A retreat is your chance to step aside from life for a while, to rest and just 'be' in a welcoming, peaceful place.
Sarum College
19 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EE, UK
Retreat Centre Description
At Sarum College we offer space for reflection about how people can live together generatively for the common good where all can flourish.
We explore wholeness and the values which empower us to share well-being especially as they relate to issues such as health, equality, disability, sexuality, age, creativity and love.
Sarum College is ecumenical and set in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close. We are a five-minute walk from the High Street with shops, cafes and a twice-weekly market. There are excellent cultural venues within the Close.
We offer a range of services, including library access, and sessions for spiritual direction or mentoring.
Accommodation on Offer
Forty-one of our 53 guest bedrooms are ensuite. We have one ground floor bedroom with a wet room and other accessibility amenities.
Wren bedrooms at the front of the College have uninterrupted views of the Cathedral, several others have lovely views overlooking the rooftops of the Close and spire. Rooms are single, double and twin; all have tea and coffee-making facilities. None have televisions.
The lift gives access to all the floors. Butterfield Chapel is a lovely 19th century chapel open to visitors when not in use for worship and events. There is also a common room with easy chairs and licensed bar for guest use, as well as a specialist library open to the public.
There are several meeting rooms, the largest of which holds approximately 80 people. Food is freshly made onsite with a range of options and catering to a range of dietary requirements.
Retreat Centre Facilities
Please see website for retreat centre facilities
Types of Retreat Offered
Please see website for retreats offered
2024 Events
Exploring Theology: Exploring the Bible
Three sets of 10 weekly online evening sessions on tools and understanding for imaginative, faithful and fruitful encounters with Scriptures.
Terms begin in January, April and September.
Sarum Course in Spiritual Direction
This course offers a balanced learning environment, blending personal and spiritual formation with skills development. The online course begins Feb 22nd. Onsite and mixed mode versions begin in Autumn.
January
10 – Gentle Pilates. Six sessions to learn practical ways to improve posture and feel better through gentle movement with Christine Nielsen-Craig. Open to all, no experience needed. Wednesdays 6-7pm onsite.
16- ‘Love’s Mysteries in souls’: The Poems and Faith of John Donne with Canon Mark Oakley. Onsite 10am – 4pm
17- Rediscovering a Rule of Life Today. Four once monthly online sessions from 12pm to 1pm with Canon Tom Clammer. Subsequent dates are 21 Feb, 20 Mar & 17 April.
17- Spirituality Series. First of five monthly webinars each led by an expert, exploring a different tradition, its historical roots, and its role today: desert, Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian and Quaker. Online 7:30 – 9pm
23 – iJesus: The Culture of God in a Digital World with Nadim Nassar. 10am to 4pm onsite.
30- Sarum Study Days. Spend a refreshing day at Sarum College to read, reflect or catch up on a project. Self-directed with support from the academic team. 10am to 4pm.
31- Revisiting Lent and Eastertide. Explore the liturgical, theological and pastoral opportunities of the season with Canon Tom Clammer. Online 9.30am to 12.30pm.
February
Saturday 3 February Creation and Creativity – Clayful Creations Working with clay to immortalise a walk around the Cathedral and Close with Sophie Hacker. 10am to 4pm.
Monday 5 February Burn like Stars: Keeping on keeping on in a stressful world. Explore how to flourish despite excessive demands on energy and time with Gillian Straine and Wendy Lloyd. 10am to 4pm
12-15 February, Modern & Postmodern Perspectives on Christian Spirituality. Residential or non-residential taught by experts in the field.
Wednesday 7 February Community Organising Breakfast: Mission and Ministry Strategies . 8:30-11am online
19-23 February Text, Interpretation and Imagination. Residential or non-residential course taught by experts in the field.
Monday 19 February Second of five monthly webinars each led by an expert, exploring a different spiritual tradition, its historical roots, and its role today: desert, Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian and Quaker. 7:30 – 9pm
Wednesday 21 February Rule of Life Lunch (2 of 4)
March
Monday 4 March Reading Scripture Together - 'Drink My Blood': Sacrifice and Atonement with Shoshana Boyd Gelfand and Jayme Reaves.10am to 4pm onsite.
Monday, 4 March Winchester Postgraduate Programmes Taster Session for Prospective Students. 7-8pm online.
Tuesday 5-Wednesday 6 March Rural Ministry Retreat hosted by Jo Neary.
Wednesday 6 March Introduction to Trauma Theology with Karen O’Donnell. 1-4pm online.
Tuesday 12 March Bach's St John Passion (300th Anniversary) with Charles Stewart. 10am to 4pm onsite.
Wednesday 13 March Faith in a Time of Dementia: The Other Side of Nothingness with Peter Kevern. 10am to 4pm onsite.
Monday 18 March Spirituality Series. Third of five monthly webinars led by an expert, exploring a different spiritual tradition, its historical roots, and its role today: desert, Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian and Quaker. 7:30 – 9pm
Wednesday 20 March Rule of Life Lunch (3 of 4)
Saturday 23 March Creation and Creativity Nature Up Close. Look closely at nature to create a meditative pencil study, with Sophie Hacker. 10am to 4pm.
