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Alton Abbey has been in existence since 1895 as the home of a community of men following the Benedictine way of life within the Church of England. The community itself was founded, a decade earlier, by Father Charles Plomer Hopkins who worked among merchant seamen in foreign seaports. Father Hopkins was instrumental in settling the great seamen's strike of 1911-12 and served as one of the members of the National Maritime Board; he was rewarded for his labours by King George V, who in 1920 invested him as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Since the death of Father Hopkins in 1922, the community's work has gradually developed a great emphasis on the monastic rather than the liturgic apostolate, with the Liturgy of the Hours at the core of the communal life. The work with the mercantile marine has been continued as a charitable trust through the Seamen's Friendly Society |
