The school andmonastery are located on land originally owned by the Freeborn family beginning in the 1650s. The land was later owned by the Anthony family, and in 1778 it was the site of theBattle of Rhode Island during theAmerican Revolution. In 1864, Amos Smith, aProvidence financier, built what is now known as the Manor House and created agentleman's farm on the site with the help of architectRichard Upjohn. After buying the Manor House and surrounding land in 1918, Dom Leonard Sargent ofBoston, a convert from theEpiscopal Church, founded Portsmouth Priory on October 18, 1918. The priory was founded as, and remains, a house of theEnglish Benedictine Congregation. It is one of only three American houses in the congregation, and maintains a unique connection with sister schools in England, includingAmpleforth College andDownside School.
A parcel of the school's land is leased to The Aquidneck Club (formerly the Carnegie Abbey Club) where the student golf team practices and holds its interscholastic golf matches.[4]
The school is often referred to as "the Abbey" and has students from 17 nations and 26 states.[5] In 2006, the school installed aVestas V47-660 kWwind turbine, the first such project inRhode Island,[6][7][8] to provide forty percent of the school's electricity.
Richard Lippold's Trinity after Restoration by Newmans LTD
The Abbey's Church of St. Gregory the Great contains a wire sculpture titled Trinity, created by the late American sculptor Richard Lippold in 1960. The sculpture is made of a 22,000 foot web of gold plated wire surrounding a gold and silver Crucifix, created by Meinrad Burch. The sculpture underwent an award-winning restoration in 2009, carried out by Newmans’ Ltd., of Newport, Rhode Island.[9]
Keith Botsford, 1944, American/European writer, collaborator with Saul Bellow, professor emeritus at Boston University and editor of News from the Republic of Letters.
John Gregory Dunne, 1950, novelist (True Confessions; The Red, White and Blue;Playland), screenwriter (A Star Is Born, co-authored with his wife, writer Joan Didion), and literary critic.
Michael Egan, 1944, former U. S. associate attorney general (Carter Administration); former Georgia state senator; member of Georgia House of Representatives
Phil English, 1974, U.S. representative (R-PA) 3rd District, 1995–2009.
Bishop William J. McCormack, 1941, former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York (1987); former director of The Society of Propagation of the Faith (1990)
Stryker McGuire. 1965, correspondent, bureau chief, chief of correspondents, Newsweek magazine; editor, LSE Research, London School of Economics and Political Science; London editor, Bloomberg Markets magazine.[citation needed]
Terry McGuirk, 1969, chairman and CEO of MLB's Atlanta Braves; former CEO of Turner Broadcasting System, now vice chairman; recipient of Stuart Lewengrub Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League; Cable Hall of Fame, 2010.
Thomas Mullen, 1992, novelist, recipient of the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction; NPR Best Book of the Year, and has been nominated for two CWA Dagger Awards
Alfonso A. Ossorio, 1934, Philippine-born abstract expressionist who worked closely with Jean Dubuffet and Jackson Pollock.
John E. Pepper, Jr., 1956, former CEO and chairman of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of TheProcter & Gamble Company and director of TheWalt Disney Company; Vice President of finance and administration atYale; senior fellow of the Yale Corporation.
