Recent history
The present owners, Simon and Bernie, bought Shawbottom Farm in 2018, with the intention to convert the larger barn to holiday accommodation primarily for use for group residential meditation retreats but also for use by other groups who may want to visit this beautiful area.
As is common for property conversions it took longer and was more complicated than hoped for. But after working through planning permission, renovation and conversion (by builders who started working but slowed down and then went into liquidation in 2021), and of course COVID, the buildings were finally ready for use by July 2022.
Recent events at Shawbottom
Between July 2022 and October 2024 the Retreat has hosted more than twenty Chan Buddhist meditation retreats, mostly of 5-7 nights, for the Western Chan Fellowship an organisation of which Simon is a founding trustee and the current guiding teacher. As hoped for it is has worked well. It is ideally suited for such use with its quiet and secluded location, with no disturbance from the outside world and ready access to the natural world, and with ample facilities for groups up to 26. NB to attend a Western Chan Fellowship zen meditation retreat please book via the WCF website.
It was always planned to open use of the venue to others and this is now beginning to happen. Recently some other groups have hosted events here, also successfully.
A RUN:ZEN mindful running event took place during September 2024 and is scheduled again for July 2025.
International Zen Association UK (IZAUK) held a Kesa Sesshin here, also during September.
Enquire about hiring the Retreat for your group
We are open to more enquiries about hiring the Retreat, as we see it as suitable for a wide range of activities:
residential meditation retreats, and related group activities such as mindfulness, yoga, taichi, Pilates
group activities such as art groups and classes, photography, support and self-help groups, residential meetings and conferences, and just about any type of group which would enjoy meeting in an isolated secluded quiet location in beautiful countryside and nature!
social groups such as family or friendship reunions.
outdoor activity groups such as walking, climbing, cycling, exploring the wonderful Peak District countryside and views and the nature around us
as a base for a Peak District holiday group, not necessarily related to our immediate location because it is easy to travel from here to various other Peak District attractions
Past history
The first cottage here was built in the late 17th century. It had a single-room on each of two floors, and was built within 24 hours to take advantage of a squatter's rights rule that to do so created a right of occupation. Subsequently the ownership was regularised, according to manorial court rolls.
By 1976 it comprised a house, with floors of packed earth only, a single barn, and an outside toilet. The person who bought it then did some work on it but sold it again in 1977 to the owner prior to us.
The owner from 1977 to 2018 was an architect and property developer who did a lot of work on the property, including:
building the large east barn which is now the retreat accommodation
replacing the outside toilet with two connecting buildings between the east barn and the house
one of these link buildings is quite large with two large rooms on two floors, internal room dimensions being 11.5m by 5m, and 8m x 5m
house renovation and extension
adding a smaller building to connect the house to the original west barn, hence all the buildings are now joined together into one.
