4-night mindfulness, nature & eco retreats
4-night mindfulness, nature & eco retreats
Young peoples retreat
Coach House retreat
The coach House for Hire
Food at the Coach House
Food at the Coach House

Nature, Self & Community: 4-night Coach House Retreat

Summary

9 Reviews
4 nights - Monthly
Any
Single
Short periods
Max. Spaces: 18

Overview

Connect with nature and spend 4 nights in The Coach House - a beautifully-renovated retreat centre surrounded by 550 acres of breath-taking, peaceful landscape.

You'll be cared for with plenty of time for rest, reflection and nature connection in the very special location of the Sharpham Estate. Our cook Wendy will prepare vegetarian & vegan food using produce grown in the 18th century Walled Garden.

Our experienced coordinators will gently guide you through three meditation sessions each day and you will get the opportunity to engage in mindful sessions with our gardeners in our amazing gardens.

In addition, this retreat gives participants the chance to experience and learn about our rewilding efforts on the estate.

 

This retreat is for you if:

  • you want to explore the benefits of nature-based mindfulness and mindfulness meditation
  • you will benefit from spending time in our wonderful heritage gardens
  • you need to rest and rejuvenate
  • you want to deepen your connection with nature and learn about Rewilding
  • you want to experience periods of silence
  • are aged 18 and above
What is Mindfulness?

What you'll experience on this retreat:

  • be living in community with like-minded people, sharing experiences and tasks
  • experience guided meditations, relaxation sessions and periods of silence and quiet contemplation, amid breath-taking scenery on the banks of the River Dart
  • four mornings learning about and helping in our ornamental and kitchen gardens
  • a chance to learn about & witness our efforts to re-wild the Sharpham Estate 
  • full-board accommodation in a Grade II-listed Georgian Coach House set within Capability Brownian parkland, with Grade 2*-listed gardens designed by Percy Cane in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty close to nature, amid breath-taking scenery on the banks of the River Dart
  • a single-occupancy room and your own space in which to rejuvenate, with free time to deeply rest and reconnect with yourself, far from the busy-ness of daily life. 
  • a safe and supportive community with like-minded people, sharing experiences in the kitchen gardens and on the wider Estate
  • delicious, healthy, home-cooked vegetarian food that regularly receives rave reviews
Coach House retreat

Getting your hands in the earth:

This Coach House retreat features morning sessions helping in our ornamental and Walled Garden in the grounds of Sharpham House, alongside our experienced staff Frances, Bryony and Amy.

We manage the gardens organically and the produce we grow supplies the kitchens in Sharpham House and the Coach House.

There are a mixture of tasks on our nature-mindfulness retreats, depending on the season. We invite you to bring your awareness to the land, plants and the nature surrounding you at Sharpham.

You don't need to know anything about gardening to participate - our team will support and assist you.

Rewilding:

This retreat includes the opportunity to learn more about our Rewilding efforts with a morning session led by an Ambios Team member who look after our rewilding project and deliver conservation training on the estate.

Find Out More

What you'll need to know:

If you decide to stay with us, we’ll send you a list of what you need to bring for this retreat in your Welcome Letter that we send out after you've booked.

You can also find out more about staying with us on our Frequently Asked Questions page, including:

  • accessibility information
  • why we encourage you to come on your own and not with partners or friends
  • what the difference is between our retreats
View our FAQs

Schedule

If you're coming to stay with us on retreat, it is important to make a commitment to arrive in time for the first group meeting and to attend all the days.

This ensures you experience the retreat programme from start to finish and helps your group of participants to gel.


Silence

All our retreats include periods of silence as a way of deepening into mindful awareness.

If you are new to spending time in silence in the company of other people, it can feel awkward to begin with. But we encourage you to explore the silent periods with a spirit of openness and curiosity - people usually find it to be a positive experience. 

The retreats typically move into silence each evening from 9pm - 9/9.30am the following day


Typical Schedule

Day 1: Arrive between 3 - 5pm for welcome meeting and settling in

Mornings Afternoons
6.45am - wake up  1.00pm - meditation
7.00am – morning movement/meditation 1.30pm - lunch
8.00am - household tasks 3.00pm – free time or group walk
8.30am – breakfast 6.00pm – supper
9.30am – Home Group (silence ends)  8.00pm - meditation and deep rest
10.30am - gardening 9.00pm – Personal time (Coach House moves into silence until 9.30am the next day)

Final day: depart by 11am

The retreat will move into silence each evening from 9pm – 9/9.30am and on one full day in each retreat.

