A HUNDRED YEARS AGO in 1925, the large estate of Marley House in South Devon was up for sale by auction after the last of the Carew family had died: Bessie and Beatrice who were benefactors to St Mary’s Rattery.

 The religious community of Syon Abbey were the only English monastic community to return after 300 years exile abroad and had settled in their convent at Chudleigh from 1887. The community was latterly expanding fast with no room for those wanting to join, so they sought larger accommodation with more land to run a farm.

The Lady Abbess, Mother Teresa Jocelyn OSsS*, had a representative bid at the auction in the Seymour Hotel in Totnes. So it was that the Bridgettine Sisters of Syon secured the property with the great assistance of a lady benefactor, Dora Martin.

ABBEY FARM

 Numbers grew in the depression and with help from local farmers they ran a large farm with cattle and sheep as well as keeping their very productive fruit and vegetable garden.

The enclosed Order* was founded in the 14^th century by St Bridget of Sweden and they prayed their devotions to Our Lady in their chapel seven times a day as well as daily Mass, singing in chant.

They worked very hard looking after each other cleaning the huge house and caring for goats, sheep, chickens and their garden. Their vows were humility, poverty and chastity and they wore long grey habits, white black veils and the characteristic Bridgettine crowns with five red dots representing the wounds of Jesus Christ.

 A camp was set up in wartime in the grounds for Polish and Italian POWs who helped them and attended Mass.

Vatican II brought changes so their prayers were in English not Latin and local villagers were able to join them for carol singing at Christmas. The Sisters were well in touch with local and international needs for prayers and received many requests by letter, and were by no means cut off from the outside world.

SYON CLOSES

Numbers eventually dropped and in 1990 just nine Sisters moved to their converted stable block, called New Syon, on the east side of Marley House with their chaplain Father Robinson. The Georgian mansion itself was eventually sold and converted to private apartments after addition of the Dower House and painted from grey stucco to dark red terracotta.

It was in 2011 that the last public Mass was celebrated by Father Abbot David Charlesworth OSB from Buckfast Abbey after which Abbess Mother Anna Maria OSsS left with the two remaining Sisters to live in Plymouth. So ended nearly 600 years of England’s oldest monastery.

On Saturday October 25 last, at 2pm the fascinating history of Marley House in the time of Syon Abbey was presented to a packed audience by the archivist Stephanie Bradley in the Old School Centre at South Brent with video recordings of Sister Anne Smyth OSsS the last Abbess Anna Maria. There was a Timeline exhibition of 600 years of Syon and Syon’s former monastic gardener, Joy Hanson, also provided reminiscences on video and displays of photographs.

Joy Hanson monastic gardener, co-founder St Bridget’s Friends Facebook group

(*O.Ss.S. – Ordinis Sanctissimi Salvatoris: Order of the Most Holy Saviour)

From CATHOLIC SOUTH WEST newspaper: March 2026.

Some of the first Sisters of Syon pictured at Marley in 1926.
Click HERE to visit Syon's 600-year Timeline display...