Tirylan House is a spacious six-bedroomed house situated near the western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in southern Wales, 2 to 3 miles from the town of Llandeilo. Apart from the main house, there is a converted barn that we have made into an annexe: this can be used flexibly either for independent retreats (for groups or individuals), or additional accommodation for retreats in the house. There are also 17 acres of land, formerly pasture, where we are developing a forest garden and planting trees, for sustainable food production and biodiversity. The site is secluded, apart from some neighbouring holiday cottages, and high up, with views over the Towy valley.
Downstairs in the house
Downstairs in the house we have a meditation room, library, sitting room, a kitchen-dining room, and a bathroom.
The meditation room is an open wood-floored space that can be used for meditation or bodywork.
The library is another wood-floored room surrounded by books, where you can study or have discussions by a wood fire. We have about 3000 books in all, particularly on religion (especially Buddhism and Christianity), Western Philosophy, Psychology, Language and Fiction.
The sitting room is a particularly spacious, light, wood-floored room, with windows on three sides. There are sofas for relaxation and chat, a piano and other musical instruments, and a space that can be used flexibly for talks, workshops or other activities.
The kitchen-dining room is a long room with plenty of space both for kitchen facilities and for dining. It’s also the centrepoint for retreats where we have a noticeboard.
Upstairs in the house
Upstairs there are six bedrooms of varying sizes, plus two bathrooms and two landings. One of the landings houses our poetry corner – a place with a poetry bookshelf, a couple of comfortable chairs, and a noticeboard for sharing poetry. We hope this will be an invitation to engage with poetry while you are here.
Most accommodation in the house is in rooms shared between two or three people, but we also have a single room for those who need it. Whether you actually need to share a room will depend on the total number of people staying, and if you do we will normally only put you either with a friend you came with or with someone else on the retreat of the same sex. There are no bunk beds or high-intensity dormitory-style sharing.
The Annexe
The annexe is a converted barn offering additional retreat accommodation. It includes a large meeting area with a stove, sleeping areas for a total of up to 5 people (7 at a stretch) on the ground floor and on a mezzanine, a self-catering kitchen, and a bathroom. The annexe operates as an extension of the retreat centre, and people staying there will book with us as individuals, rather than renting the building. However, the annexe can also provide a separate focus space for independent groups to hold their own retreats and to cater for themselves. See our independent group retreats page for more about the annexe and more pictures.
The Land
Tirylan House has about 17 acres of land attached. This consists of an inner deer-fenced forest garden, and an outer area where we are growing native trees and a nut orchard. Since we arrived here in late 2021, we have made substantial progress in developing perennial food production in the forest garden, and in turning former pasture into a much more biodiverse area. But there is also still a long way to go – trees need time to grow! The three photos below show some of the progress we have made so far.
