Christian Retreats in the UK: The Complete Guide to 93 Retreat Centres

There are more places to go on retreat in Britain than most people realise. Benedictine abbeys that have kept the same daily rhythm for a thousand years. Diocesan retreat houses with a view over the Yorkshire moors. Quaker meeting houses, Franciscan friaries, island communities off the Northumberland coast, and modern conference centres that host three hundred people for a church weekend away.

This guide lists 93 Christian retreat centres across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, organised by region, with the location and postcode of each so you can find what’s near you. It also covers the things nobody tells you before your first retreat: what the different types actually involve, roughly what they cost, whether you need to be a churchgoer, and how to pick one that fits what you’re looking for.

You don’t need to belong to a church to go. You don’t need to be certain about anything. Most of these places will welcome you exactly as you arrive.

What is a Christian retreat?

A retreat is a deliberate withdrawal from ordinary life for a fixed period, usually somewhere quiet, usually with some structure around prayer, worship or reflection.

That’s the whole of it. The word carries a certain weight, and people sometimes imagine something more demanding than it is — days of enforced silence, early mornings, an expectation that you’ll arrive with a settled faith. Some retreats are like that. Most are not.

In practice a UK Christian retreat usually means a room in a large house or an abbey guest wing, meals provided, grounds to walk in, a chapel you can use or ignore, and as much or as little company as you want. The centre supplies the space and the rhythm. What you do inside that is largely up to you.

People go for all sorts of reasons. Bereavement. Burnout. A decision that won’t resolve itself. A church group booking a weekend away. Clergy who need somewhere they aren’t the one in charge. And a good number of people who simply want three days without a phone.

The seven types of Christian retreat

The single most useful thing to work out before booking is which of these you’re actually after. Centres often offer several.

Private or individual retreat

You book a room, you’re given meals, and the rest of the time is yours. No programme, no group, no obligations. This is the most common booking at most UK retreat houses and the easiest place to start. You can stay a night or a fortnight.

Silent retreat

Silence is kept for all or part of the stay — often from evening prayer on the first day until breakfast on the last. Meals are usually taken in silence too, sometimes with a reading. It sounds daunting and is generally reported to be the opposite: the relief of not having to make conversation is most people’s first surprise.

If this is the direction you’re leaning, our guide to silent retreats in the UK covers it in more depth.

Directed or guided retreat

You meet daily with a retreat director — a trained spiritual guide — for perhaps forty-five minutes. They suggest scripture to sit with, listen to how it’s going, and adjust. The rest of the day is silent and unstructured. Ignatian centres such as St Beuno’s and the Ignatian Spirituality Centre specialise in this format.

Preached or themed retreat

A group retreat built around talks from a speaker on a set theme — a season of the church year, a book of the Bible, prayer, vocation, grief. More conversation, more shared meals, less solitude.

Quiet day

Nine-thirty to four, lunch included, home for tea. Almost every retreat house in this guide runs them, and they’re by far the cheapest and least intimidating way to try a retreat before committing to a residential stay.

Monastic guest stay

You stay in the guest accommodation of a working religious community and are welcome to join their daily offices — typically Lauds, Mass, Vespers and Compline. You’re a guest of the community rather than a customer of a centre, and the atmosphere is different because of it.

We’ve covered these separately in our guide to monastery retreats in the UK.

Group and parish bookings

Church weekends away, PCC awaydays, youth groups, clergy chapters. Centres like Ashburnham Place, Scargill House and Lee Abbey are built for this and can take large numbers with meeting rooms and catering.

Traditions: who runs these places

The tradition shapes the experience more than the building does. A broad guide:

Roman Catholic — Benedictine, Carmelite, Franciscan, Jesuit, Passionist, Redemptorist and other orders run a large share of British retreat houses. Daily Mass is usually available. Non-Catholics are welcome as guests almost everywhere, though you won’t be invited to receive communion.

Anglican — most Church of England dioceses maintain a retreat house, and Anglican religious communities run several more. Generally the most theologically relaxed option: middle-of-the-road worship, open communion, no assumptions made about you.

Ecumenical and interdenominational — places like Ammerdown, Othona and the Iona Community deliberately hold no single denominational line. Often the most comfortable choice if you’re outside church life or unsure where you stand.

Quaker — Charney Manor and others. Unprogrammed worship, silence at the centre of everything, no clergy, no liturgy.

