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 Trust holds an annual pilgrimage to Capel-y-ffin and the Abbey Church, including an optional 3½ mile walk from Llanthony to Capel-y-ffin along the eastern side of the valley. The date for this year’s pilgrimage is Saturday 17th August 2019 (please see the News page for more details).
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
Facebook Posts
The 2019 Newsletter has now been sent out to our regular supporters. As well as news of the annual Pilgrimage (Saturday 17 August, this year) and of the state of the ruins of Fr Ignatius's abbey church, it includes historical updates by the author of 'New Llanthony Abbey' and the first part of an article by Donald Kerr on the Reverend W.A. Shoults, associate Father Cyril. Are you on the mailing list? If not, please ask for a copy via the messaging facility on www.fatherignatius.org.uk, or write to the Hon Sec at 43 St Helen's Road, Abergavenny NP7 5YA.
This photo appeared the other day on the FB page of Friends of Friendless Churches. The church in which it is situated (St Mary's Priory, Abergavenny) is in fact far from friendless, but I was glad to have my memory jogged nonetheless. It was installed in 2016 as a memorial to the late Vicar (and our late Chairman) Fr Jeremy Winston, and designed to complement the mediaeval Jesse figure which has been repositioned just below the window, which takes the place of the wooden "tree" which would originally have sprouted from the recumbent Patriarch's central region.Did you know we offer grants for commissioning or buying new art for churches?This weekend we're taking a peek at some of the amazing things we've funded... starting with the new Jesse window by Helen Whittaker at St Mary’s Priory in Abergavenny. The Cottam Will Trust contributed £42,000 towards the project, unveiled by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2016. Visit our website to learn more about the Cottam Will Trust: bit.ly/2LRYZeM#art #newart #funding
A recent photo of the Monastery at Capel-y-ffin, with the Grange (Plas Genevieve in Father Ignatius's day) to the right, taken by Trust Secretary Peter Davies.
Advanced notice saturday 2nd March will be pilgrimage to Llanthony Priory near Abergavenny (NP7 7NN) It is the site of one of St David’s monastic cells. Services will take place in the chapelnext to the ruins. Please arrive by 10am and the liturgy will begin shortly after. The vespers service will bemid-afternoon from approximately 3pm.There is a pub next to the Priory ruins for a drink and/or food after the liturgy,although usually we take a picnic lunch.