Finding silence at St Beuno's
Post categories: Denbighshire
| 11:18 UK time, Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Denbighshire's is to feature in a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ2 series, The Big Silence.
The programme follows five people who take time out from their busy lives to try and discover why silence is so hard to attain in modern-day society.
As part of the series the five volunteers spent eight days at St Beuno's, during which no talking was allowed except for a one-hour counselling session each day.
St Beuno's attracts people from all over the world to its retreats
St Beuno's, near Tremeirchion in Denbighshire, was built in 1848 as a place of study for Jesuits.
The architect of the Grade II listed building was who also gave his name to the Hansom cab.
St Beuno's most famous resident was the poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins who studied theology there from 1874 to 1877.
During his time at St Beuno's Hopkins, who was originally from Stratford in Essex, wrote some of his best known works. He developed a strong affinity for Wales and learnt some Welsh.
Today, St Beuno's attracts people from all over the world with the aim of providing a quiet space for reflection and prayer.
As well as retreats, there are courses, seminars and workshops.
You can see how the five volunteers who spent eight days there fared on The Big Silence on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two Wales, 27 October at 7pm.
