Earlier this month Lynne commented here that she loved the blues of the Millennium Window by Tom Denny at Bolton Percy church she compared it with the newer window at Buckfast Abbey.
Tom Denny Millenium Window, Bolton Percy
So, after we left Dartington late last Thursday afternoon we drove a few miles to Buckfast Abbey. Lynne specially wanted to show me the stained glass window in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. But before heading into the Abbey tea and cake called. The Grange Restaurant can be highly recommended for its homemade cakes and cheesecakes!
The Abbey interior and exterior are currently undergoing major renovation works. The nave is full of scaffolding but we made our way to the only dust-free, quiet area The Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
“In contrast to the rest of the Abbey, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel brings a touch of modern. After the main church was completed, the chapel was added to provide a place for quiet prayer, especially during the summer months when thousands of people visit the church daily. The splendid stained glass windows depicting Christ at the Last Supper, were designed and made in the Abbey’s workshops by the monks.”
[http://www.buckfast.org.uk/site.php?use=stills]
The window is breathtaking and to think that it was made by the monks themselves and we could actually touch the chunky roughly-hewn glass.
miladysboudoir 
Just found your blog via dovegreyreader scribbles and I have to say it’s lovely! I’ve looked at the “about” you icon, but can’t see anything there. I don’t ‘do’ Twitter or Facebook, so I’ve no idea whether you are a local person (i.e. to Devon, where I live) or are are blogging from elsewhere. I have been scrolling through your posts and I’m intrigued … do you blog for the Landmark Trust (and Vivat Trust) or do you just visit/stay in/take an interest in the properties?
Anyway, looking forward to looking in again soon!
Margaret P
Welcome, Margaret. Thank you for your lovely comment. Sorry but I never completed the “About” section. I just got straight into posting. I’ll try to amend this soon. I don’t “do” Twitter or Facebook either. I live in Yorkshire – just outside Leeds and lately I’ve been visiting Devon twice a year (lucky me!). I just blog about places I’ve visited and enjoyed and things I love which happen to include The Landmark Trust, The Leeds Library and Persephone Books.
Stunning glass. The colours, especially the blue remind me of the medieval glass still to be seen in Canturbury cathedral.
Now I have to trek down to Canterbury Cathedral, Fran ;-). Actually I visited years ago but would love to go back.
Yes, it is breathtaking, and I’d love to go back and see it again. Thank you for bringing memories back for me.
Hello Fleur. Thanks for commenting here! Breathtaking, indeed.
I don’t know Leeds, but I spent some of my early years (until I was 7) in Lancashire, my parents’ home county. Moved to Devon when was between I was 7 and have been here ever since, and live now within half an hour of Dartington/Buckfast Abbey. My mother in law (born 1890) could remember the Abbey being built!
Dartington is lovely, the gardens in spring – especially when the crocus are in bloom – are magical.
When you visit Devon again, perhaps you might visit Coleton Fishacre, a NT property on the coast between Brixham and Kingswear. Once the country residence of the D’Oyly Carte family (built for Richard and Lady Dorothy D;Oyly Carte, Richard being the son of the impresario Rupert, who was behind the Savoy operas of Gilbert & Sullivan) for this is another gorgeous property to visit, it being on the cusp of two styles – Arts & Crafts without and Art Deco within. But the gardens are a delight, and there is also a great Cafe Coleton in which to enjoy a light meal or afternoon tea. It is one of my favourite NT properties.
Margaret P
Hello again, Margaret. How lucky to live where you live! Must be much better for one in a mild climate. Although I *have* been to Lancashire and although I am not from Yorkshire myself (A Norfolk girl) it does feel as though there is a border with watchtowers once you get beyond Skipton to the west ;-).
I love Coleton Fishacre and have spent many happy hours in the gardens – with delightful view of the sea – and the house – with its wind indicator over the fireplace. I must say another visit may be on the cards in the near future. It’s a few years since I was last there.
The stained glass is spectacular and, reading the comments, Coleton Fishacre sounds lovely. I’m amassing a list of places to see when I visit my Elder Daughter, who is now living in Plymouth, but there are so many places I fear that if I try to get round to all of them I shall outstay my welcome!
Several visits are the order of the day! Remember not everywhere is open all year long.
Me again…. Finally, have just got round to visiting Buckfast, and it is stunning! Difficult to believe that six monks (only one of them with previous masonry experience) built the Abbey Church themselves, and that they created their own stained glass. That window in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel took my breath away… It is a real knock-out, a wall of coloured glass, with light flooding through it. And the other windows in the chapel are pretty incredible too.
By the way, if you like stained glass, on one of your visits to Devon do take a look at St Andrew’s Church in Plymouth. Rebuilt after it was bombed in WW2, it doesn’t look very inspiring from the outside, and, to be honest, most of the inside isn’t really that exciting either – BUT it has SIX John Piper windows, which are truly, truly wonderful. They are a real hidden treasure.
Thank you so much for adding this information, Christine. I hope one day to revisit Plymouth and if I do then a visit to St Andrew’s is definitely on the list.