A retreat is your chance to step aside from life for a while, to rest and just 'be' in a welcoming, peaceful place.
Othona West Dorset
Retreat Centre Description
You’ll find Othona in a unique position on the Dorset coast. With 6 acres of beautiful biodiverse ‘wild’ grounds and a short walk down through National Trust meadows to Chesil Beach.
At the heart of our evolving programme of retreats, courses and holidays is always an experience of open community. Where we can meet, learn, play, pray, and lend a hand together in an ethos of acceptance and authenticity. A break from all the screens in our lives, this is IRL face to face connection!
Othona has the nature of a community network, with longstanding members and supporters across the UK and abroad, but at our two centres here and in Essex there is an equal welcome for someone making their first visit.
Rooms are comfortable but modest, with no en-suites yet. Your meals are lovingly prepared by members of the small resident community and volunteers who will be eating alongside you. Events during school holidays are usually child-friendly.
The example of Jesus – mystic, prophet, rebel – is foundational, but not in your face. Other traditions are fully respected here. In chapel, at the table, round the firepit, a grounded spirituality counts more than particular creeds and doctrines. Here we join hands with all who yearn for justice, peace and a future for our planet.
Othona is a beloved ‘second home’ to many. A valued resource for people at full stretch, especially on the stressful frontlines of various caring professions. And an anchorhold of hopefulness and resilience in increasingly troubled times.
Accommodation on Offer
4 family bedrooms, 6 twins, 3 singles, 2 doubles (4 on ground floor, 2 with ensuite washbasin and disability access)
Chapel, library, multi-purpose studio, sitting room, dining room
Retreat Centre Facilities
Please see website for retreat centre facilities
Types of Retreat Offered
Please see website for retreats offered
2025 Events
30 January - 2 February. Further on with the Enneagram. Jeanie Honey
10 - 15 September. Quiet Week. Jane Pearse and Catherine Bond
Retreat Centre Location
The Othona Community, Coast Road, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4RN
2026 Events
29 Dec – 2 Jan New Year in Community. A relaxed houseparty to welcome 2026. With the addition of quiet space and guidance for personal reflections on the year past and new, facilitated by coach and mentor Penny Motley.
21-25 Jan Roll Up Your Sleeves – fruit and veg gardening special, held in the context of community, both active and contemplative.
20-23 Feb Songs for the Quiet Season. Singing to warm the heart and lift the voice. With choir leader Suus Gooch.
3-8 Mar Roll Up Your Sleeves – chances to help in the house and grounds, held in the context of community, both active and contemplative.
20-22 Mar The Missing Peace: Meditation as a Spiritual Path to Peace, Community and Oneness. A retreat drawing on the 2025 book of the same name, led by its author, Chris Whittington, founder of the School of Contemplative Life.
26-29 Mar Introduction to the Enneagram. Learn about your own and others' personality types and spiritual essence through this ancient and uncannily perceptive model of human diversity, with Jeanie Honey who teaches in the narrative Enneagram tradition.
16-19 April The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom. A retreat inspired by the book of the same name by Richard Rohr, “a wholehearted and hope-filled model for living today, grounded in the timeless words of the Hebrew prophets”. The retreat is led by Revd Ian Spencer and Urs Mattmann (N.B. Father Richard will not be present).
29 Apr – 3 May Embodying the Divine: mindfulness, incarnation and being peace in the world. How can we embody divine qualities such as presence, stillness, peace and compassion in the ebb and flow of our daily lives? With Tim Stead, author and freelance mindfulness teacher who teaches in both faith and secular contexts.
5-11 May Walking Week: Pilgrim Paths. Four full day walks and one rest day, with each route anchored to places of spiritual significance. With Tony Jaques, Othona warden and dedicated walk leader.
27-31 May Othona Circle of Meeples. Othona’s founder always spoke of “work, worship, study and play” and this event highlights the playful, with a feast of boardgaming to help us build community.
26-28 June Radical Love. A two day retreat to help us to open our hearts and experience love at all levels, personal as well as universal love, intimate as well as ultimate love. Love of Nature, love of people, and love of yourself. With peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, former monk and founder of the Resurgence Trust, Satish Kumar.
Othona West Dorset
The Othona Community, Coast Road, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4RN