I first attended a Quiet Morning at Ramsey Quiet Garden in 2021. I had no idea what to expect, but I had been invited to take two hours out of my day just to be quiet. What a blessing that was!
In my busy life, despite having a big garden in a beautiful setting, I had not allowed myself to take time just to sit, be quiet and feel what was around me. The quiet mornings have taught me to enjoy those things and more.
On crossing the threshold of the meeting room, silence reigns. How difficult did I find that! Being a gregarious and ebullient personality, often I would burst in calling a cheery âHelloâ, only to be met with gentle smiles and the classic finger on lips reminder. That said, still being raw from bereavement, when nature tipped me to the edge of overwhelming emotion, the group showed care and compassion, leaving me feeling stronger and upheld.
Each meeting has a focus, it may be listening, looking, or feeling and, regardless of the weather, we are all invited to examine the garden looking for signs of the dayâs focus. One day I found myself walking on the grass barefoot before hugging the beautiful tree which is central to the garden.
A labyrinth is laid out on the gravel car park, and we walk slowly and silently, taking our own thoughts and sometimes a stone or piece of bark to leave at the centre. Coffee and chat follow and then comes the moment when we
make ourselves comfortable, focus on a mantra or the candle flame and sit in silence for 15 minutes. How refreshing and enabling that is!
A beautiful poem or short philosophical reading enhances the beginning and the end of the meeting. Thanks, and appreciation go to the team who provide a space for peaceful refreshment of the soul through quiet and the beauty of the garden.
Cathy Moulton
The Quiet Garden Movement is a network of beautiful gardens and outdoor spaces for prayer, stillness, contemplation and an appreciation of the natural world.
Quiet From the Editor
As summer fades and autumn arrives, the world seems to slow down. The leaves, once vibrant with green energy, turn shades of amber, russet, and gold. With every gentle breeze, they drift softly to the ground, carpeting paths and gardens in a crunchy mosaic. There is a kind of hush in the air, as if nature itself is pausing to listen to its own heartbeat.
Autumn brings with it a unique sense of quiet. The hustle and bustle of summerâs activities have vanished, replaced by a calm that encourages reflection. The days grow shorter, the sunâs light mellows, and the crisp air invites us to wrap up warm and savour the tranquil moments. It is a time for breathing in the earthy scent of damp soil and wood smoke, enjoying quiet days â as held by those who have written testaments to how important these moments are.
There is a certain comfort in the quietude of autumn. Gardens and woodlands are less crowded, and the gentle sounds of wildlifeâ an owlâs distant hoot, the scurry of a squirrel âbecome all the more noticeable. In this silence, we may find space for our thoughts to wander, for ideas to take root, and for worries to be soothed. The worldâs slower pace invites us to embrace rest, to read by the fire, or simply to watch the rain trickle down the windowpane.
In the heart of autumn, quiet is not emptiness but presence. It is the steady rhythm of nature preparing for winter, a gentle reminder to slow down and appreciate the beauty around us. Whether you are walking beneath copper-coloured trees, sitting by a lake shrouded in mist, or enjoying a cup of tea as twilight descends, autumn offers countless opportunities to find peace and gratitude in moments of stillness.
Sarah Godson
Reflection
The Chair and Trustees of the Quiet Garden Movement were delighted at the news that one of our Patrons, the Right Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally, currently Bishop of London, has been appointed to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. We send our warmest congratulations and hold her in our prayers as she moves into this new phase of her ministry. We sincerely hope that she will continue as a Patron!
The Autumn season is well and truly upon us and the glorious colours of the countryside are an absolute joy to behold. Spring and summer colour in the natural world have gradually changed into the brilliant reds and golds that make our countryside and our gardens so different but still so beautiful.
Itâs also the season of Harvest Festivals and in churches and schools up and down the land, thousands of people of all ages are gathering to celebrate and give thanks for the harvest of fruit, vegetables and other crops.
Time spent outside is of great benefit to both physical and mental health, whether we are walking in the countryside or working in our gardens. Even the smallest garden will have something which needs doing and spending half an hour sweeping up leaves or tidying flower beds gives us time to reflect on the changing seasons and the wonder of the natural world.
