Buckfast Abbey

Postmarked South Devon, dated 30 June 1976.
383 Buckfast Abbey.
Buckfast Abbey has had a long history. It was founded in 1018 and in 1174 became a Cistercian abbey when it was rebuilt in stone. During the Reformation when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the monks were forced to leave and the abbey looted.

It was left in ruins for 200 years but restored by Benedictine monks from France who arrived in 1882.
The community is self-supporting. Their most well-known products are Buckfast Tonic Wine, and, less controversially, honey from their bees. They also have pigs and cattle on the farm and grow vegetables.