Upcoming Events

Buckfast Abbey is 'branching' out with a series of sessions for grandparents and toddlers. 10:30am to 12pm £2.50 per child - Grandparents FREE! (only pay for childrens tickets during booking) Book now or call 01364 645517 to reserve your space and pay on the day. 'Oaks and Acorns' makes the most of the glorious setting and great facilities on offer at the Abbey and makes for a fun filled morning for the young and young at heart alike. With the hands on help of our experienced Education team, toddlers and grandparents will have the opportunity to get stuck into a wide variety of activities from getting their fingers green in the gardens, to exploring shape and colour through the windows and artwork on show in the Abbey Church. Each session involves storytelling, exploration, messy making and much more.

20th March 2019 Wednesday Behind the Scenes A tour up to the gardeners’ base and glasshouses with the Abbey’s Head Gardener. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11.00am £3.00 pp. Please note this tour involves a lot of walking.

A 'Come and Sing' performance of Stainer's Crucifixion organised by the Royal School of Church Music. To register as a participant, visit the RSCM Devon Local Area website.

Taster Days from April to September 2019
For people thinking about taking up beekeeping.
We will be running four seperate days on the following dates (this is not a four week course - each day is a self-contained unit which is repeated to allow more oppertunities to attend).
Saturday 30th March
Saturday 6th July
Saturday 27th July
Saturday 7th September
The day starts at 11am and finishes at 4pm with an hour for lunch (bring your own or fine at the grange restaurant on site).
We will be giving you an overview of the basic responsibilities and commitments involved in keeping bees aliongside the costs and where best to get your kit. You will have the chance to see inside a hive and expereince the fascinating world of the honey bee first hand. A full information pack will be given out for you to keep.
Cost £25

*This is not a substitute for a beekeeping course. It's an attempt to let you know what you might be letting yourself in for if you decide to take up beekeeping as a hobby!

We will be running two beginners courses in tandem every other week. This enables us to keep the group numbers low and allow some flexibility between groups, (if you can't make it one week you could always join the other group session the next).

Beginners Course A, cost £100 SOLD OUT
Saturdays: 6th and 20th April 4th; and 18th May; 1st, 15th and 29th June; 3rd August.

Wed 10th April Bulbs & Spring Growth We have agian planted over 20,000 new bulbs ready to appear this year. Join us for a walk and talk with the Abbey’s Head Gardener looking at our many varieties of Tulips, Narcissi, Anemones, Crocus, Allums and many more. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11.00am £3.00 pp

A mixture of theory and practical experience to start you off on your journey with honey bees. The course is designed to cover most of the bee keeing season from the spring build up and swaring to honey harvest and the preparation of bees for winter. We will be running two beginners courses in tandem every other week. This enables us to keep the group numbers low and allow some flexibility between groups, (if you can't make it one week you could always join the other group session the next).

Beginners Course A, cost £100
Saturdays: 6th and 20th April 4th; and 18th May; 1st, 15th and 29th June; 3rd August.

Beginners Course B, cost £100
Saturdays: 13th and 27th April; 11th and 25th May; 8th and 22nd June; 10th and 24th August.

Both courses are from 10am till 12pm
Please note: there are no classes in July to give the bees a break and to allow students holidays.

It is impossible to learn everything there is to know during only 8 weeks so students are welcome to join our community beekeeping group on a Sunday afternoon, during or after the course has finished, to top up their experience and understanding.

Fauré's sonorous Requiem (in the original chamber orchestration) is performed alongside music by Maurice Duruflé, Camille Saint-Saëns and others.

There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Click here to view the menu

Maundy Thursday Service at Buckfast Abbey

Drop in craft activities for children and families during the Easter Holidays.

Good Friday Service at Buckfast Abbey

Holy Saturday Services

Reboot your beekeeping skills. Sometimes turning the computer off and then on again will sort out how well it reponds. We can easily become unfocussed and sloppy when looking at our bees. Going back to basics and relearning the fundamental procedures and preceptions which we use to manage our colonies will refine, refresh and strengthen a framework for great working practices. Saturday 20th April 2pm to 4.30pm

Easter Sunday Service

Services for Holy Week at Buckfast Abbey

April 24th – Wednesday Container Planting. Please bring containers of your choice, we will supply the medium & the plants. You will be able to drive to the workshop to unload & then load up afterwards again. £11.00 pp

One of two seperate afternoon sessions which explore the phenomena of honeybee swarming. Saturday 27th April 2pm to 4.30pm. We will deal with the why? how? and when? questions about swarming including how ofter do you need to insect in order to prevent or control it.

Foragers Feast Pop-up Kitchen at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre. Saturday 27th April at 7pm. 4 course menu cooked by local foraging expert David Beazley and our own award winning team of chefs using lots of lcoally foraged foods and produce from our own land. Book online or call 01364 645530

One of two seperate afternoon sessions which explore the phenomena of honeybee swarming. Saturday 4th May 2pm to 4pm We will focus in more detail with different methods of preventation and control which we think are the most effective to stop you losing your bees.

