Sharpham Trust

Sharpham Trust At the heart of the Sharpham Trust ethos is our desire to build a more mindful, compassionate and environmentally-sustainable world.
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A charity working to build a more mindful, compassionate & environmentally-sustainable world
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https://eepurl.com/cIxbbz The Sharpham Trust’s spectacular setting beside the River Dart in South Devon, UK offers opportunities for transformation through mindfulness, nature and learning. The Sharpham Trust is an education and conservation charity set

in 550 acres of the Sharpham Estate, on a stunning stretch of the Dart, within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Trust is based within and works to protected and conserve the Grade 1-listed Georgian Palladian villa Sharpham House, its Capability Brown-designed landscape and 18th century walled garden. We connect people with nature and foster mindfulness and well-being through our programme of retreats, mindfulness courses, outdoor learning and the arts. Our work with Mindfulness

Mindfulness allows us to pay attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally. Sharpham has been a centre for mindfulness since the 1980s and the practice lies at the core of many of our activities. Mindfulness is now widely recognised within the NHS as a clinically proven practice, which can help towards reducing stress and enhancing overall levels of health and wellbeing. We host secular mindfulness retreats within Sharpham House (including retreats for beginners to mindfulness) and at the famed Barn Retreat Centre, elsewhere on the Estate. The Barn has been highlighted by The Sunday Telegraph as one of the top 8 retreats in UK and Europe and has offered retreats based on the Buddhist tradition for more than 25 years. Retreatants benefit from the opportunity to enjoy the peaceful, reflective and life-enriching environment of the estate and many people develop a strong emotional connection to the place. We host mindfulness courses at Sharpham and in nearby Totnes and Torquay, helping people understand the principles of mindfulness and meditation. Retreats at Sharpham

The retreats in Sharpham House are secular and suit anyone looking to restore, rejuvenate, relax, de-stress and reconnect with themselves and nature in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They are perfect for those newer to mindfulness and meditation as well as those with more experience, keen to integrate their practice in everyday life. We also help participants develop mindfulness through themed retreats including yoga, singing, art, food or walking in the soul-enriching landscape. The retreats within Sharpham House are fully-catered with support from house staff, ensuring a relaxing experience where retreatants can make the most of the venue’s peaceful atmosphere. Sharpham as a venue

By using the exceptional beauty of the house and its landscape, we also provide opportunities for transformation and change through a wide range of courses and events including outdoor learning and the arts. The Sharpham Estate is a sought-after venue for residential and non-residential events from small family parties to larger gatherings such as weddings and courses. We are also the home of the Sharpham Meadow Natural Burial Ground and the popular Barn Retreat Centre. We hire out our Bathing House for holidays. Built in the 1770s, at the same time as Sharpham House the Bathing House is on a bend in the river, below the main House. There are three tenant farms on the estate, including the award-winning Sharpham Vineyard and Sharpham Wine and Cheese, Upper Sharpham Barton and Lower Sharpham Barton, run with our partners Ambios and Robert Owen Communities, running programmes with adults with learning disabilities and youth mental health recovery. Join our mailing list via our page or our website to ensure that you hear about new Retreats at Sharpham and our other activities as soon as they are available.

SAVE THE DATE! We're going to feature on The Plodcast podcast from BBC Countryfile Magazine on September 15!Reporter Fer...
03/09/2026

SAVE THE DATE! We're going to feature on The Plodcast podcast from BBC Countryfile Magazine on September 15!

Reporter Fergus Collins came to Lower Sharpham Farm and the wider Sharpham Estate to record a programme that covers our rewilding, our Director's new book about the River Dart and our nature-mindfulness approach.

Tune in via your favourite podcast provider...

Five star review for our Family Canoe Paddle with Canoe Adventures Devon  on Google Reviews:"Lovely day out on a family ...
02/09/2026

Five star review for our Family Canoe Paddle with Canoe Adventures Devon on Google Reviews:

"Lovely day out on a family canoe experience offered by Sharpham Trust. Excellent guides took us on a tour of the estate, we saw seals, birds and learnt about the history and rewilding of Sharpham. Thanks for making this accessible to families who might not otherwise be able to participate, we all had a great time"

Do YOU want to hear about our (often subsidised) nature events? Sign up to our events mailing list from the top of our website to hear FIRST about our events.

