Abbot Burder came to the opinion that the rigorous Trappist life was too hard for Englishmen and made controversial plans for separating the monastery from the Trappist General Chapter and affiliating it to the Benedictines. In addition, many of the monastic community had become profoundly disturbed by the way in which a nearby boys' reformatory, begun by the abbot in 1856, had begun to affect the life of the monastery. The outcome was inevitable and the abbot resigned his office in 1858, following an enquiry by papal commission. After several attempts to join other monastic communities and spells as a private chaplain, Bernard Burder died at Lulworth Castle in September 1881.