St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde

St Cecilia’s Abbey stands on the Isle of Wight, a Benedictine community of nuns founded in 1882 and now settled at Appley in Ryde. The nuns follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, living by prayer, work and study under the Solesmes Congregation. Each day they sing Mass and the Divine Office in Gregorian chant, a tradition revived in the 19th century by Dom Prosper Guéranger. Their life is supported by making altar breads, calligraphy, candles and garden produce. The abbey also keeps bees and tends an orchard beside the house. In 1967 a foundation was sent from here to Bangalore, where Shanti Nilayam later became an abbey. The community traces its roots to a 17th-century Belgian reform led by Florence de Werquignoeul. In 1882 nuns from Liège came to the Isle of Wight at Ventnor, then moved to Appley in 1922 when the Solesmes nuns returned to France. Edward Goldie designed the church, dedicated in 1907 to Saint Cecilia. In 1974 the abbey recorded the first plainchant by nuns in the UK to support Pope Paul VI’s call for simple Gregorian melodies. Between 1980 and 1992 nine further recordings appeared, and the nuns continue to produce hand-lettered calligraphy. Visitors find a quiet enclosure of cloisters and a church set among mature grounds. The church’s architecture and stained glass frame the daily sung offices heard through the cloister grille. The nuns’ workshop displays calligraphy and candles for sale, and the garden paths lead past beehives and orchard trees. Sister Mary David served as prioress here for 22 years until 2017. The abbey remains a place where the contemplative rhythm of Benedictine life is lived and shared.