Welcome to Boars Hill
If Trading Places brought you here, we’re so glad you came.
Support Our MissionWe are a community of Discalced Carmelite friars living in seventeen acres of Oxfordshire woodland, just outside Oxford. Our life is simple: prayer, silence, community, and service. We have been here since 1958, in a former Poet Laureate’s house on one of the most beautiful hilltops in England.
What you saw on Channel 5 is simply our life. But behind it is a vision – a vision to transform this place into a centre of spiritual renewal that can welcome many, many more people in the years ahead.
We want to give people the opportunity to have that loving moment with a loving God who cares for all of us – to create sacred space for people to encounter the divine and to encounter themselves. Fr. Alex Ezechukwu OCD, Prior
A welcome from Fr. Alex – Prior, Carmelite Priory
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Our Vision
To bring people to experience a life-transforming friendship with God through the contemplative wisdom of the Carmelite tradition.
Our Mission
Through the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS), we provide quality formative programmes that foster an awareness of God’s presence, nurture the spiritual life, and equip those in soul care ministries for a discerning and supportive accompaniment in diverse ministerial contexts. Drawing on the rich resources of the Carmelite tradition – especially prayer and spiritual direction – we pursue this mission through residential and online courses and talks, pilgrimages, and our Carmelite Book Service, reaching participants in over 40 countries. We welcome everyone. The New Mount Carmel project is the next chapter: a purpose-built retreat and formation centre at Boars Hill that will enable us to welcome many more people and carry this mission forward for generations to come.
The New Mount Carmel Vision
The New Mount Carmel Vision
The biblical mountain Mount Carmel in the Holy Land is a mountain special to Carmelites. From the time of the Prophet Elijah in the 9th century BC, it has been a place of discerning the choice between yielding to the love of the True and Living God or pursuing after false idols.
For the 21st century, the mission of the Priory as a New Mount Carmel is focused on in-depth spiritual formation and renewal – restoring in people of today the capacity to dream, to hope, and to fall in love with the Living God. This is a new mission for a new age.
For the new digital age of the 21st century, we are passionate about bringing this Gospel to everyone, everywhere. Having the necessary infrastructure and capacity is pivotal for this mission, and just as important are collaborators who can partner with us in our mission of hope.
Our initial 10 million pound capital campaign will provide a solid foundation for future growth, focusing on developing the capacity, quality, and outreach of our spiritual formation programmes, as well as the physical infrastructure and technology that support them.
Make a Donation
Every gift makes a differenceAdd 25% at no cost to you. I am a UK taxpayer and I would like the Carmelite Priory to treat this donation and any future donations as Gift Aid donations, increasing my gift by 25% at no extra cost.
Download Gift Aid form for cheque or bank transfer gifts For online donations, Gift Aid can be completed on the donation page. The PDF is only needed for cheque or bank transfer gifts.Selected gift: £25 one-time. Final payment details, including Gift Aid for online donors, are completed on the donation page.
You can also give by bank transfer, direct debit, or cheque.
Account: CARMELITE PRIORY CACS | Sort Code: 20-65-18 | Account No: 53108856
Please make cheques payable to “Carmelite Priory” and post to Carmelite Priory, Chilswell, Boars Hill, Oxford OX1 5HB
How You Can Be Part of This
Three ways to connectSupport Our Mission
Your donation, of any size, helps us build a place of spiritual renewal for generations to come.
Donate NowGift Aid – boost your gift by 25%
If you are a UK taxpayer, the government adds 25p to every £1 you give – at no extra cost. A £25 gift becomes £31.25. A £100 gift becomes £125.
Download Gift Aid Form (PDF)Experience a Carmelite Wisdom
Come and stay with us, or join one of our retreats, online programmes or digital resource library from wherever you are.
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