Father Edgar Miller OSB, monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a former priest in charge of the Chapel of Ease at Oswaldkirk, died at Ampleforth on Wednesday September 23.
Born James Miller in Preston in 1943, he was educated at Ampleforth College and taught at a prep school in his hometown before joining the monastic community at Ampleforth Abbey in 1963, taking Edgar as his religious name.
Father Edgar was ordained priest in July 1970. He was estate manager from 1972 to 1986 and warden of the hospitality accommodation in The Grange from 1986 to 1989.
Father Edgar’s great love was carpentry, which he taught for several years, first at the Junior House of Ampleforth College and then at the prep school, St Martin’s Ampleforth. Each of his pieces was engraved with his signature, a windmill – a reference to his own surname but also the integration of manual work and the spiritual life.
In September 1990 Father Edgar became priest-in-charge at the chapel of ease St Aidan’s, Oswaldkirk, and much of the woodwork around the altar was made in his workshop. Father Edgar served this church and community until the closure of the church in 2021. In recent years he also assisted at the parish of St John the Evangelist, Easingwold.
His Requiem Mass took place in the Abbey Church on Friday October 16, followed by burial in Monks’ Wood.
Please keep Father Edgar’s family and the Ampleforth Community in your prayers.
Ampleforth mourns Father Edgar
