LAUNDE ABBEY: ONE OF THE LAST BASTIONS OF HUSH

The Bishop of Leicester has written the First Person Column in today's Leicester Mercury:

Launde Abbey: one of the last bastions of hush

The Bishop of Leicester says that in a world dominated by noise we need places of silence

Many of us grew up with memories of trips to our local library where zealous librarians enforced the silence by frequently telling people to "shhh". The Pipe Down Campaign once described libraries as the "last bastions of hush in an increasingly noisy world".

However times have changed. In Gloucestershire, libraries have introduced sound systems to provide background music to boost their appeal to younger users. During a recent visit to a school in Leicester, a member of our clergy asked the children when they last experienced silence. None of them could remember ever having done so.

Here in Leicestershire we have our own "bastion of hush" – Launde Abbey which is one the few remaining diocesan retreat houses.

The Archbishop of Canterbury described retreat houses as offering a tranquil environment where you can "find spiritual nourishment in an otherwise hectic world".

At Launde Abbey silence pervades the atmosphere. There is no mobile phone signal – unless you walk up the hill. Neither is there any noise or stress.

Last Tuesday Launde Abbey welcomed His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, when it re-opened fully to the public after a year of complete restoration and refurbishment. The major refurbishment of the building was possible after a highly successful public fund-raising campaign in 2009 to save Launde Abbey.

The newly-refurbished building has been designed to ensure that those who go there on silent retreat are able to have that silence respected.

During his visit the Prince of Wales took part in worship in the chapel, met some of the craftsmen involved in the restoration work, and spoke to those involved in the daily life of Launde Abbey, including many staff.

The Prince spoke at length of his joy that places like Launde Abbey were being revived. "Places of calm and transcendence are vital in our busy lives," he said. "We cannot act effectively if we don't know how to restore our inner self. Launde Abbey is an ideal place of retreat for people of any faiths, and of no faith."

Retreat houses are not the only places left where you can seek out silence. Silence and tranquillity can still also be found in many of our churches and cathedrals. People who visit them still talk in hushed whispers as they wander round gazing at the architecture and others choose to sit in silence to offer a private prayer.

Philip Larkin summed this up in his poem "Church Going". "It pleases me to stand in silence here: a serious house on serious earth it is."

In the 1960s Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, lamented that there was not enough silence in the world. Have you ever considered seeking out a place of silence and paying it visit?