Explore life-enriching rhythms of Christian spirituality. Held at Rydal Hall with refreshments. Lead by the rector of St Oswalds and chaplain of Rydal Hall, Lawrence Basham.
A place of prayer for centuries, we stand on the prayers of those who have gone before us. Our job is to receive and hold the baton for now. You're invited: join us!
A space to sit, and think and not think at the same time. Nobody will bother you, just peace and quiet in an ancient church. We're open. You're invited.
Visitors and locals welcome! We meet on Thursdays at 5pm and if you would like to learn or can ring and would like to join us, please do come along. Contact Kate on [email protected] for more information.
Join us in the beautiful chapel at Rydal Hall for Sunday morning worship. You can expect a traditional service yet with sense of informality and reflection in a special intimate space. We normally share Holy Communion and our music is a mixture of hymns and songs, old and new. Everyone is welcome!
Gather at Moss Parrock and walk in procession to St Oswalds for a service at 11am
Enjoy an opportunity to experience your spirituality, in company with others. All are very welcome.
Join us for morning prayer at Rydal Hall chapel. This is a time of prayer, open to everyone. The format varies, but generally there are led prayers. Please come as you are. Everyone welcome!
Explore life-enriching rhythms of Christian spirituality. Held at Rydal Hall with refreshments. Lead by the rector of St Oswalds and chaplain of Rydal Hall, Lawrence Basham.
Join us for the ancient ritual of 'Compline' or 'completion' - a service of quiet and reflection at the end of the day - in the week before Easter. Come as you are - all welcome!
Maundy Thursday marks the night of the Last Supper. The word Maundy comes from the Latin for command, which refers to the instructions Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus commanded that people should love one another and encouraged his disciples to eat bread and wine in his memory after his death. Maundy Thursday is part of Holy Week and is always the last Thursday before Easter, it marks the end of Lent.
At the Last Supper, Jesus blessed bread and wine, and shared them with his disciples. He then washed the feet of his disciples as an act of kindness. Oils to be used in religious ceremonies throughout the coming year are blessed on Maundy Thursday.
Maundy Thursday marks the night of the Last Supper. The word Maundy comes from the Latin for command, which refers to the instructions Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus commanded that people should love one another and encouraged his disciples to eat bread and wine in his memory after his death. Maundy Thursday is part of Holy Week and is always the last Thursday before Easter, it marks the end of Lent.
At the Last Supper, Jesus blessed bread and wine, and shared them with his disciples. He then washed the feet of his disciples as an act of kindness. Oils to be used in religious ceremonies throughout the coming year are blessed on Maundy Thursday. With St Oswald Voices.
Join us for morning prayer in the beautiful chapel at Rydal Hall. Please come as you are. Everyone welcome!
Join us on Moss Parrock on Good Friday to sing hymns and hear familiar readings from the bible. We then walk in procession to St Oswald's for a service including hymns and prayers.
Join us for readings, hymns and reflection.
Be Present for the sunrise, even if the sun is not present for us (rain has been known...)! Celebrate first light on Easter Sunday at a gathering around a fire in the churchyard, followed by breakfast.
A special festival service.
Come and celebrate Easter Sunday with us!
Taizé is a small town in the Burgundy region of France where a monastic community, founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz, has been the focus of worldwide Christian pilgrimage. The community is well-known for it's simple, chant-like style of worship and prayer, and is especially popular with young people, with over 100,000 people making pilgrimages to Taizé every year to pray, study and work.
St Mary's Rydal have held Taizé -style services since the 1980's. At the turn of the millennium the Rydal Hall Community and a group from St Mary's visited Taizé. Today we meet on the first Sunday of the month at 7pm, excluding January and August. In winter (November, December, February through April) we meet in Rydal Hall chapel and in summer (May through July, September, October) at St Mary’s Church Rydal. Quiet reflection, Taize chants and readings given by members of the congregation are enjoyed in soft candlelight. Everyone is welcome.
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
Renewal and rebirth lie at the very heart of Christianity and this Sacred Encounter is an opportunity to cleanse, say sorry and sow seeds for future growth, embodied through sacramental washing in a mountain tarn and a short declaration of renewal.
For reflection:
What would you like to transform in your life?
What would you like to say sorry for?
What might a new skin look like for you?
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch, wear suitable clothing, and bring a stone for the communal cairn.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs on this website, or in the attached document.
Join us for a Taize service at 7pm
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
In May, the Lake District brims with life. This Sacred Encounter offers the opportunity to express a collective thanks and to consider transforming a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
Join us on Rogation Sunday, followed by prayers in the churchyard for our community.
Rogation is an ancient church festival to seek blessing for a community and its sustenance.
Rogation Sunday prayer
God, teach us your children how to love your world so that we are careful stewards- of your creation. On this Sunday when we remember especially the countryside and all who work there, we pray for farmers, growers, all who tend the livestock and all who by their labour here and in every place, bring food to us.
Join us for lunch in Grasmere Village Hall. With thanks to Ann Jackman for all the work that goes into making the lunch such a wonderful and convivial communal meal, and to the cooks, servers, and washers up. BYOB.
Tickets from Barneys. Everyone is welcome.
Join us for a choral evensong on Rogation Sunday - a day to bless our community and pray for its sustenance. Keswick Choral Society is a mixed voice choir of around 50 singers who come together to enjoy singing and performing.
St Oswald's gloriously restored organ plays host to the Svyati Duo whose unusual pairing of cello and organ brilliantly combine for some midday meditation. Jongen's Humoresque cheekily complements intricate Bach and Bruch's heartfelt prayer.
