Welcome to the Father Ignatius Memorial Trust website
The Monastery
The Monastery was founded in 1870 by Fr Ignatius with the aim of restoring monastic life to the Church of England, and it remained in monastic use for over forty years. Eric Gill, the sculptor and typographer, lived there from 1924 to 1928. It has been owned by the Knill family since 1986.
The Pilgrimage
The 2020 Trust pilgrimage to Capel-y-ffin had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but this year’s pilgrimage in August was able to go ahead as planned. Next year’s pilgrimage is due to take place on Saturday August 20th 2022. (See the News page for access to the 2020 ‘virtual pilgrimage’).
The Trust
The Trust objectives include the care of Ignatius’ ruined abbey church, and the nearby Wayside Calvary and statue of Our Lady, as places of pilgrimage, prayer and worship. Although the church is is now structurally unsound and unsafe for public entry, it remains a focus of the annual pilgrimage.
The Trust Archive
There is a collection of Father Ignatius Memorial Trust archive material at Abergavenny Museum. We have also made some documents and articles available on the website on the Documents page.
How you can help
We aim to keep the memory of Ignatius alive and to continue the annual Pilgrimage. You are warmly invited to make a donation and to become a Friend of the Father Ignatius Memorial Trust by subscribing to the Trust Newsletter.
(See the Help Us page).
Father Ignatius of Llanthony
Fr Ignatius OSB (Revd. Joseph Leycester Lyne, 1837-1908) was a prominent figure in the Catholic Revival which swept the 19th century Church of England. As a young man he resolved to restore to it the monastic life lost at the Reformation, and devoted the rest of his life to this aim.
Learn more
Just discovered this on the NPG website. A very rare image of Fr Ignatius during the period he combined his monastic activities with acting as a "lecturer" at London churches (St Bartholomew's, Moor Lane; St Edmund's, Lombard Street and St Paul's, Bunhill Row). Thanks to Basil Youdell (c/o Rick Yoder) for pointing me in the right direction.
Father Ignatius (Joseph Leycester Lyne) - National Portrait Gallery
www.npg.org.uk
by Unknown artist watercolour 1867 © National Portrait Gallery, London
Small in numbers but strong in spirit -- this year's Pilgrimage to Fr Ignatius's monastery.
I don't think we'll be able to match this for splendour, but we'll do our best for Our Lady on Saturday at Capel-y-ffin:![]()
Assumption Procession 2021