When I was seven, my family moved to Essex, where my dad became the pastor of a small Evangelical church. In that congregation was a woman who had recently been widowed.
One day, when I was seven or eight, I was at her house playing with her children…
Welcome
Welcome to Monastic Retreats – a quiet companion for those drawn to the gentle paths of monastic and contemplative life.
In a world shaped by urgency and noise, many are discovering the quiet necessity of retreat, not as escape, but as return. Through our directory of monasteries and retreats across the UK, you’ll find communities who quietly open their doors to those seeking silence, presence, and a different way of being.
Each place listed here holds a particular rhythm, shaped by the seasons, by liturgy, and by the long witness of lives given to prayer. Whether you are drawn to the ancient stones of an abbey or the simplicity of a hermitage by the sea, we hope this website helps you find a space that meets you where you are.
Monastic Retreats is not simply a resource—it is an invitation. To pause. To listen. To step quietly across a threshold and discover, perhaps again, that the stillness you seek has been seeking you.