Many of us lead incredibly busy lives but making time to be outside, letting our senses take in the sights, sounds and smells of the Autumn landscape is always time well-spent!
Jan Webb
What's On
There's always lots going on, so don't forget to check out all our upcoming events on our website. And did you know we have a Facebook page too...
Upcoming events
Lopcombe Quiet Garden
Our Quiet Garden at Lopcombe is not wanting to go to sleep for the winter yet. The parched lawns are now green again and need to be cut. The four rescue hens are looking well, and now are fully feathered and giving us four eggs a day. The roses are back in bloom and Cosmos are swaying in the
New Gardens
The following gardens were recently welcomed to the movement. Click the links below to find out more:
Come Learn the Unforced Rhythms of Grace
Visit the garden here
Stone Cottage
Visit the garden here
Monastery Hill at St Gertrude's
Visit the garden here
St Nicholas Quiet Garden
Visit the garden here
Lancaster Quaker Meeting House
Visit the garden here
Christ Church Portola Valley and Woodside
Visit the garden here
Quiet Waters Christian Retreat House
Visit the garden here
The Peace Garden
Visit the garden here
Become a Friend
Regular support through our Friends Scheme ensures the charity can maintain and develop the Movement, meaning people of all ages can discover and experience the benefits of time in nature. Click here to join.
Epworth.
The walled Physick Garden is a reflective space, full of herbs, flowers and information about the medicinal uses of such plants that John Wesley drew together from other physicians and medical practitioners of the time. His ambition was that everyone, no matter what status should have access to good medical care, therefore he wanted to promote cures that could be created using every day plants that grew in the garden or even by the wayside.
The garden is divided into 6 main beds in the centre with 4 smaller beds at either end of the garden. All of the beds are surrounded by accessible pathways and seating so that everyone can find somewhere to sit and enjoy the peacefulness created there. Our planting is fragrant and varied from beautiful peonies, lavender and roses, to more wild varieties of yarrow, foxgloves, betony and poppies, plus much more. We even have various vegetables planted in between, to showcase species that were also widely used in the 18th century as medicine, such as carrots, garlic, leeks and turnips.
Within our garden are signs with QR codes enabling visitors to enjoy reading more about the medicinal properties of all of the flowers, herbs and shrubs they encounter. To illustrate our interpretation we worked with local artist Helen Stark who created a range of beautiful watercolours of the flowers and also people from the 18th century.
We also have a special range of shop products that celebrate our physick garden from beautiful mugs and coasters to T shirts, sweatshirts, travel mugs and hats. All of this special range feature the iconic illustrations of our plants and flowers as well as our newly commissioned Physick Garden logo. These items can be ordered through our online shop, and other items are available in our unique gift shop at the Old Rectory.
Visitors can enjoy our gardens free of charge at any time of the year, or can even add a visit to the Rectory itself, which is open this year from April to October, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
About the garden:
Epworth Old Rectory Physic Garden
Bearsden Baptist Church Quiet Garden - Slow Down,
Breathe & Refresh
Our Slow Down, Breathe and Refresh sessions offer a simple invitation: to pause, reconnect with ourselves and the living world, and let the natural rhythm of the garden restore us. Held once a month on a Saturday morning, they have become a gentle rhythm for our small and friendly community. Usually six to eight people come along to each session â some from the church, others from the wider area, all drawn by a shared longing for space, quiet, and reconnection. When we first began in 2018, we followed the Quiet 25 guide closely, learning how to settle into stillness together. Now we often shape our own sessions, bringing poems, words, or simple reflections to share, letting the season and the place guide what unfolds.
At our latest autumn gathering, we let the garden lead us into play and presence. We wandered slowly, noticing the colours, sounds, and textures of the day â the crisp air, the rustle of leaves, the scent of damp earth. We discovered puffball mushrooms and gathered fallen leaves, crab apples and flowers arranging them into a rainbow of autumn colours. It was a joyful, childlike act â grounding, sensory, and quietly profound. Later, we gathered around a fire, feeling its warmth on our faces, watching the sparks rise into the cool air. We reflected on the Canticle of Creatures and felt connected â breath, movement, stillness, and the living landscape around us.
