Showing posts with label Berkshire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Berkshire. Show all posts

Sunday, November 3, 2013

DOUAI ABBEY IN ENGLAND

Douai Abbey - Woolhampton, Berkshire
A beautiful place of worship in England which a friend took me to visit is the Roman Catholic Douai Abbey in Woolhampton in Berkshire.  From the homepage of the abbey:

Douai Abbey is home to a community of monks of the English Benedictine Congregation. The monastery is under the patronage of St Edmund, King & Martyr, and was founded in Paris in 1615. Uprooted by the French Revolution it came to settle at Douai in Flanders. After more political turmoil the community of St Edmund finally returned to England in 1903, to Woolhampton in Berkshire, at the invitation of the Bishop of Portsmouth.


The interior of the abbey was quite a surprise, as I expected it to look not quite so traditional. When I left, the exterior was once again a surprise, and I felt somewhat as if I had been in two different structures. The interior includes contemporary touches, such as the techie lighting, the crucifix, and the stained glass windows.

Close-up of the crucifix

The close-up of the crucifix is stunning. In the abbey, the crucifix is positioned quite high, so the close-up after cropping the photo is an exquisite surprise.

Stained glass window with cool colors

Stained glass window with warm colors

I intended to post the stories of my travels in chronological order, but I had writer's block when I tried, so the posts will be about whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

Image of the exterior of the abbey from Wikipedia.