Evangelical and charismatic — L’Abri, Ffald-y-Brenin, Stanton House. More teaching, more sung worship, a stronger emphasis on scripture and on prayer ministry.

Celtic Christian — Lindisfarne and Iona are the two centres of gravity. Draws on the Irish and Northumbrian monastic tradition, with a strong sense of place and landscape.

What does a Christian retreat cost?

Christian retreat centres are, as a rule, among the cheapest residential accommodation in Britain, because most are charities and none are trying to make a margin on you.

Broadly, you’ll encounter four pricing models:

Suggested donation. Common at monasteries and religious houses. There’s a suggested figure, and a clear understanding that you give what you can. Nobody will check, and nobody will think less of you.

Full board day rate. The standard at diocesan retreat houses — a flat per-night price including all meals. Single rooms cost more than shared; ensuite more than standard.

Programme price. Themed and directed retreats are priced as a package covering accommodation, meals and the leader’s time.

Self-catering. A few centres let cottages or bungalows on the site, priced like a holiday let.

Two things worth knowing. Most centres hold bursary funds for people who can’t afford the full rate, and they’d far rather you asked than stayed away — this is normal and not awkward. And clergy, ordinands and church workers often qualify for a reduced rate; the Society of Mary & Martha at Sheldon exists specifically to support clergy in difficulty.

How to choose the right retreat

Six questions, in the order that matters:

How much silence do you actually want? This is the one people get wrong. Be honest rather than aspirational. A directed retreat with an hour of conversation a day is a very different week from full silence.

Alone or with others? Solo retreats are entirely normal — you will not be the only person there on their own.

How long have you got? A quiet day for a first attempt. Two or three nights for a proper break. Six to eight days for a directed retreat. Thirty days for the full Ignatian Exercises.

Does the tradition matter to you? If you’d find daily Mass meaningful, choose a Catholic house. If you’d find it uncomfortable, choose an Anglican or ecumenical one.

What does the setting need to do for you? Moorland, coast, island, woodland, or a walled garden in the middle of a city. Some people need distance; some need not to travel far.

What do you need practically? Ground-floor rooms, step-free access, gluten-free catering, a lift, parking, a station within reach. Ring and ask. Retreat houses answer their phones, and they’re used to the question.

London and South East England

Ashburnham Place

A Grade I listed country house in 220 acres of parkland near Battle, run by a Christian trust and one of the largest retreat venues in the South East. It handles individual guests, church weekends, leadership courses and festivals with equal ease, and has the infrastructure to match: ensuite and standard rooms, prayer rooms, meeting spaces, several dining options and a programme of events through the year.

The grounds do a lot of the work here. There are lakes, walled gardens and long prayer walks, and it’s easy to spend an afternoon without meeting anyone.

Best for: larger church groups, and first-time retreatants who want space without severity.

The Kairos Centre

Proof that a genuinely quiet retreat doesn’t require leaving London. Set in green grounds in south-west London with a large chapel, a dedicated prayer room, a self-catering bungalow and a range of dining options, Kairos is unusually accessible — you can be there from central London inside an hour.

Best for: Londoners who can’t take a week off, and day retreats.

More Christian Retreats in London and South East England

South West England

Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset hold some of the oldest and best-loved retreat houses in the country, and the landscape is a large part of the appeal.

Lox Lane Farm

A smaller, more personal option near Shaftesbury, focused on inner healing and emotional restoration alongside prayer. The in-house retreats cover forgiveness, judgement and the healing of past wounds, and accommodation, meals and hot drinks are included in the price.

There’s also a farmhouse with seven ensuite bedrooms, a full kitchen, a lounge and a woodburner, available for small groups who want to bring their own gathering.

Best for: people carrying something specific, and small groups wanting a house to themselves.

More Christian Retreats in South West England:

Christian Retreat in Devon

Lee Abbey

Two hundred and eighty acres of coastal estate on the edge of Exmoor, run by an international Christian community who live on site and host guests as part of their common life. The setting is genuinely spectacular — the estate runs down to the sea, with the South West Coast Path along its edge.

Lee Abbey runs a full programme of themed weeks alongside individual bookings, and the community’s presence gives it a warmth that larger conference centres struggle to match.

Best for: families, longer stays, and anyone who wants sea and moor within a short walk.

Christian Retreats in Yorkshire

Wydale Hall

The Diocese of York’s retreat house, sitting under the southern edge of the North York Moors near Scarborough. A Victorian country house with fourteen acres of gardens and woodland, a chapel, meeting rooms and full catering.