April
Monday 15 April Spirituality Series. Fourth of five monthly webinars each led by an expert, exploring a different spiritual tradition, its historical roots, and its role today: desert, Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian and Quaker. 7:30 – 9pm
Wednesday 17 April Rule of Life Lunch (4 of 4)
Thursday 18 April Reading Scripture Together: Encountering Women at Wells with Shoshana Boyd Gelfand and Jayme Reaves.10am to 4pm onsite.
Wednesday 24 April Rituals in a time of ecological crisis. How to establish rituals of relation with the land around us with Claudio Carvalhaes. 2-5pm online.
May
Monday 13 May The Practice of Spiritual Care with Julia Burton-Jones. 10-4pm onsite.
Thursday 16 May Hoping to Turn Again: T.S. Eliot’s middle years with Christopher Southgate. Onsite 10-4pm
Saturday, 18 May Sarum College Open Day for Prospective Students. 10am-1pm onsite
Monday 20 May Community Organising Breakfast: Church Growth Narratives 8.30-11am online.
Monday 20 May Spirituality Series. Last of five monthly webinars led by an expert, exploring a different spiritual tradition, its historical roots, and its role today: desert, Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian and Quaker. 7:30 – 9pm
20-24 May Spiritual Directors' Conference onsite at Sarum College.
June
Wednesday 5 June Solidarity and Christian Ethics with Rowan Williams. 10-4pm onsite.
Friday 7 - Sunday 9 June Walking Retreat with Rosie Miles.
Monday 10 June Humour in the Bible. First of a series of three sessions with Jayme Reaves. From 7-9pm online.
Monday 17 June Humour in the Bible. Second in series of three sessions with Jayme Reaves. From 7-9pm online
Monday 24 June Sarum Study Day. Self-guided day with support from Sarum academic staff. Onsite 10am -4pm
Monday 24 June Humour in the Bible. Second in series of three sessions with Jayme Reaves. From 7-9pm online
July
Monday, 1 July Winchester Postgraduate Programmes Taster Session 7-8pm
Wednesday 10th July Desert Spirituality in the City with Jarel Robinson-Brown. From 3-6pm online.
Saturday 20 July Creation and Creativity. Painting with sunlight. Make cyanotypes with Sophie Hacker. From 10am-4pm onsite.
August
11 -16 Introduction to Hebrew residential language intensive.
12-17 New Testament Greek residential language intensive.
September
Tuesday 24 September. Reading Scripture Together series. Jews in Royal Courts: Esther with Shoshana Boyd-Gelfand and Jayme Reaves. Online 10 am-4pm
Friday 4 - Sunday 6 October Icon-Writing weekend with Jim Blackstone. Onsite from Fri 4pm to Sunday lunchtime.
October
Tuesday 8 October Community Organising Breakfast: Don't Do for others what they can do for themselves. Online 8.30 to 11am
November
Tuesday 12 November Telling the Story of Age: Listening to the Voices of Older People with James Woodward. Onsite 10am -4pm
Wednesday 13 November Sarum Study Day. Self-directed with support from Sarum College academic faculty. Onsite from 10 am to 4pm
Monday, 18 November Winchester Postgraduate Programmes Taster Session for Prospective Students 7-8pm online.
Wednesday 20 November Reading Scripture Together series. Jews in Royal Courts series: Joseph. Onsite, from 10am to 4pm
2025 Events
The Sarum Course in Spiritual Direction offers an online format that begins on March 18, 2025. The onsite format begins September 2025. Both formats are designed to fit around other responsibilities. Details on our website: www.sarum.ac.uk/learning/spiritual-direction/
2025 Short Courses (please note that new courses are being added, and this is just a selection of courses listed on our website course calendar, www.sarum.ac.uk/short-courses )
15 January, Rule of Life Lunch (£40, 1st of 4 session in series)
28 January, Women, Ecotheology and the Global South (£40)
30 January, Sarum Study Day (£35)
Take time to carve out an intentional space for self-directed reading, reflection and creativity. Also offered in the same format 23 June and 4 November)
17-20 February, Text, Interpretation and Imagination (from £495)
17-20 February, Modern and Postmodern Perspectives on Christian Spirituality (from £495)
26 February, Theology and the Menopause (£40)
24 March, What is Old Age for? (£70)
26 March, King Lear and the Life of Faith (£70)
7-10 April, Popular Culture and Digital Media (from £495)
29 April, Celebrating Extraordinary Ordinary Time (£40)
12 - 15 May, Texts and the Christian Tradition (from £495)
August Summer language weeks: Greek in a Week and Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
13 - 16 October Foundations and Forms of Christian Spirituality
13 - 16 October Theology & Human Culture
17 - 20 November, Spirituality, Health and Wellbeing
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Retreat Centre Location
19 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EE, UK