"Silence is a weaving; it is like a tapestry or a pattern of presence; it recalls me, but it is not like a block, it is more like a river, a flow, a patterning⊠silence is for me a resource, an aperture, a journey.â
Philip Roderick, Quiet Garden Movement founder
These images are from our Slow Down, Breathe and Refresh autumn gathering:
These mornings are about being still and fully present â connecting with our Creator, with creation, and with each other. In the garden, silence is not absence but movement; it flows, shimmers, and invites us to join in and walk in the cool with our maker. We leave not with answers, but with a renewed sense of ease and belonging â a weaving of body, breath, and earth that quietly refreshes the spirit
Rachel Tainsh
About the garden:
Bearsden Baptist Church Quiet Garden
there is available space. But in 2025 there was to be something different.
My friend Sally and I find Tess Wardâs book, Celtic Wheel of The Year, both sensitive and meaningful as it journeys through the months of the year, using poetry and liturgy to reflect the seasons. So we decided to step out and take a risk - to contact Tess to ask if she would lead a retreat day for us! Tess thankfully said yes and the venue and date were agreed as Woodlea, in the middle of June. There were ten of us altogether (weâd decided the maximum would be eight!) without any need to advertise. We began the day a very cosy group of women in a not particularly large conservatory.
The weather was glorious. Warm and dry! We gathered around a candle remembering Christ with us and introduced ourselves. A mixed bunch of age and experience. As mothers and grandmothers some had never set aside a day just for themselves, to spend time with God, or to just be.
The day was interspersed with time as a group, gently and effectively led by Tess, and times of silence and reflection on the provided poems and excerpts. This is when people walked the labyrinth, sat by the pond, lay on the grass under a tree fragrant with rambling roses or discovered another tranquil spot where they could enjoy the peace of nature.
packed lunch, though drinks were provided.
The end of the day soon arrived however and we were sharing the closing liturgy. The blessing meant a great deal to each of us:
Bless to us this day that is done the time that weâve shared beneath the midsummer sun.
In the quiet hiding place of the heart where the search begins and the journey ends, may we know presence as we leave now to walk our paths, and fold us in your healing, mend the earth in peace, keep us in our journeying, so we may know as one the light times and the dark.
c. Tess Ward 2025
Both Sally and I were fairly exhausted by the end of the day, though strangely invigorated too, but so glad that we had reached out to Tess to lead what was a deeply spiritual and meaningful time for those who came. We have been asked if there will be another one next year . . . .
Elaine Mee
About the garden: Woodlea Quiet Garden
Quiet Poetry
Clouds by Catherine James
The morning sky begins flat, blue, shining and stretched from hill to hill.
Poetry at Tremorran Quiet Garden
One morning a month Tremorran invites people to come 'back to the garden' for a Friendship Walk when, after coffee and biscuits we saunter and share poems, stories, blessings, songs and silence.
But clouds appear, first slowly, like the great white sails of an ancient ship , shattering the stillness, patterning and fragmenting, creating mosaics.
Like smoke spirals from an unseen flameless fire, or foam from a boundless sea, they conjure deserts burnt gold by sunset glare snow-topped mountains iced and crystalline, great granite walls of frowning fortresses, storms poured out like ink, vast mysterious plains which riders never cross, and pillared palaces.
Clouds are necessary, not just ornamentation. They bring the rain to drought-thirsty lands, relief from glaring heat, intricate interest to a wide blank heaven.
But pose the question toowhat life would be like without its clouds, the clouds which come and go and come again.
They give the necessary darkness to appreciate the joy.
Without the clouds, the brightness would seem dull.
But when they pass, the sky returns more clear, more dazzling , and life too can be more radiant than before.
Catherine's 2022 book of poems, The Year Round: A Collection of Reflective Poems is currently available from Amazon.
In September, local poet, Vivienne Tregenza launched her first book of poems and we gathered in the Peace Garden, bathed in sunshine, to hear her read, and talk about the inspiration for her writings. Conversations with Magic Stones commemorates the life and work of Barbara Hepworth, and explores themes of figures in the landscape, loss, resilience and transformation.
