01300 341345 hilfieldssf@franciscans.org.uk
The Friary, Hilfield, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 7BE
Donate Registered Charity Number 236464
Hilfield Friary
Welcome to our Anglican Franciscan Friary in rural Dorset
“Reconnecting to sacred nature” are 2 identical retreats running at Hilfield Friary on Friday 24th (from 12pm) to Sunday 26th (3pm) April 2026 and again from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th June 2026 geared at those of different spiritual traditions and none enquiring into the sacredness of nature in the midst of the ecological crisis.
The retreat has five aims:
- To help participants develop a deeper connection to and love for the beauty, awe and sacredness of nature.
- To honestly face the environmental crisis with hope, courage and a sense of personal agency.
- Draw on different world spiritual traditions to inspire, challenge and guide our response.
- Become part of a wider movement for positive, regenerative change in our society
- Learn to know, honour and protect mother earth, allowing all life to flourish.
The retreat will immerse participants in the beauty of creation in the Dorset countryside – slowing us down to nature’s pace. Providing time for reflection, meditation and stillness inspired by nature. It will draw upon the philosophies and writings of different world spiritual traditions, the principles of Joanna Macy’s book “Active Hope”, as well as earth sciences and evolutionary biology.
Feedback from past retreatants has been very powerful:
“That was an amazing weekend – much more than anyone could have planned or imagined…It’s about increasing our awareness of the awe of nature and how we can see the divine in it.” Chris Bemrose
“A massive thanks for the weekend. It really was a healing experience. Rediscovering the awe and wonder of nature.” Anne Watson
The retreat will be led by facilitators from Soul Rewilding (www.soulrewilding.co.uk) a not-for-profit collective founded in response to the climate and ecological crisis the earth faces. Soul Rewilding believes the environmental crisis is at heart a spiritual crisis and that we need to relearn a new humility and spirituality that reconnects us to the sacredness of the earth and all other than human life.
The cost per person for three days and two nights and all meals is £280. To secure your booking a £100 deposit (non-refundable) is required at the time of booking. To book a place on a retreat please contact Mike Mullins at mikemullins@soulrewilding.co.uk. Mobile 07973 642 875.
A reminder that these 2 weekends led by Mike Mullins still has some places. For more information and booking please contact Mike directly: mikemullins@soulrewilding.co.uk
Message from the Spirit of Francis website: Each year on 4th October, Christians and many others around the world celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi- the joyful friar whose life of simplicity, compassion, and kinship with all creation continues to inspire, eight centuries on. The Feast is a day to say thank you for this vision of hope – to remember that faith is about relationship: with God, with one another, and with the Earth itself.
In October 2026 we will mark 800 years since St Francis’s death – not as a moment of mourning, but of renewal. The anniversary invites us to walk again in his footsteps: to live simply, act justly, rebuild what is broken, and recognise Christ’s presence in every person and every part of creation.
We would love you to visit the Spirit of St Francis website: https://www.spiritoffrancis.com/ to find out about the Pilgrimages and events. The interactive Advent Calendar needs to be seen!
You can also download the On New Roads, 2026 Franciscan Peace Pilgrimage leaflet.
There is a Franciscan Lent Book for 2026 which you can order via Suzi at Hilfield called ‘Lent-Scapes; Landscapes of Penance, Peace and Reconciliation’, costing £10 plus postage and packing.
Wednesdays from 2.00pm – 4.00pm, Recreation Room, £10
Session are on 15th October. and 19th November 2025, and 14th January, 11th February, 11th March, 15th April, 13th May, 24th June, 8th July, 5th August, 9th September, 7th October, 11th November and 9th December 2026
These sessions will be led by Nickie Fidgin. Nickie has a background in healthcare and completed Capacitar’s Multicultural Wellness Training in Healing and Transformation in 2017. She is an experienced labyrinth facilitator and regularly leads Quiet Days and retreats.