Come & dance on the Sharpham Estate near Totnes in October!Our rewilding partners are hosting their annual barn dance!
01/09/2026

Come & dance on the Sharpham Estate near Totnes in October!

Our rewilding partners are hosting their annual barn dance!

An interesting bird has been seen on the saltmarsh near Sharpham's South Quay.A lone dunlin was spotted by Simon Coeshot...
28/08/2026

An interesting bird has been seen on the saltmarsh near Sharpham's South Quay.

A lone dunlin was spotted by Simon Coeshott and Peter Reay as they carried out the WeBS - The Wetland Bird Survey

Said Peter: "Although not unusual on some estuaries like the Exe, where thousands may occur every winter, it's a Dart rarity, and we can't find any records after 1995!"

Peter said the wader was staying still for the camera - but probably exhausted after a long migration. "Its plumage tells us it was a juvenile in its first year. Only a few weeks ago it would have been an egg, possibly in the Arctic tundra."

This year, we have continued the repair of the stone wall protecting the area of saltmarsh from erosion, hence the rubble bag in the background of one of the pictures.

Saltmarsh is a valuable but disappearing habitat that supports wildlife and riverside plants. We at The Sharpham Trust have several areas of this ecosystem and we've been protecting it and creating more, to battle its erosion.

Visit our website and search "saltmarsh" to find out more.

27/08/2026

Our debut Mindful Gardening retreat takes place from Sunday - and, at time of publishing, there are TWO SPACES LEFT!

Co-Head Gardener Emily introduces this retreat, explaining what you'll experience when you get your hands in the earth (mindfully).

The retreat takes place at Sharpham Trust on our stunning and historic estate, with lots of time spent in the 18th century Walled Garden behind Sharpham House.

You'll be alongside skilled, experienced and mindful gardeners, weaving knowledge and meditative practices to create a retreat to restore & enrich your soul...

Visit our website and search "mindful gardening" to learn more.

26/08/2026

Tasha, manager of The Barn, our Buddhist meditation centre overlooking the beautiful River Dart in Devon, invites you to stay with us this coming season.

The Barn is our longest-established retreat venue Sharpham Trust and it is where we focus on meditation, community and nature connection.

It is small: ten retreatants stay for up to 6 nights at a time and we offer our 'standard' Being & Belonging retreats, as well as more themed invitations, including Awakening The Heart, Living in Awareness, Touching The Earth & Buddhism for Beginners.

Retreatants follow a simple (and gentle) daily routine that includes mindful gardening, meditation and cooking together, and many of the people who stay with us return year after year.

Via our 'ahead of the curve' rewilding partners Ambios Ltd
24/08/2026

Via our 'ahead of the curve' rewilding partners Ambios Ltd

☀️ With the recent hot, dry weather this summer we've all seen the growing number of wildfires making the headlines. It’s scary stuff.

As a nature recovery organisation, it's made us think carefully about what wildfire risk means for the landscapes we look after. This has given us food for thought about how we can protect both people and wildlife as our climate continues to change.

Last year, University of Exeter student Maddy researched how rewilding might affect wildfire behaviour here on the Sharpham Trust estate (link to her full report in the comments). Her findings showed that it's not a simple picture. In the early stages of rewilding, vegetation can create conditions for more intense fires, but over time, more diverse habitats and wetter areas could help make the landscape more resilient.

Research like this helps us ask important questions: How can we create landscapes that are rich in wildlife while also being resilient to climate extremes? What management approaches reduce risk without compromising nature recovery?

As the climate continues to change, these are conversations we all need to have. Nature recovery isn't just about restoring habitats - it's also about planning for the challenges ahead.

At the start of this month, we got a mention in Guardian Travel for our retreats, and how we encourage participants to p...
19/08/2026

At the start of this month, we got a mention in Guardian Travel for our retreats, and how we encourage participants to put their phones & devices away.

While we were searching The Guardian's website, we found that we'd been given ANOTHER mention last year that we totally missed!

Turns out that retreatant Liv had recommended us and written a lovely testimonial that got published in this international newsbrand without our (1-person) Comms Team even noticing!

Liv said staying with us gave her the peace that had been eluding her.

How did we miss that?

What are YOUR experiences of Sharpham?

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Sharpham House, Ashprington
Totnes
TQ97UT

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