NEARLY a million people last month had a taste of a retreat. And they didn’t even have to leave their sofas.
The broadcast-ratings website reports that 866,000 viewers saw The Road To Holy Island on 7 April, an episode in the BBC’s latest Pilgrimage series (TV, 17 April). In it, the Revd Kay Blackwell led seven celebrities through a reflective service at St Cuthbert’s Centre on Lindisfarne, where she has been chaplain since 2024.
Ms Blackwell encouraged each pilgrim to present an object or reflection from their journey. Hasan Al-Habib. a stand-up comedian and observant Muslim, brought a fossilised rock that represented friendships he’d found in the group.
The TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss had picked up a feather at St Cuthbert’s Cave on the mainland. She told the group that it symbolised her “letting go” of a lot of things she was carrying.
The actor Patsy Kensit didn’t have an item to show, but simply spoke of her own experience. “There was a lot of noise in my head when I started this, and that’s honestly gone,” she told her fellow pilgrims. “I just pray that this is a great reset.”
Ms Blackwell, a URC minister, doesn’t advertise retreats but is available for visitors who want spiritual accompaniment. “We have a lot of pilgrims that end up at St Cuthbert’s. So, if they contact me during their journey, I’m happy to be there to meet them, and I’ll do a reflective service with them.”
Ms Blackwell gives visitors time to reflect on what they’ve encountered. “I will often have a tableau where they can put something down that they’ve collected on their journey, and talk about that experience: what it was that really engaged them in that journey.”
THIS kind of creative reflection is now a common element of a pilgrimage and retreat experience. And it seems to chime with a greater hunger for holidays that go beyond material comfort. Lily Smith from monasteries.com quotes a 2025 survey in which 39 per cent of respondents said that they were planning a spiritual or meditative holiday. Overall, 59 per cent said that they planned to incorporate some form of wellness into their holiday.
The Revd Frances Wilson, an Anglican, is warden of Marygate House retreat centre on Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast, accessible via a tidal causeway. Explaining the island’s attraction, she said: “For most people life is very, very busy, and very oppressive in some ways. Life bears down on you.
“There’s a spaciousness here. Where the sky touches the sea, there feels to be just a bit more space for thinking and a bit more space for praying and to be creative. That seems to help people tremendously.”
RETREAT houses in other parts of the UK may not have Lindisfarne’s coastal appeal, but they also offer stillness, beautiful surroundings, and innovative ways to connect with God in creation, creativity, teaching, worship, and prayer.
At Whalley Abbey, in Lancashire, 2026 has been designated “The Year Of Contemplation”, and its programme for this year features retreats that explore ancient and modern paths of prayer, incorporating “silence, spiritual exercises, and the senses”, says the Revd Hilary Murphy, its resident chaplain.
Whalley Abbey Whalley Abbey’s chapel, offering retreatants prayers and eucharists through the week
The idea for the year emerged from a conversation with a friend in the Abbey’s meditation group. “We were talking and said it would be good to do a quiet day. By the end of two hours we had a whole year of different ways of praying,” Ms Murphy said.
Whalley is the diocese of Blackburn’s retreat house, and is in the grounds of a former Cistercian monastery. Today’s pilgrims can opt for a one-day dance retreat, on 21 October (£37, including lunch): Dancing Our Prayers, an opportunity to pray “in body, mind and spirit”.
Retreatants will be taught movements and steps of circle dances. The leader, Mary Duckworth, uses Taizé chants, Marilyn Baker songs, classical and popular worship music.
Other events during the year include a quiet day on contemplative practice focusing on the breath (20 May); another on the ancient practice of praying with beads (3 July); while Pathways to Prayer (19 September) looks to help retreatants draw from the richness of different Christian traditions of prayer through workshops on Christian meditation, lectio divina, journalling and praying with icons.
Longer retreats include: In His Image: Personality and Prayer, (23-25 November; £235), featuring guided reflections, prayer and quiet time, to explore how our God-given personality shapes the way we pray and serve.
“When you’ve been on a quiet retreat, you know you’re in a bit of a bubble,” Ms Murphy says. “You go out from here, you go to Asda, where you can’t get a parking space; you go home, and your kids are going mad. That can all go through the window. So my prayer for them is that they remember, and are inspired by, what’s happened, and they will build that into their life.”
PARCEVALL HALL also offers a broad spectrum of retreats on its programme this year, from silent prayer to a retreat for singers and, unusually, another for extroverts. Specific prayer retreats include a Divine Weaver day, running 12 June: “That’s going to be asking people to experience weaving as a creative pathway to prayer,” the hall’s director, Dr Helen Reid, says.
Mark GelderParcevall House, Skipton, north Yorkshire
She believes that creativity and spirituality are connected. “Creativity can be a bridge which connects people experientially with God.” Of the weaving day: “We’ve not run that one before, so I’m quite excited about that. It will be focusing on God as the Divine Weaver, with time for creating your own piece as well.”
