ST MARY'S ABBEY, QUARR
Registered charity 1165957 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as QUARR ABBEY
The main aims of the charity are the promotion of the Catholic religion and hospitality to all visitors to the Abbey, in the spirit of the Rule of St Benedict. To preserve the spiritual identity of the Abbey and its Benedictine community through maintenance projects to preserve the Abbey and its building; and running the Abbey's tea shop, farm shop and art gallery for the benefit of its visitors.
Causes: Religious Activities · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts
The accounts state that the charity incurred an overall deficit of £98,665 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven by expenditure exceeding income. The trustees acknowledge a tight financial situation impacted by rising costs and inflation, noting that activities do not currently produce enough to cover costs, though they maintain that resources are adequate to continue as a going concern.
Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Largest income source: none
“Total income 1,415,887 142,843 1,558,730 1,448,747” — page 14
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: 9 to 12 months of these costs (held: £869k)
“As the charity is dependent on income from donations, legacies and investment income, the timing and amount of which is variable in nature, the trustees consider that reserves should be sufficient to cover 9 to 12 months of these costs.” — page 6
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Audit opinion: qualified
“The group financial statements include cash donation income of £61,314 in the comparative period over which limited controls exist prior to the cash received being recorded in the parent charitable company’s accounting records. There were no practical procedures available to us to confirm the completeness of this income, and accordingly, we were unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence in this area.” — page 11
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The charity has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Quarr Abbey Enterprises Limited. Distributions were made in the year of £28,325 (2023 - £25,410) as donations to the charity, and a further donation was made after the year end of £18,032.
“The charity has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Quarr Abbey Enterprises Limited. The trading company operates the tea shop, farm shop and Abbey shop and the funds that it generates to assists the charity in meeting its objectives. Distributions were made in the year of £28,325 (2023 - £25,410) as donations to the charity, and a further donation was made after the year end of £18,032.” — page 7
“Amounts owed by group undertakings includes an unsecured loan to the charity's trading subsidiary, the loan is accounted for as a concessionary loan.” — page 29
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The charity provided a concessionary loan to its trading subsidiary. At year end, the subsidiary owed £117,948 to the charity.
“The charity has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Quarr Abbey Enterprises Limited. The trading company operates the tea shop, farm shop and Abbey shop and the funds that it generates to assists the charity in meeting its objectives. Distributions were made in the year of £28,325 (2023 - £25,410) as donations to the charity, and a further donation was made after the year end of £18,032.” — page 7
“Amounts owed by group undertakings includes an unsecured loan to the charity's trading subsidiary, the loan is accounted for as a concessionary loan.” — page 29
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The charity covers living expenses for Benedictine Monks (including Trustees) who covenant their pension income to the charity. Estimated catering costs for Trustees were £14,695.
“The charity has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Quarr Abbey Enterprises Limited. The trading company operates the tea shop, farm shop and Abbey shop and the funds that it generates to assists the charity in meeting its objectives. Distributions were made in the year of £28,325 (2023 - £25,410) as donations to the charity, and a further donation was made after the year end of £18,032.” — page 7
“Amounts owed by group undertakings includes an unsecured loan to the charity's trading subsidiary, the loan is accounted for as a concessionary loan.” — page 29
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Quarr Abbey Enterprises Limited
“The charity has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Quarr Abbey Enterprises Limited.” — page 7
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Bright Brown Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.
Property (HM Land Registry)
1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 freehold); recorded price paid £1.0m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)
Cost of raising funds
£988k
Reported reserves equal ~6.3 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Other trading activities (62% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 63.4% of total income — above the 90th percentile for charities its size (median 5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (04/02/2019) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- RIGHT REVEREND XAVIER PERRINchair
- FATHER GREGORY CORCORAN
- FATHER NICHOLAS SPENCER
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Isle Of Wight
Income and spending
Common questions
Is ST MARY'S ABBEY, QUARR financially healthy?
Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity incurred an overall deficit of £98,665 for the year ended 31 December 2024, driven by expenditure exceeding income. The trustees acknowledge a tight financial situation impacted by rising costs and inflation, noting that activities do not currently produce enough to cover costs, though they maintain that resources are adequate to continue as a going concern. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Bright Brown Limited.
Who funds ST MARY'S ABBEY, QUARR?
Funders whose own accounts filings name ST MARY'S ABBEY, QUARR as a grant recipient include ST CECILIA'S ABBEY RYDE ISLE OF WIGHT, THE FOUNDATION OF ST. BENEDICT OF NURSIA, GOWLING WLG (UK) CHARITABLE TRUST.
Known funders
Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
Funders of similar charities
Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.
Charities like this
Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with MOUNT ST BERNARD ABBEY TRUSTEES REGISTERED.
Side by side with its peers
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