The Downside Connection

It was announced that Fr. Nicholas (Prior) was to be going as the new superior of Downside Abbey. The appointment to Downside is because the community there are depleted in number and need some support from the congregation. So Fr. Nicholas together with a Douai monk and a Worth monk will be joining the community to help them.

Belmont has a long connection with Downside Abbey. Five monks served as Cathedral Priors of Belmont in the days of the Common Noviciate and House of Studies. They were Dom Norbert Sweeney (1859-1862 Dom Bede Vaughan (1862-1873), Dom Wilfrid Raynal (1873-1901), Dom Clement Fowler (1905-1914) and Dom Aelred Kindersley (1915-1920) Dom Bede Vaughan went on to become the second Archbishop of Sydney, Australia. He died on a visit home to Britain and was buried here until 1947 when his body went back to the Cathedral in Sydney.

Dom Bede Vaughan went on to become the second Archbishop of Sydney, Australia. He died on a visit home to Britain and was buried here until 1947 when his body went back to the Cathedral in Sydney.

Dom Wilfrid Raynal did much to beautify Belmont and the Sacristy was built in 1901 in his memory; there is a memorial brass relief to him just inside the monks door. As a very young boy in the care of nuns, together with his sister, when asked what he would like to be when he grew up, he answered "a nun!"

Dom Aelred Kindersley became the first Prior of an independent Belmont and in 1920, when Belmont was elevated to he status of an abbey by the Holy See, he was elected the first Abbot of Belmont. He died in post in 1934.

The first Bishop of Newport and Menevia, the Right Reverend Thomas Joseph Brown, whose cathedral Belmont became in 1859, was also a monk of Downside.

In the 1950's, when Belmont was going through a difficult period, a monk of Downside, Dom Nicholas Holman, was sent to Belmont for a number of years to help out. He later did the same for Fort Augustus Abbey, Scotland, and was elected Abbot there. After retiring he went as chaplain to the Tyburn community at Wadhurst, which later moved to Ireland. The ceremonial of Downside was followed here at Belmont for many years. It can be seen that Belmont owes a great debt to Downside Abbey