Description:
Parish Church of the Holy Trinity and St Mary in Abbeydore, Herefordshire, HR2 0AA.
Services are held at 10:00 on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. There is also an evensong service at 1600 (1500 in winter) on the first Wednesday of each month.
Special services are notified on the Doreabbey web site.
Dore is a former medieval Cistercian abbey which stands to the south west of Hereford in a beautiful part of Herefordshire’s Golden Valley. The restored Laudian Parish Church includes the chancel, crossing, transepts and ambulatory of the monastery whose domestic buildings and chapter house can still be traced. It is rare to find a Cistercian Abbey in the UK that is still in use as a place of regular Christian worship..
In 1147 twelve white robed monks and their abbot from the Abbey of Morimond founded Dore and began building the existing buildings in stone from around 1175; the Abbey was consecrated by St Thomas Cantilupe, then the Bishop of Hereford, in 1275. With their days revolving around regular services and hard work, the Cistercians were renowned for highly productive agriculture and Dore became famous for rearing sheep with high quality wool, which was considered to be amongst the finest in Europe. Fetching high prices and selling as far away as Italy, the profit paid for Dore to be enlarged, decorated and re-painted. Although many local dignitaries were buried within the abbey’s walls, only 2 significant effigies remain from the 13th century. One is likely to be Robert de Ewyas and the other the notorious Roger de Clifford. A smaller effigy commemorates the heart burial of John de Breton, Bishop of Hereford.
Dore Abbey was suppressed during the Dissolution in 1537 and the majority of the monastery buildings and the nave were demolished. However, the existing building remained in use until it was fully restored as a parish church in the early 17th century by Viscount Scudamore (a close friend of Archbishop William Laud) and Dore is now an excellent example of a Laudian Church with superb stained glass in the east window, a new bell tower and some surviving furnishings. The original altar was found in a nearby farm where it was being used for salting meat and making cheese; it was returned to the abbey and placed on pillars taken from the nave. An oak screen made by John Abel and bearing the arms of King Charles I, Archbishop Laud and Viscount Scudamore was also installed. The crossing and transepts were decorated using texts which were updated (including a huge painting of Queen Anne’s coat of arms) in the early 18th century when a musician’s gallery was installed. Dore was re-consecrated as the parish church of Abbeydore on Palm Sunday 1634.
By the end of the 19th century Dore was in a very poor state of repair and a further period of extensive repair was undertaken under the direction of Roland Paul who also excavated and drew the foundations of the original abbey. He also set remains of early monastic glass and tiles into the fabric of the church.
The abbey faced another crisis in 1993 when it was to be closed. With the help of Friends, English Heritage and a number of charities, funds were raised to replace a substantial proportion of the stone roof. As a consequence Dore remains in active use today as a parish church and, given its superb acoustics, it is also used extensively for concerts and plays. As Bishop Oliver (Bishop of Hereford) put it succinctly: ....“the development of Dore Abbey as a centre of devotion and of the religious life in a form which is accessible to busy people ... will give it back its raison d’être and help it to become a resource for mission in the years that lie ahead ... in a place where we may be ‘lost in wonder, love and praise.”
LOCATION of DORE ABBEY
Dore Abbey is approximately 15 miles from Hereford City in the direction of Abergavenny
It can be found on the O.S. Landranger map No 149, Hereford and Leominster, at Map Reference 386304 and on Google maps
It is best approached from the A465 Hereford to Abergavenny Road. At Wormbridge or Ewyas Harold, look out on the right for the brown and white Tourist signs for ‘Dore Abbey’
From Hay-on-Wye, take the B4348 signposted to Ross, and turn soon after Vowchurch onto the B4347 which passes the lych gate.
The post code of Dore Abbey is HR2 0AA
OPENING TIMES for the ABBEY
The Abbey is open during daylight hours, although access to the Presbytery may be limited when a service is in progress.
The Abbey grounds are always open.
Conducted tours can be prebooked by contacting 01873 821 456
Herefordshire Churches - Dore Abbey Herefordshire - Abbey Dore - Churches in Herefordshire
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