Wydale does the traditional diocesan retreat house job extremely well: comfortable, unfussy, reasonably priced, and equally happy hosting a silent individual guest and a parish weekend of forty.

Best for: parish groups, and a first residential retreat.

More Christian Retreats in Yorkshire and Humberside:

Christian Retreat Centres in Scotland

From a Benedictine abbey in Moray to the Iona Community on the Ross of Mull, Scotland’s retreat centres tend to come with landscape attached.

Whitchester Christian Centre

Whether you’re looking for a spiritual holiday destination where you’ll be treated to delicious, homecooked foods, and soak up the beautiful Scottish countryside, or you’re looking to deepen your practice, Whitchester Christian Centre offers it all.

Open to all faiths or none at all, and you can take advantage of the homely and relaxed atmosphere, delicious full-board catering, and a range of events and activities that will allow you to reignite your inner fire and deepen your connection with God.

Stunning gardens and woodland mean you can also get outside to spot a wide range of wildlife, including birds and deer if you’re fortunate.

Bield Retreat and Conference Centre

Move closer to God and reconnect with life by taking a holiday at the Bield Retreat and Conference Centre. Located in thirty acres of garden and woodlands, you’ll have plenty of time to relax, unwind, pray and heal your inner wounds at this Christian healing retreat.

Individuals, couples, families and groups are all welcome to their range of Christian retreats, including silence, well-being, spiritual practice, creativity and much more.

Facilities include single, twin and double ensuite rooms, delicious meals (with vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free catered for), a 12-metre indoor heated swimming pool, a traditional labyrinth, an art room, a library, a lounge with a woodburning stove and much more to help you relax and unwind, on your holiday.

Secret Spirits Depression Recovery Retreat

If you are looking to beat depression you might like to come to a new Christian retreat centre in the Scottish Highlands. By the end of the week everybody will understand why and how the Secret Spirits Spiritual Self Help programme works so that they can be supported in implementing the 40 minute daily spiritual exercise required by the course. The results are immediately uplifting and guarantee a permanent cure by
the end of a year, by the power of Prayer and the Fellowship of Man, just like Alcoholics Anonymous.

More Christian Retreats in Scotland

Christian Retreat Centres in Wales

Llangasty Retreat House

Set in the stunning Brecon Beacons and offering weekend and weekday retreats around a variety of themes, this must be one of the most tranquil Christian retreats in the UK. With a great community feel and wide-open spaces, you will enjoy connecting with God and deepening your spiritual experience. Llangasty Retreat House is a place you can get away from it all.

We especially love the way the dining room looks out over the gorgeous countryside so you can ponder the more essential things in life while enjoying delicious, freshly cooked meals.

They also offer disabled access to most of the facilities, which include comfortable bedrooms, a fully equipped chapel, a calm crypt chapel, a library, and a comfy lounge. Enjoy a home away from home and explore more profound aspects of yourself, others, and the community.

Ffald-y-Brenin

This remote Christian retreat centre in Wales has become well-known over recent years.

They welcome groups and individuals to this exceptional place where miracles do seem to happen and offer a range of Christian retreat options to suit the amount of time you have available, your needs, your interests, and your budget. One thing is clear—life will never be the same after a stay here.

More Christian Retreat Centres in Wales

Christian Retreats in Northern Ireland

Christian Retreats in North East

Christian Retreats in North West England

Rhenass Retreat

Imagine waking whenever the mood takes you, eating fresh, locally sourced food, and enjoying a morning session of prayer and worship.

After a coffee, you can participate in a pre-organised activity or stroll along with the spectacular scenery for your private prayer session, connect with God, or relax and unwind as you enjoy this great holiday.

Late afternoons could see you united in prayer with the other retreat participants and enjoying a delicious evening meal. You will deepen your spiritual practice, breathe in the wonders of some of the UK’s most gorgeous coastline and take back your precious ‘me’ time.

Due to increased demand, they now offer weekend retreats, all-inclusive and day retreat options so everyone can benefit from the glorious location, nurturing and supportive environment and laid-back, friendly Christian appeal.

Other Christian Retreat Centers in North West England

Christian Retreats in East of England

Christian Retreats in East Midlands

Christian Retreats in West Midlands

Whatever your reasons for choosing a Christian retreat in the UK, you’re sure to find your perfect solution with one of the retreat centres highlighted here on this page. Click on the links to book, then take yourself away to enjoy a rejuvenating, life-changing break away from it all.