All sessions will be held at Hilfield Friary, Hilfield, Dorchester, DT2 7BE
Enquiries and Bookings may be made by either emailing hilfieldssf@franciscans.org.uk or calling on 01300 341345 (Guest Bookings) – if the office is not manned – please leave a message.
How can we become people who are peaceful, grounded and resilient amidst the challenges and turmoil of our times?
Come and join us once a month on Wednesday afternoons in the Recreation Room to learn Capacitar’s easy to use wellness practices drawn from ancient wisdom traditions and current research. Together we will discover simple tools we can use in the moment to help us manage the stresses and anxieties of daily life. The practices offer a lovely balance of movement and stillness including gentle tai chi; breathwork; finger and head holds; acupressure; hand massage; visualisation; centring; and finger labyrinths, accompanied by soft music in a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. Many people use the practices daily to help bring harmony and peace to their body, mind and spirit and to strengthen their sense of resilience and hope in troubled times.
‘I love relaxing into the wonderful calm of our Capacitar sessions together. The meditative movements and gentle music create a tranquil space where we can all let go of life’s tensions, sink into the quiet peace and simply BE! A precious gift indeed.’
Capacitar means ‘to empower, to awaken, to bring each other to life.’ Capacitar encourages us to share the practices within our families, places of work and communities, passing on what we have learnt and empowering others to live in wellness. As we heal ourselves we become a healing presence in the world.
For more information see
Capacitar International https://capacitar.org/
Capacitar UK https://www.capacitaruk.org/
Click on the red YouTube button to watch a heartwarming video about Pope Francis and St Francis. The video was written and directed by Dr Liam Temple.
Hilfield Vision Statement
In our daily living we aspire to be:
Rooted – we seek to live simply and gratefully, caring for the land that we have been entrusted with.
Christian – following Christ in the way of St Francis we care for the poor and marginalised
of our society and all of creation.
Family – an open and inclusive community that welcomes all people and creation.
Adopted by the Community on 4th September 2018
“As a Franciscan community, we follow the marks of humility, love and joy. This shapes the culture we try to live out. We are deeply committed to being an inclusive and safe space for everyone, whatever their background, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, gender identity, disability, mental health, neurodiversity or faith. Our community members are very diverse and we seek to live alongside and to love and learn from each other in all our differences.
To help maintain this culture of inclusivity and allow all our community members and guests to feel safe, we expect all our guests to be kind, respectful (including respecting people’s preferred pronouns), open to learning, and generous to everyone they engage with.
While the community is a Christian, Franciscan friary, we welcome people of all faiths and none, as well as Christians from all kinds of church backgrounds. You are welcome here whatever your feelings or practices of faith so long as you are respectful to those who might be different.
Our policy is that we do not tolerate any discriminatory or aggressive behaviour or speech and, in extreme cases, we may ask guests to leave if they are being especially disruptive or causing the Friary to feel unsafe for others.”
Donations
Hilfield and the wider Society of St Francis rely totally on donations for our income. The excess income generated at Hilfield supports SSF houses without their own income generation. You can Gift Aid your donation too. Simply fill in the online form or download the form, fill it in, scan and then email it to us or post it to us.
We are delighted to offer standing order donors complimentary Franciscan Magazines.
Please visit our Donate Page.
Hilfield Timetable
We are on Facebook
Visit Hilfield Friary’s Facebook page for lots of up-to-date news and photos. Community Member Ellie Stephenson is doing a wonderful job!!!
Sponsor a Hilfield Sewing Machine
hilfieldssf@franciscans.org.ukWould you like to sponsor one of our sewing machines. They are heavily used by our guest crafters and need MOTs every year. It usually costs around £50 per machine even though Suzu has sorted out a good deal. If you would like to sponsor please contact Suzi on 01300 341345 or email her at hilfieldssf@franciscans.org.uk
Would you like to subscribe to our mailing list?
Would you like to subscribe to our mailing list for quarterly Hilfield Update newsletters and events?
Phone Sara at Hilfield on 01300 342311 or email her at passf@franciscans.org.uk
All information is held on a secure database. We do not share any information.
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