Hyning - About Us

History

The Monastery of Our Lady of Hyning was founded in 1974 by four sisters from our communities at Slough and Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. Until 1973, the house and garden was the home of the Peel family; a splendid country mansion situated in acres of farmland. This main house now serves as our guesthouse. When the sisters arrived they used the servant quarters and the guests would use the main house.

In 1983, an extension was built to link a large outbuilding to the main house. This is now the Community area. A year later, a large barn was converted into a simple and prayerful Chapel with the cloister corridor built to link it with the main house. In 2021 the refurbishment of the guesthouse began and was finished in October 2022.

This a video about our life as Bernardines. We have tried to show different aspects of our life, our prayer and our Order.  If you have any comments to make, visit the page on YouTube or Facebook or send us your comments.  

Today

In 2016 we completed a completely new kitchen refurbishment.  A series of interior works on boilers, rooms etc took place. In 1999, one wing of the house was gutted in order to install a lift and provide further accommodation and resources.

In 2006 our community at Slough was closed and several sisters from Hyning went to form a new community at Brownshill, Gloucestershire and several sisters from Slough came to join the remaining community.

In 2021 we had major building work on the guesthouse. This was finished in October 22 with all the rooms in the house newly refurbished with ensuite rooms.

We are now 9 in community; 8 Solemnly professed Sisters, and 1 Young Professed. One of the sisters lives nearby in Nazareth House, Lancaster. Our chaplain is Fr. Anthony Keefe, a retired priest of this diocese.

Our present prioress, Sr. Mary Helen, moved from La Plaine in August 2022, She was Prioress here previously in 2006 - 2008.

We welcome single women aged 18 – 45 to share in our prayer, work and life order to take time out for God to experience the riches of monastic life, and to support a small monastic community.