Church retreat centre will close

A Church of England retreat is to close with the loss of 17 jobs because it cannot afford to upgrade its rooms.

Morley Retreat and Conference House, a Grade II-listed Georgian building in Derbyshire, has been offering a quiet place for prayer for almost 50 years.

It is being closed because it does not offer en suite facilities and would be too expensive to upgrade.

The retreat will be returned to the Diocese of Derby when it eventually closes down in April.

Shared facilities

Most of the bedrooms, located in an extra wing added in the 1960s, are small with poor sound-proofing and do not have en suite facilities, so guests have to share toilet and washing areas for about £50 a night.

The Reverend Mike Alexander, chairman of the retreat's trustees, said: "There are so many people nowadays who are looking for en suite facilities, even in a retreat house.

"The world has changed and that's what they're demanding.

"But also we've had to spend a lot of money on the house in order to bring it up to standard - and to go en-suite we'd have to be spending getting on for £800,000 to do the whole house."

The General Synod of the Dioceses of Leicester and Peterborough are planning to table a motion next month highlighting the plight of retreats and calling for as many of them to be saved as possible.

Advertisement

The Morley Retreat in Derbyshire offers a quiet place for prayer