Friends of the Abbey

“Friends of the Abbey” is an initiative of Greyabbey & District Community Association and came into existence in 2015 to assist in keeping our historic Abbey & Physic Garden open. We have around 20 volunteers (many with World Host training) who have an unrivalled enthusiasm for local history and a pride in our Abbey. Our Physic Garden which was reconstructed by the Department of Communities, offers an insight into medieval medicine and also the folklore surrounding many of the herbs

Our volunteers now offer fully guided tours of the Abbey and Gardens as well as looking after the Physic Garden and surrounds. During since 2015 we have welcomed visitors from all over the globe with many paying a first visit to their ancestral homes. We have involved local primary school children in their first attempts at gardening and their first crop of pumpkins, grown in the kitchen garden, adorned many of the harvest festivals held last autumn.