For a more traditional experience, the Deep and Diverse Prayer Retreat, (23-25 October; £198) is for you, Dr Reid says. Finding inspiration in the scriptures and Christian tradition, retreatants will practise different ways of prayer including silence, contemplation and the Ignatian way, with the assistance of music, nature and images.
KILMALIEU is a retreat centre on the west coast of Scotland, part of the Abernethy Trust group of centres. The name refers to the prayer cell of Saint Moluag, a contemporary of Saint Columba, and the centre’s team reconnects with that Celtic tradition.
Guests will find a remote wilderness. The nearest village is ten miles away, and the nearest shop 12 miles away. The centre’s director, Dr Steve Aisthorpe, explained the impact of such a dramatic setting. “Augustine talks about the simultaneous reading of the two books, the two books being the book of scripture, but also the book of nature.
“He talks about how the simultaneous reading of the two books cuts through human defences and opens the soul. I think that is people’s experience, when they’re doing these things in the context of the wildness of nature.”
Abernethy TrustA retreat group gathers round a brazier in front of Kilmalieu retreat centre, in the Scottish Highlands
The isolation offers retreatants profound experiences. One guest reported: “Tranquillity comes to my mind when I am gazing outside and walking along the beach. Watching a golden eagle soar at the mountaintop, and seeing the white-tailed eagle towards the headland, is a dream come true for me.”
Another visitor sought refuge at Kilmalieu after being “worn down” by ministry. “In just three days here, I feel rested, reconnected and restored,” they wrote.
Celtic Wisdom for the 21st Century runs 27-30 July, for those who would like to draw on both Kilmalieu’s surroundings and its place in the Celtic tradition. The retreat promises plenty of space for prayer and personal reflection, as well as “optional activities to encourage prayerful contemplation”.
VERONICA ZUNDEL, a Christian writer, has been attending retreats for 45 years. “I go on retreat for rest, a little bit of spiritual input, perhaps to get prayed for. I sit there letting all the mud settle to the bottom until the water above is clear — that’s what it feels like.”
When considering a retreat programme, she believes it is important to think about the retreat experience you need. “What kind of a rest do you want? Do you want stimulation of your faith? Or do you want a break from the everyday grind?”
An important factor is whether to pick a retreat house with a resident community. “There’s a huge difference in atmosphere between a retreat as a place that has a live-in community as opposed to one that’s run by staff,” she says. “A retreat run by an intentional community will often offer a certain dimension with set times of prayer that you can enjoy. You’re entering the daily life of the community in some way.”
If time and budget are insuperable challenges, the artist and writer Mary Fleeson has created The One-Day Creative Retreat Activity Book (Lindisfarne Scriptorium), to help people enjoy a retreat at home.
“Some people live in places where there aren’t any quiet days handy,” Ms Fleeson says. The book, illustrated by Ms Fleeson’s own Celtic knotwork designs, offers activities based on the monastic day, split into canonical hours. This was followed up by The Five Day Creative Retreat.
“Taking a retreat at home may sound like a contradiction, but there are many advantages to practising some of the parts of a retreat,” Ms Fleeson says. “Just ten minutes a day, or half-an-hour twice a week set aside — purely for being in God’s presence — can make a big difference to how your spiritual life grows. Find a quiet place and give the time you have to God.”
Clive Price is Communications Manager of MMHS, and helps organisations with their public relations work.
whalleyabbey.org
parcevallhall.org.uk
abernethy.org.uk/kilmalieu
lindisfarne-scriptorium.co.uk
whalleyabbey.org
parcevallhall.org.uk
abernethy.org.uk/kilmalieu
lindisfarne-scriptorium.co.uk
Other creative prayer retreats:
St Katharine’s, London
Junior Garr and The Spirituals: Gospel Music and Prayer, 30 May
The Royal Foundation of St Katharine’s host this exploration of how rich spiritual anthems can enliven our call to prayer. The reimagining of spiritual anthems and songs is The Spirituals’ speciality. Cost £50.
Contact: Telephone: 0300 111 1147; rfsk.org.uk
Marygate House, Lindisfarne
Touching Down, 7-10 August
Breathe in sea air, slow down, and enjoy the present moment. This retreat acknowledges that we are all creative beings. Retreatants are invited to respond to the moment, whether by image, word, or any other means — and to join in the rhythm of daily prayer on the island. Suggested donation £325.
Contact: Telephone: 01289 389246; marygatehouse.org
Lee Abbey, North Devon
Pray Wild, 2-4 October
This new prayer initiative gives an opportunity to practise the ancient ways of Jesus and to grow in personal holiness through nature, prayer, and intentional community. It is not about starting something new but rediscovering something old. Led by the Cornish artist Jon White. Cost from £195.
Contact: Telephone: 01598 752621; leeabbeydevon.org.uk