Our Vision Statement
“A spiritual retreat, education and well-being centre housed in a small beautiful medieval building and grounds, with a team of volunteers offering a unique place for restoration and inspiration. Here, as an individual or a group you can find support in your enquiry for your own particular contribution towards building a better world for all.”
40 Years of Community
In 1980, founders Bishop Steven Verney (1919-2009) and Rev Fred J Blum (1914-1990), set out to create a progressive centre for spiritual exploration, open to all faiths and none, “ a place to stop and think (be)”, underpinned by individual personal development experienced through communal living.
Rev Fred J Blum was a German Jewish refugee from the Holocaust, who became a psychotherapist and later an Anglican priest. Right Reverend Stephen Verney was an Anglican Bishop and highly innovative theologian. They established the Abbey as a place for spiritual development, exploration and transformation of community, and as a centre for workshops and events for the public.