St Edmund Rich, Abingdon’s greatest son, was born sometime around 1175. Edmund was educated at Oxford and Paris, but his greatest influence was his mother Mabel, a devout lady who attended St Nicholas Church, where she is buried.

Edmund became the first lecturer in Divinity at Oxford and an inspiring preacher. In 1222 he became Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral and in 1233 he was promoted to Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a gifted administrator. His diplomatic skills helped avert war between the King and the Barons.

Edmund died on November 16th 1240 in Soisy-Bouy in France.

A chapel in his honour, thought to be near St Edmunds Lane, was built in Abingdon but all trace of it has long since disappeared. The Catholic Church in Abingdon is named after him (church banner picture 1). In the 1970s, the Friends of Abingdon erected a tablet in his honour in the front wall of St Nicholas Church (picture 2). All we need now is a statue.

This evening at St Nicholas Church the monks of Douai Abbey sang Latin Vespers in honour of St Edmund. It was part of the Abingdon School 750th Anniversary celebrations. There was only standing room at the back.

Douai Abbey sounds sort of French, but they actually have a monastery in nearby Berkshire (between Reading an Newbury). They are Benedictine, as was Abingdon Abbey, and as was the original Abingdon School (picture of monks borrowed with thanks from their website. I couldn’t get near.).