Accommodation Details
All of our accommodation is self-catering. We provide bread, cereals, milk (including soya) and basic store-cupboard items for breakfast and light meals / snacks. There is a selection of frozen ready-meals available for purchase in the Abbey Garth kitchen. The high street with a small Tesco and many other shops and cafés is 5 minutes walk away. Towels and bedding are provided for all guests.
Parking space is available in our private car park, off Swan Street, for the Abbey Garth and Thomas Becket. Parking for St. Michael's Cottage is accessed from Lavender's Road (first right down Swan Street from the main entrance), through the large wooden gates.
Coded locks on the gate and the entrance to the Abbey Garth mean that you can come and go as you please at any time without having to make special arrangements with the guest sister. Keys are provided for Thomas Becket and St. Michael's Cottage.
Mobile phone reception at the Abbey is patchy and we ask that mobile phones not be used inside the buildings, so as not to disturb other guests. There is a phone for emergency use in the Abbey Garth kitchen / dining room.
Abbey Garth
The four rooms in the Abbey Garth are on the first floor and access is by stairs only. Each room has en-suite shower and toilet and facilities for making hot drinks. The rooms look into the cloister garth which has a pond with a natural fountain powered by the stream.
There is a fully equipped kitchen / dining room with gas hob, electric oven, microwave, fridge and freezer. A comfortable sitting room has spacious views over the nun's garden.
Silence is kept from after Compline (7.45 pm) until 10.30 am the following morning. At other times talking is confined to the kitchen / dining room.
Thomas Becket (Gate House)
This historic room is on its own above the nave of the Pilgrim Chapel in the Gatehouse. Many people enjoy the seclusion but some find it too isolated or inconvenient. It is up a steep, narrow staircase and so not suitable if you have mobility problems. There is an en-suite bath and wash basin but the toilet is downstairs. It is equipped with a small fridge, facilities for making hot drinks and a microwave so that you can be completely self-contained if you wish. You may also use the Abbey Garth kitchen / dining room for cooking and eating meals.
St. Michael's Cottage
This is a self-contained, two-bedroom (one double, one single) bungalow with its own garden, behind the Abbey Church. It has a fully equipped kitchen and a bathroom with shower and toilet. We give priority to visits of our own families but it is also made available for guests on retreat.