No room at the Close
7:00am Thursday 23rd December 2010
- Share
- Comments(0)
AN Order of Benedictine monks in Salisbury is hoping not to be made homeless this Christmas.
Prior Simon and fellow monks Kenneth, Francis and Bruce live at the Principal’s House attached to Sarum College, but they need to extend the building so they can carry out their prayer and
hospitality duties properly.
They have applied for planning permission to build an oratory, where they can hold prayer services, and two small en-suite rooms for guests but face objections from Cathedral Close residents.
Prior Simon, who joined the order in 1988, said: “If we can’t extend here we will have to move and we don’t have any other places in mind. We have not had any hostility from local residents. I
think it’s mostly hostility to the building. People feel the existing building is a bit out of place.”
The four monks, who are part of an Anglican order formerly based at Elmore Abbey, moved to the house in September and want to stay.
But residents say the expansion plans would be over-development of the site and out of keeping with the surrounding listed buildings.
Prior Simon said the group had been thinking about moving out of Elmore Abbey when the principal of Sarum College, Keith Lamdin, visited.
He realised the abbey was too big for the four of them and invited them to move to the Principal’s House.
They wanted to live close to a cathedral so they could share in the worship as cathedrals tend to have a daily Eucharist service, which is a part of their routine.
The monks attend services at the cathedral every morning and evening, go to the college’s midday prayer service and hold three prayer services a day in their quarters.
Mr Lamdin said: “The history of this college has always been about the teaching of spirituality and prayer and to have people who actually practice it living among us really adds value to all the
work we do. They’re lovely people and they’ve settled in very well.”
He said it is a problem for a lot of Anglican religious houses that have got smaller, the question of how they continue the monastery in a new way. The Principal’s House has allowed them to do this
but the facilities are limited.
Prior Simon said: “It’s traditional for Benedictine houses to have day guests and residential guests, and the plans also include a dedicated chapel. The chapel is in the dining room at the moment
and we need it for our services. It’s the heart of the house in a Benedictine monastery.”
Wiltshire Council’s southern area planning committee will consider the application in January after a site visit has been carried out.
- Share
- Comments(0)
Your sayYour Salisbury
Add your comment
Register for a FREE Salisbury Journal account and you can have your say on today’s news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.