Timothy Parsons, Assistant Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral, performs a popular programme including William Walton's Suite from Henry V, Bach's monumental Passacaglia, and Timothy's own transcription of the Cavatina from Beethoven's String Quartet in B flat, Op. 130.

May 8th - Wednesday Trees & Shrubs Join the Abbey’s Head Gardener looking at the many varieties of trees and shrubs we grow in the Abbey grounds. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp

Quiet Day retreat with Dom Christopher O.S.B.

Workshop 2 - Making increase. It's always a good ideal to have more than one colony just in case something goes wrong. Instead of buying in expernsive nucleus colonies why don't you produce your own? Splitting your bees is the simplest form of queen rearing and we can show you some of the ways which have worked for us most successfully. Saturday 18th May from 2pm to 4.30pm

Wed May 22nd Sensory, Physic & Millennium Gardens A guided tour with the Abbey’s Head Gardener. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp

Workshop 3 - When to leave your bees alone. Have you ever wondered how some larger professional beekeepers manage to look after so many colonies? Do they inspect them relentlessly every 8 or 9 days all through the season? How good record keeping and basic understand of the natural life cycle of a colony can lead to less manipylation, more meaningful inspections and happier bees. There are times when your girls can do perfectly well (actually better) without you. Learn when and how to inspect your colonies and when you can give them a break for less string and a more relaxed summer. Saturday 25th May from 2pm to 4.30pm

The Motets are considered the pinnacle of the Baroque choral repertoire and are amongst the most celebrated and formidable music of the period. They radiate deep abiding faith and confidence in the Almighty and offer great spiritual sustenance in time of human difficulty. The opportunity to hear all six live is rare and one not to be missed.

From virtuosic orchestral transcriptions to works from some of the organ repertory’s most recognised contributors, as well as a wild-card ending, this recital will be sure to put the Abbey's organ through its paces!

Our Excellent Garden Fayre is back for 2019 Following on from the success of last year’s Millennium Garden Fayre we are pleased to be hosting our second Garden Fayre on Saturday 1st June 2019 Entry is free, it opens at 10am

THey could be stressed! The balance of your colony is essential for its health, wellbeing and success. Learn how to read your colony and to recognise when they are out of kilter. You could steer them back onto the right track by using simple management techniques. Sometimes these could make the difference to your colony surviving and florishing or dwindling and dying out. Saturday 8th June 2pm to 4.30pm

Wed June 12th Being Creative with Lavender Using lavender stalks collected from the Abbey grounds to hang creatively in your wardrobe etc. Also, making a lavender bag and a summer salad dressing. £11 pp

The Alvington Singers perform Fauré's Requiem alongside other French choral music including pieces by Olivier Messiaen, César Franck, Alexandre Guilmant and François Couperin.

June Wed 26th Peter’s Creative Floristry. Techniques for making hand posies. There will be a demonstration and the opportunity to create your own posy. Includes wrapping materials. £15 pp

Summer Food Fair at the Grange Restaurant

Free Entry & Free Parking

As part of the Buckfast Abbey Summer Food Festival, we are excited to be hosting the Award-Winning Cookery School for Children, 'Fun Kitchen' to deliver FREE cookery workshops on Saturday 6th July. Fun Kitchen will be offering their high energy ‘hands-on’ cookery workshops throughout the day: Fab, Fun, Food education delivered in an inspiring and engaging manner. Fun Kitchen will be holding workshops for up to 30 children at the following times: 10:30am, 11.45am, 1:30pm & 2:45pm on the Buckfast Abbey site . Young visitors will prepare and cook a predominantly healthy food item using seasonal fruit or vegetables to take home after the session. Participants over 5 years old and under 8 need to be supervised by a parent or responsible guardian over 18.

Wed July 10th Lavender Garden Tour A guided tour with the Abbey’s Head Gardener. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp

Workshop 4 - What the books don't tell you and why bees change their minds! Bee behaviour can be confusing and we often resort to the anthropomorphic and rather desperate statement "Oh well bees don't read books!" Actually there is an awful lot in books which is misleading or only partially correct (depending on what books you read of course). This workshop aims to debunk some of the common myths and misconception about bees which are often quoted in literature and by word of mouth. Saturday 13th July 2pm to 4.30pm

Peter Stevens, Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral and former Organ Scholar of King's College, Cambridge performs a exquisite programme including Charles-Marie Widor's Symphonie Romane, Cesar Franck's Choral No. 1 and Marcel Dupre's Deuxième Symphonie. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Following the success of last year's Storytelling Festival we are excited to announce that this year (2019), alongside the Abbey Bookshop, we will be holding a Children's Book Festival from the 11th - 14th July.

A detailed look at Honey Bee disease: diagnosis, treatment and avoidance. The day will teach you how to recognise healthy brood and how to detect when things are not as they should be. Plenty of hands on experience coupled with expert advice and tuition. Saturday 20th July from 11am to 4pm. *Bring your own lunch or dine at The Grange Restaurant on site.