Reviews

Just finished a brilliant 'Nature, Self & Community' retreat in the Coach House at Sharpham. A nurturing space that has enabled me to take some time for myself and to press the reset button. Food, surroundings and programme couldn't be faulted

participant on 4-night retreat at The Coach House

I don't ordinarily leave reviews, but my 6 days at Sharpham last week changed my life.

Having been sliding down darker mental slopes for months now, battling feelings of low self esteem, stress, feeling lost, but crucially not really realising it, a week's detox at Sharpham helped me come to a measure of acceptance about who I am, reignite my purpose and worth, calm me and rejuvenate me. Not to mention the beautiful scenery, wonderful tasting and nourishing vegan food and ever helpful, loving and supportive staff.

Would HIGHLY recommend to ANYONE, especially if you've become trapped in the 21st century all-rush-no-play. 100% worth the money.

James Graham
May 2023

A great spirit of co-operation and mutual helpfulness quickly developed in the group. I would recommend a retreat here to anyone feeling overladen with life's demands or who wants to spend time in a supportive community.

Coach House retreatant
See all Reviews

The Coach House nature mindfulness retreat centre at The Sharpham Trust

The Coach House

When you stay at The Coach House, you'll be in comfy, single rooms in a beautifully converted 18th century stable block, set in the stunning scenery of Sharpham's grounds. You'll experience daily meditation and movement sessions, time in our gardens and on the land and you'll eat delicious and homegrown vegetarian and vegan meals.

Coach House retreats focus on nature connection through a varied programme of retreats designed to connect you to Sharpham's flora and fauna, with plenty of time for you to rest and reflect.

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Leaders

Coach House Coordinators
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Costs

The Sharpham Trust is committed to ensuring that retreats at The Coach House are accessible to all - regardless of income. 

All rooms are comfortable single rooms, with either an ensuite or a shared bathroom. All meals, bedding and towels are included. Rooms are randomly allocated, unless you have medical needs relating to your room allocation. If you have such a need, let us know on your booking form which will be sent to you once you have booked.

Participants at The Coach House can select which rate they pay according to need:

Supported Rate £395

The Sharpham Trust is committed to ensuring that retreats are accessible to all - regardless of income. The Trust therefore offers a heavily subsidised Supported Rate for those unable to pay the Standard or Benefactor Rate.

Standard Rate £450

Paying the Standard Rate means you will be contributing towards our running costs, supporting the work of The Coach House and helping retreatants on lower incomes to access our retreats.

Benefactor Rate £495

If you are able to pay the Benefactor Rate, that means that you'll be supporting others who cannot afford to benefit from a retreat on The Sharpham Estate. Your choice to pay this rate will help us with the running costs of The Coach House, enabling us to continue our charitable work connecting people to nature and fostering mindfulness and wellbeing, as well as caring for the land, wildlife and wider estate.

There will be a maximum of 18 guests on this retreat.

All rooms are single occupancy, giving you your own space in which to relax.

If you have a medical condition that requires you to have an en-suite room, please contact the Programme Administrator on the number below as these rooms are limited and are bookable on a first-come first-serve basis.

Book easily and securely online or by phoning 01803 732542

Terms & Conditions

Please click here to see our booking and cancellations policy

Room Types

Click here for more information on our types of bedrooms and facilities.

Bursaries

Limited 50% bursaries offering reduced-price retreats are available for those experiencing financial hardship. Please contact the Programme Administrator at least 4 weeks in advance if you wish to apply.

Our bursary fund relies on donations. If you’d like to help another to go on retreat here through our bursary scheme, you can give online quickly and easily by clicking here

Thanks to the generosity of the Hollick Family Foundation we are able to offer up to two 75% bursaries for 18-25 years olds experiencing financial hardship on this retreat. To find out more and apply please contact [email protected]

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Available dates

2024 20 Oct

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat

2025 09 Mar

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat

2025 11 May

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat

2025 25 May

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat

2025 30 Jun

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat

2025 13 Jul

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat

2025 21 Sep

Nature, Self & Community: 4 night Coach House Retreat