Shush now! English Heritage trials silence at monastic sites

Visitors to monastic ruins are often on their phones, or chatting to each other, or thinking about work, or shouting at the children to please get away from that latrine drain.

Over the next month, for an hour at least, English Heritage is hoping people may consider silence.

It has launched an “hour of contemplation” trial project at 16 monastic sites in England, from Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island in Northumberland to Battle Abbey in East Sussex.

The idea, said the senior properties historian Michael Carter, is for people to “take a step back, centre yourself and focus on appreciating the peace and tranquillity that is unique to these historic buildings”.

He quoted Saint Aelred, a 12thcentury abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in a secluded North Yorkshire valley: “Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world.”

Carter said: “We’re inviting visitors to escape from their cares for a short time, using the quiet, the sound of the bird song, the rustle of the wind in the trees to contemplate and free their minds and spirits of the busy, noisy, demanding distractions of contemporary life.”

The quiet hour will take place in the last hour of each site’s opening.

Carter said that despite not taking a vow of silence, it used to be an important part of monastic life. The most frowned upon noise was unnecessary conversation, especially gossip that could undermine community cohesion. A complex system of hand signals was developed and used by monks and nuns to communicate silently.

English Heritage said it had asked Stephen Fry to record an audio introduction to the hour of contemplation, which will run from today to 22 October.

Other sites taking part include Furness Abbey, on the outskirts of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria; Wenlock Priory in Shropshire; and Muchelney Abbey, in Somerset.

“We’re not telling people how to live,” said Carter. “But the idea that life within monasteries has something within it which we can find spiritual and nourishing today really resonates.”