DOWNSIDE. – Monastery of St Gregory of the Benedictine Order of the English Congregation, founded at Douai in 1605, from which monks were sent as missionaries to England; six of them were martyred by Protestants and later beatified by Pius IX.
The monastery at Douai was closed in 1795 due to the French Revolution and was reconstituted at D. near Bath in Somersetshire (diocese of Clifton) in 1814 and as an abbey at the beginning of the 20th century. One of the works to which the community has always dedicated itself is the education of youth; currently, the schools have about 600 students.
The abbey church of St Gregory was consecrated in 1935.
Cardinal F. A. GASPIÈ (v.), Archbishop of Birmingham W. B. Ullathorne, G. B. Polding, Archbishop of Sydney and apostle of Australia, and Abbots A. Butler and J. Chapman belonged to Downside Abbey. D. founded the priory of Ealing, now independent, and that of Worth in Sussex.