Thursday, August 28, 2008
Skip Navigation LinksHome

BOOST FOR ABBEY HERITAGE PROJECT

By Richard Wright - Wednesday, March 14, 2007
BOOST FOR ABBEY HERITAGE PROJECT
Quarr Abbey monks with the ruin of the first monastery on the site. Left, Fr David Benedict and Fr Gregory. Picture by Jennifer Burton.
THE unique environment around Quarr Abbey has won a £50,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant.
The cash for the Quarr Abbey Heritage Project will be used to prepare a conservation plan for the abbey church, its ancient ruins and the habitats of several rare and protected species. It is expected to take a year to complete.
Quarr’s Prior, Father Gregory Corcoran, said: “Father Abbot and the Chapter will be able to judge, after studying the detailed report, whether it is appropriate for us to proceed with an application for a major grant.”
The ruins date from when the medieval abbey was founded in 1132, the name Quarr derived from the Roman quarry, which was still worked in the Middle Ages.
The site is in an area of outstanding natural beauty and studies have shown a wide variety of habitats have encouraged an exceptionally rich eco-system.
The crumbling ruins of the medieval abbey are designated an ancient monument and are on the English Heritage at risk register.
After 400 years, the medieval monastery was destroyed by Henry VIII and much of its stone was re-used in the building of forts at Cowes and Yarmouth.
However, the monastic community survived with people travelling to the abbey for generations to worship and bathe in the "healing" waters of its spring.
Structures that remain include part of the building now used as a barn, a portion of the infirmary chapel, a corner of the refectory and kitchen and a part of the wood store and calefactory (monks’ warming room).
A massive enclosure wall once surrounded the building and is still well-preserved on three sides, built in the middle of the 14th century to defend against possible French attack and containing two of the earliest-documented gun ports in the country.
Archaeological interest led to the excavation of the site by scholar Percy Stone in 1892, leading to the mapping of the outline of most of the buildings and revealing a number of tombs, including that presumed to be of the founder, Baldwin de Redvers.
However, deterioration of the stone masonry has continued through invasive vegetation, weathering and vandalism. The Great Storm of 1987 put a number of structures in jeopardy and some were shored up temporarily.
More than six years ago English Heritage produced a detailed report, concluding urgent work was required and would cost £500,000. Less urgent repairs that should follow were then costed at £2 million.
Fr Gregory said: “Since the demise of the abbey farm, there has been a great benefit to wildlife.
“Red squirrels use the ancient wall as a highway between the woodlands of Binstead and Fishbourne and there are buzzards and egrets. There are badgers, barn owls and rare bats.
“If we do make a major grant application to improve the habitats of flora and fauna and the security of the ancient monument, we will have to raise 25 per cent of the cost and we would welcome public support for that,” he said.