Buckfast Abbey From The Air Prior to 1960

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard that was published by Aero Pictorial Ltd. of 137, Regent Street, London W. 1. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card has a divided back.

Aero Pictorial Ltd.

Aero Pictorial Ltd. was a British aerial photography company in operation between 1934–39 and then 1946-60. 

It was founded by Aerofilms photographer Cyril Murrell (1899–1958), and run more or less as a one-man band. In his later years, Murrell flew from Elstree Aerodrome in Hertfordshire.

Pre-WW2 photos were taken on 5" x 4" glass plates, whilst post-war, similar sized roll film was used. This large negative format meant that the majority of photos were very sharp and detailed.

After Murrell's death in 1958, the company merged with Aerofilms, and ceased operating in 1960. 

The Aerofilms archive was sold in 2007 to English Heritage and as a result, copyright on Aero Pictorial's photography rests with them.

The 2008 publication British Seaside Piers, by Chris Mawson & Richard Riding, was dedicated to Murrell as the book features a large number of aerial shots of piers drawn from the Aero Pictorial archive.

Buckfast Abbey

Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon. 

Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Cistercian abbey constructed on the site of the current abbey in 1134. 

The monastery was surrendered for dissolution in 1539, with the monastic buildings stripped and left as ruins, before being finally demolished. The former abbey site was used as a quarry, and later became home to a Gothic mansion house.

In 1882 the site was purchased by a group of French Benedictine monks, who re-founded a monastery on the site, dedicated to Saint Mary. 

New monastic buildings and a temporary church were constructed incorporating the existing Gothic house. 

Buckfast was formally reinstated as an Abbey in 1902, and the first abbot of the new institution, Boniface Natter, was blessed in 1903. 

Work on a new abbey church, which was constructed mostly on the footprint of the former Cistercian abbey, started in 1907. The church was consecrated in 1932 but not completed until 1938. The abbey continues to operate as a Benedictine foundation.

Taken on: January 23, 2021

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Sets appears in: • Aerial Photographs • Prominent Photographers more » • UK « less

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