Buckfast Abbey Historical Site

Address: Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast, Buckfastleigh, Devon TQ11 0EE, United Kingdom

Website: https://www.buckfast.org.uk

Hours: Abbey church: Daily 7:30am-6pm (varies); visitor centre and museum hours vary (check website)

Admission: Free entry to abbey church; gardens, museum, and tours may have suggested donations or small fees

Buckfast Abbey is a Benedictine monastery at Buckfastleigh in South Devon, England, with a long medieval origin and a modern church complex rebuilt during the early 20th century. The community is noted for monastic production including wines and beekeeping.

The abbey church is the focal point for most visitors - a large Neo-Gothic building reconstructed in the early 1900s with accessible cloisters, a visitor shop and a tea room. Grounds include formal gardens and an apiary where the monastery’s beekeeping work is interpreted for visitors.

A Benedictine house existed on the site from the medieval period before being dissolved in the 16th century; a religious community was re-established in the late 19th century and the present abbey buildings were constructed mainly in the early 20th century. Brother Adam, based at the abbey in the 20th century, became internationally known for his bee-breeding programme that produced the Buckfast bee.

The abbey sits beside the River Dart at Buckfastleigh on the southern edge of Dartmoor in South Devon, England, close to the town of Buckfastleigh and roughly 30 km (about 19 miles) south of Exeter.

• Monastic products: Monastic community produces Buckfast Tonic Wine and other products that are sold on site and from the abbey shop.
• Rebuilding period: The present abbey buildings date to the early 20th century after a 19th-century re-foundation; the church reconstruction was largely completed by the 1930s.
• Visiting tips: The abbey lies near the southern edge of Dartmoor and can be busy at weekends; quieter visits are usually early weekday mornings.

What to See#

• Abbey Church: The abbey church is the main monastic building rebuilt in the early 20th century and contains the nave, choir and cloister used by the resident Benedictine community.
• Apiary / Bee-breeding area: An on-site apiary and beekeeping centre associated with Brother Adam’s breeding work, historically important in development of the Buckfast bee.
• Visitor centre and shop: Visitor facilities including a shop selling monastic products, a tea room and a small exhibition about the abbey’s reconstruction and community.

Buckfast Abbey is about 8 miles (13 km) south of Newton Abbot and 20 miles (32 km) from Exeter. By road take the A38 and follow local signs to Buckfastleigh; parking is available on site. Nearest rail stations are Totnes and Newton Abbot (taxi or local bus onward).

• Attend choral evensong if available - the abbey choir is notable and the acousitics make a visit memorable.
• Don't miss the abbey's apiary products: Buckfast Tonic Wine and honey reputedly made by monastic tradition.
• The abbey is a working monastery; dress and behave respectfully inside cloistered areas.