Bach: Ich ruf zu dir BWV639
Casella: Notturno
Gardonyi: Variations on a Hungarian Theme
Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Jongen: Humoresque
Bednall: Sonata for cello and organ
Nadia: Boulanger Deux Pièces
Duration: 60 mins (approx.) | Tickets: £12 on the door, or from https://tickets.ldsm.org.uk/sales/events/2025-2026-season/spring-2026/svyati-duo
You're warmly invited to our special Ascension Day service — a celebration commemorating the ascent of Jesus into heaven 40 days after his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Come celebrate with us!
David Pipe, Director of Music Cartmel Priory, has given organ recitals at major European and North American venues and festivals. He appears regularly as organist and conductor on national television and radio, and has made numerous recordings as organist and continuo player, attracting critical acclaim in the international music press, with the performances described as ‘electrifying’.
Join us! FREE
You're warmly invited to our special Whit Sunday festival service — a joyful celebration commemorating the day 49 days after Easter when Jesus's followers received the gift of the Holy Spirit descending from heaven.
United by a love of performance and the pursuit of musical excellence, Lancaster Singers have been delighting audiences for more than half a century. This 50 strong mixed-voice choir performs works across centuries and genres, conducted by Nathan Smith.
Come and join us!
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
The summer solstice is the moment when light is at its maximum, heralding summer. In this Sacred Encounter we celebrate the light and all that is good.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
The Choir of Prince Henry's Grammar School Otley visits Cumbria to make music, and Grasmere is delighted to welcome them for this lunchtime concert performance. A mixed programme, mostly sacred, including Tallis, Rutter, The Beatles and quite a lot in between! Come hear them sing! FREE
United by a love of singing, performance and faith, Manchester Inspirational Voices has grown into a renowned community Gospel choir celebrated for powerful performances and uplifting messages. The choir is a BBC Songs of Praise Gospel Choir of the Year competition winner and embodies the unifying power of community and song.
FREE event at St Mary’s Church Rydal LA22 9LR (note venue)
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
This Sacred Encounter is an opportunity to remember and celebrate our interconnectedness. We will join in a circle and declare communion with all things and the divine thread running through creation.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
Join us for a service of choral evensong with St Oswald Voices, accompanied by Ian Hare on our renowned early 20th century organ, to celebrate the feast day of our patron saint.
Everyone is Welcome! FREE
The Lake District Summer Music Festival brings world-class musicians to beautiful venues across Cumbria, offering chamber music concerts, young artist performances and inspiring masterclasses in a stunning Lake District setting each summer. Details of this Festival Concert to be confirmed
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
August is a month of holidays - a time to rest, recharge and revive. This Sacred Encounter focuses on the principle of the Sabbath as a pattern building rest into the everyday. It is an opportunity to do nothing, to relax, and to let God minister to us through nature.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
“Grasmere Song” is a festival of singing masterclasses and workshops, championing singing for everyone and providing professional level coaching for emerging and mid-career artists, benefitting from the tutelage of international soloists Thomas Allen and Roderick Williams, manifesting in this concert given by participants. Tickets on the door https://grasmeresong.co.uk/event-listing/
A moment of reflection in a day full of activity. Join us for a special service celebrating Grasmere Sports, a cherished tradition for nearly 200 years. From fell running to Cumberland wrestling, this historic event reflects the strength, spirit, and community of Cumbria.
Open to all – whether local, visitor, competitor or spectator, come and be part of this treasured Lakeland tradition.
Join us for a bank holiday Monday lunchtime recital with Ian Hare, Director of Music at St Oswald's, on our renowned early-20th-century organ by J. J. Binns, built as a First World War memorial. FREE event Everyone welcome!
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
Autumn is a time of harvest, when fruit is abundant and ripe. Expressing our thankfulness draws us into peace and rejuvenation. As we walk in this Sacred Encounter, we look for blessings all around us, gathering to give a collective thanks for all that nature provides.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
You're warmly invited to our Harvest Festival service — a joyful celebration of the season’s abundance, with music, reflections, and a gathering of community. With St Oswald Voices.
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
October is the month of autumn glory, when Lake District trees glow with ever deepening colour. This month's Sacred Encounter delves into this wonder, using our imagination to enter a mystical world and rediscover a childlike enchantment in nature. We will tell a story together, giving voice to the divinity in everything.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
Remembrance Service with the Last Post, a time in silence, reading of the Roll of Honour, and laying of poppy wreaths. Followed by an Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial on Broadgate Recreation Ground LA22 9RJ. Everyone is warmly invited afterwards for refreshments at Rothay Garden Hotel.
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
This month’s Sacred Encounter is an opportunity to remember those who have made sacrifices for us and to celebrate their lives by walking up a small local hill, to make a cairn.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
Soak in nature, share food and conversation around a campfire – all in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall.
The Winter Solstice is the time of maximum darkness, but also the time when light begins the slow journey to ascendancy. At the darkest hour we need hope, and today's Sacred Encounter symbolises the sure hope of life over death, and light over darkness.
Meet at Rydal Hall Café entrance. Please bring food to share for a Jacob’s Join lunch and wear suitable clothing.
Please read the Sacred Encounter FAQs or contact [email protected]
Traditional readings and carols in a beautiful candlelit church, with music from St Oswald Voices. Mulled wine and mince pies served after the service. Everyone is welcome.
Join us in Rydal on Christmas Day for a joyful service of carols, readings and prayer. All are warmly welcome to celebrate together in peace, hope and community on this special morning.
Join us on Christmas Day for a joyful service of carols, readings and prayer. All are warmly welcome to celebrate together in peace, hope and community on this special morning.
We all have a mother, and so all have a mother within us. Come celebrate Mothering Sunday together and receive a joyful spring posy.