Centenary of the School

We were delighted to welcome back the Old Boys and Girls of the School to mark the centenary of its foundation.

More than 150 former pupils of Belmont Abbey School returned to Belmont on Saturday to celebrate the centenary of the school’s foundation in 1926.

Old Boys and Old Girls from several generations gathered in the former school buildings, many seeing one another for the first time in years. The day included a celebratory lunch prepared by the Abbey kitchen, music provided by former pupils and friends, and the opportunity to revisit familiar places and rekindle old friendships. There was much laughter, story-telling and reminiscing as memories were shared across the generations.

Welcoming those gathered, Abbot Brendan reflected on the origins of the school.

“Schools today begin with strategic plans, consultants and risk assessments,” he remarked. “But when Fr Anselm Lightbound opened Belmont Abbey School in September 1926 he had just eleven boys, virtually no school buildings, a handful of energetic young monks, and what can only be described as Benedictine optimism.”

The monks who established the school had themselves known difficult times. Many had served in the trenches of the First World War and were determined to create a school shaped by Benedictine values of study, discipline, friendship and faith. Despite limited resources and repeated financial challenges, the school grew steadily over the decades and became a much-loved institution for generations of pupils.

Abbot Brendan noted that behind the history of the school lay countless personal stories. Former pupils came from many different backgrounds and, over nearly seventy years, together with monks, teachers and staff, created the unique spirit for which Belmont became known.

A highlight of the afternoon was an address by Fr Simon, the only surviving former headmaster of Belmont Abbey School, whose reflections and recollections were warmly received by those present.

The reunion continued with Vespers in the Abbey Church. Former pupils joined the monastic community in singing the school’s hymn, Thousand on Thousand, and in praying for all the monks, teachers, staff and pupils who had been part of the life of Belmont over the years.

In his closing remarks, Abbot Brendan encouraged former pupils to maintain their connection with the Abbey:

“If you are in touch with those not here today, let them know that Belmont is still here for them. Visit us, stay in our guesthouse, and let us know you are coming so that we can say hello. Belmont preserves the memories, but we want to be more than that. We want to continue to be, in Newman’s phrase, ‘a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.’”

Although Belmont Abbey School closed in 1994, the centenary reunion demonstrated that the friendships, values and sense of community fostered there continue to endure.

As one former pupil remarked during the day: “The school may have gone, but Belmont never really left us.”