The garden is the perfect place to engage with poetry, listening to the sounds of nature and feeling the breeze on ones face. In the stillness, Vivienne painted pictures with her words, taking us along the alleyways of St Ives and into Hepworth's studio and garden. I particularly enjoyed 'Poised' on the edge, I find my balance again here on the cliff of this sculpture garden where voids are full of air and colour and nothing gives way to everything.
Here, space is made new and all our ideas of what is palpable, real, are turned upside
Hepworth's gift to us. How to journey through chaos to find a centre. How To make the centre hold.
About the garden: Tremorran Quiet Garden
The Peace Garden, Masai Mara, Kenya
Vision: To give life to peace. Mission: To Cultivate a Culture of Peace. Objective: To raise awareness for peace by setting up a community garden for peace, and clean-up days to keep the game park clean, green, and livable! Activities: To offer a space of quiet and make a âteachingâ space where peace is explored in nature and where symbols of peace can be created through sculptures, art, music and story-telling. Problem Statement: The responsibility of cleaning up our public spaces lies with county governments, but generally it's not happening. Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya is a case in point and this is where the Masai Mara Kenya City of Peace, steps in every week to keep the Greater Mara area clean, green, and livable!
Tilji John Menjo, the team leader, needs help though. He has no job, nor do his team members - the majority of whom are women. Without their weekly clean-ups the park could be laden with litter. Donations from the public will make it possible to continue to: hire unemployed people, source equipment and supplies, dispose of litter responsibly, and help create a community all can be proud of.
Tilji John comments: "We all value living in clean and vibrant Mara! Please consider supporting The Community Garden for Peace as a regular sponsor, providing refreshments or making a donation - however small. Masai Mara can be a place all are proud to call home!"
If you would like to support the work of The Peace Garden, please contact Sarah at the Quiet Garden Movement office using the details below.
About the garden: The Peace Garden
Quiet shared spaces where it's OK not to be OK
Renew Wellbeing helps churches open spaces of welcome and inclusion in partnership with mental health teams to improve mental and emotional wellbeing.
Renew Wellbeing provides information, inspiration, training and ongoing support to local churches as well as developing a simple national strategy for many small safe spaces to be made available through churches and councils working together.
To find out more, visit the Renew Wellbeing website.
Could you host your own Quiet Garden?
Our hosts are the hub of the Quiet Garden Movement, providing space for thousands of people to benefit from the natural environment and the opportunity to experience rest and spiritual refreshment away from an increasingly busy world.
Each Quiet Garden experience is unique and has its own identity, rhythm and charm. You may have an idea for enhancing use of an existing outdoor space, creating a beautiful garden space in a city or designing something from the ground up.
Maybe your garden would be a âdrop-inâ space, or a place for led day retreats or quiet mornings. Whatever your thoughts or plans, your garden will be a very welcome addition to our global network of Quiet Gardens.
We have two Quiet Garden Schemes, an Affiliate scheme for those individual hosts or host organisations who would like to open a garden for public use, and an Associate scheme for gardens within organisational settings such as schools, hospitals, places of work and community gardens.
To learn more about starting your own Quiet Garden, please click on the scheme most relevant to you by visiting https://quietgarden.org/become-a-host
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally Bishop of London, and Archbishop of Canterbury designate, joined us as a Patron in May and we are so grateful for her support.
Bishop Sarah writes: I am acutely aware of the impact of green spaces on our mental, spiritual and physical health. My experience living in the very centre of a city has made me profoundly grateful to have a garden, and to be so close to parks and squares.
Many of our churches in London have beautiful gardens and churchyards which are open to members of the public.. These spaces are used by people seeking peace and quiet, a place to reflect and pray, or simply rest and breathe deeply.
Our relationship with nature is just as important in built-up areas as in the depths of the countryside.
Quiet Places is published by The Quiet Garden Trust (Registered Charity No. 1038528). The editor is Sarah Godson and the designer is Keith Osborn. Our Patrons are The Rt Revd John Pritchard, Richard Foster, Terry Hershey, The Revd Lucy Winkett, Shane Connolly, Brian Draper, The Rt Revd Graham Usher, Prof. Gillian Prance, The Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally.
