Monastery turns away guests desperate to try a ‘basic’ lifestyle

A monastery is offering stays for holidaymakers who want to live like a monk, but its four single bedrooms are in such high demand that bookings are limited to a total of two weeks a year per person.

St Augustine’s Abbey in Chilworth, Surrey, has opened the doors of its “modest and basic” guesthouse for visitors looking to escape the stresses of modern life.

Guests get three meals a day and can join the religious order in prayer and help with jobs during their stay.

The monastery is surrounded by stunning countryside and woodland, where visitors can enjoy walks.

The monks rely on donations, with guests generally donating according to their means – they suggest a minimum of £50 a night as a guide.

Each day starts with the rising bell at 5.30am before first prayers at 5.50am. There are seven scheduled periods for prayer throughout the day, with breakfast served at 7.40am, lunch at 12.45pm and supper at 7pm. The final prayer takes place at 8.30pm.

St Augustine’s Abbey is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery with a community of nine monks.

The religious order also makes and sells its own skin creams, furniture polish made from beeswax, and rosary beads.

Dom Andrew McNeill, 72, who runs the guesthouse, said: “Anyone is welcome, all creeds, nationalities, genders and for whatever reason they want.

“Some people that come to stay with us are emotionally in turmoil and looking for space or they might need a lot of help and guidance. I think everyone needs space and an escape from time to time.

“We do most of the work at the abbey ourselves and there are specialist skills we don’t have so we rely on volunteers for some things.

“If people want to help out with any skills they have, that’s always welcome.

“The church is open from 5.30am to 9pm and we pray seven times a day and visitors can come any time in between as well.

“We take it in turns to prepare meals so if anyone has any special dietary requirements they would need to bring their own food and use the self-catering kitchen and we don’t invite women to join us to eat, they have to eat separately in the guesthouse.

“The rooms are very simple – individual rooms with single beds, a chair and desk, a wash basin.

“We have thousands of people stay each year – the beds are always warm. We will often have people leave in the morning and someone else come in by the afternoon.

“That’s why we’ve had to limit it to stays of up to two weeks in a year. One gentleman got very upset when I explained he couldn’t stay again the next week.

“Everyone’s experience is going to be different, a lot of people just say thank you.”