At the far end of the lime avenue away from the Friary is Juniper House, part of the original buildings and most recently used as the novice house, but now fully refurbished. The house looks out over the Blackmore Vale, on a clear day Hinckley Power Station on the Bristol Channel can be seen.
Attached is its own little chapel dedicated to St Mary of the Angels; it was formerly the coal store.
Named after Brother Juniper, one of the early Companions of St Francis renowned for his humility.
The large dinning/sitting room is well furnished; at the far end around the log burning stove are settees and soft chairs, while at the kitchen end, dinning room table and chairs. On the window seats you will find games for the wet days and evenings as well as information of the locality. A wonderful place for meeting and socialising.
This is a lovely space for celebrations, here set out to celebrate Switzerland’s National Day, 1 August 2007, with Chantal, our Swiss volunteer.
Running the length of this room is a garden room with more chairs, many books and a door leading to an outside sitting area.
The bedrooms of Juniper are named after places around Assisi that were important to Saint Francis. The first, Spoleto, is on the ground floor with an en suite shower and toilet.
Up the winding stair to the left is Gubbio a large room with two beds and easy chairs.
Cortona, Rieti, Perugia, Todi and San Damiano are all single rooms; each one has a basin, cupboard with draws, desk and chair. On this floor there is a shower and wc and a bathroom and wc.
The house has gone through many phases, school, remand home and novices’ house; these rooms must have seen many different inhabitants.
Here the bedrooms offer a quite space for relaxation, study and reflection.
A large kitchen with fridge, freezer, washing machine, gas cooker and micro-wave, and all the kitchen equipment you may need.
Bed linen and towels are provided, and costs included use of gas and electricity. All of which will make for a pleasant and peaceful stay.
