort Augustus Abbey were instrumental in giving a firm footing to Portsmouth, enabling the priory to become independent in 1949 and, 20 years later, to be elevated to abbatial status, with an entirely American community.
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Learning has always been a characteristic of the Benedictines, and this is fostered by a monastic library, constructed in 1990, to house its collection, chiefly of monastic, scriptural and theological works, and to provide for scholarly research.
An Oblate Program, whereby laity can adapt the Holy Rule to their lives outside the cloister, has been in operation since the earliest days under Dom Leonard, with the group now numbering over 100 oblates.
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