Wed July 24th Private Garden Areas A garden tour with the Abbey’s Head Gardener exploring garden areas not normally open to the public. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp

Join the Abbey Choir and Orchestra for a summer evening in the company of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They will perform the Mass in C minor and the Vesperae solennes de confessore. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Hailed as "one of the brightest stars of the organ world", Olivier Latry performs a virtuosic programme centred around the music of Bach and those who have paid him homage. The concert includes the Fantasia & Fugue in G minor (after the piano version by Franz Liszt) plus music by Widor, Schumann, Saint-Saëns and others. Known for his consummate skill in extemporisation, Latry will end the evening with an improvisation. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Wed August 14th Herbaceous Plants and Grasses Maia Hall will accompany you on this interesting tour. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp

A rare opportunity to hear Verdi's masterful Requiem performed in this version for two organists (four hands and four feet!)

Wed August 28th Seeds & Cuttings A more practical tour taking seeds and cuttings from our grounds with the Abbey’s Head Gardener and Maia Hall. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp

Join over 150 voices to perform Mozart's magnificent Requiem, together with other sacred music. Register with the Rotary Club of Ashburton/Buckfastleigh on 01626 437308 to sing, or just come and enjoy the concert!

Wed Sept 11th Plants and Pollination A talk by our Head Beekeeper. Clare has a wealth of knowledge about individual plants and how they can help the bee population. Talk includes tea/coffee & cake. £11 pp

Organist & Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, James O'Donnell presents a thrilling programme including J. S. Bach's Partita diverse sopra ‘Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig’, extracts from Messiaen's cycle L'Ascension, culminating in Maurice Duruflé's Suite, Op. 5. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Wed Sept 25th Behind the Scenes at Buckfast Abbey A tour up to the gardeners’ base and glasshouses with the Abbey’s Head Gardener. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am £3 pp. Please note this tour involves a lot of walking.

Rushmoor Male Voice Choir present an eclectic programme of sacred music including an arrangement of Mozart's Ave Verum corpus by Morley Glover which was commissioned by one of our baritones, Mark Sleep, to celebrate the life of choir baritone Niall Shalloe.

A programme featuring two major unaccompanied choral works of the twentieth century, the hauntingly beautiful Requiem by Ildebrando Pizzetti of 1922 and the Missa Rigensis, the startlingly original mass setting written in 2003 by Latvian Ugis Praulins.

Wed Oct 9th Winter Bedding Plants and Techniques How to get containers ready for the 'off season'. Please bring your own containers. £11pp

David Davies gives his inaugural recital as Organist at Buckfast. His virtuosic programme includes Joseph Jongen's Sonata Eroïca, Jehan Alain's Trois Danses, and music by Saint-Saëns and Langlais. The concert concludes with Julius Reubke's mighty Sonata on the 94th Psalm. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Wed Oct 23rd Gardening Philosophy & Organics. A tour with the Abbey’s Head Gardener. Meet outside The Grange Restaurant at 11am. £3 pp

Palestrina’s Missa Brevis is perhaps the most performed of his mass settings. Rachmaninov’s choral works are influenced by the music of the Russian orthodox church. 2018 was the centenary of Bernstein’s birth and the Chichester Psalms remain one of his most popular pieces.

Wed Nov 13th Garden Quiz in The Grange Restaurant This event will be no more than an hour for the questions and we have a tea break in the middle. Plants will be offered as prizes. £3 entry. (Refreshments available to purchase at The Grange)

Following closely from the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, this concert focuses on music written by the Lateran's various musical directors during the Renaissance era, and particularly on music written for the dedication of a church. St John Lateran is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the oldest public church in that city, dedicated in AD 324. It played a large part in the musical life of the Roman Catholic church in the 16th century, and its alumni include Palestrina, Lassus, Anerio, and Dragoni. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Wed Nov 27th Christmas Wreath Making. A whole variety of foliage and ideas for different wreaths. Includes festive refreshments. £15 pp - includes all materials and refreshments. (If this workshop fills then it will also be offered on Thursday 28th)

A 'Come and Sing' Carol Service for Advent sung by associated choirs of the Royal School of Church Music.

Exeter Chamber Choir present an a capella concert in celebration of the festive season.

Stanborough Chorus lead a service of popular carols, raising money for the Primrose Foundation.

Wed Dec 11th Christmas Table Decorations Our home made table decorations, again with copious foliage choices. £15pp includes all materials and refreshments. (If this workshop fills then it will also be offered on Thursday 12th)

Join the Abbey Choir and orchestra for a performance of Handel's great oratorio, Messiah. There is a pre-concert two-course meal available in the Grange Restaurant at 18:00 for only £19.75.

Dartington Community Choir lead a Carol Service that celebrates the efforts of all those associated with the Rowcroft Hospice, staff, volunteers, patients and their families. We would like to take time at this service to remember all these people during the busyness of preparing for Christmas.

A popular Christmas Organ Recital, given by Assistant Master of the Music Matthew Searles, showcasing the Abbey's magnificent instrument in seasonal music by Daquin, Bach, Hollins and Thomas Trotter's arrangement of Sleigh Ride!

A sequence of seasonal music and readings for Christmas, sung by the Abbey Choir.