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In the years after 1828 and the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act, as part of the resurgence of the Catholic Faith in England, a young man named Wilfred Alcock established the foundation of our Community in 1856. This had been made possible due to the building of a Gothic church in Ramsgate by Augustus Welby Pugin, and donated to the Diocese of Southwark before his death in 1852.
 The vision of the Community has always been pastoral as well as contemplative, imitating the saint to whom our church is dedicated: St. Augustine of Canterbury who, in 597 re-established the Christian faith in England after landing at Ebbsfleet, a very short distance from where our monastery stands.
Very early on missions were set up in Margate and Deal. A full monastic observance had also been established by 1861 with the completion of the monastery, expressing the twin aspects of our life: an active pastoral zeal
fuelled by monastic prayer and Community life.
A school had also been established for boys by about 1864. From then it grew to provide a Catholic education for boys for well over a hundred years.
As the 19th century progressed the Community established churches throughout East Kent and even managed to send monks out to New Zealand to further establish the faith there.
The 20th century witnessed the further development of Catholic life in our schools and parishes under the leadership of a succession of Abbots who steered the Community through the difficulties of the war years and the changes initiated by the Second Vatican Council.
Our life now still combines the contemplative life with the pastoral zeal of our forefathers. We endeavour to witness to the presence of Christ's Kingdom in this cradle of English Christianity.
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