Live in-person events in Cornwall

Time to Write residential retreats in Cornwall

Email contact@thewritingretreat.co.uk for details about how to book.

A room of one’s own, supportive tutors, good company, beautiful surroundings, and home-cooked food to savour: our 5-night retreats provide all this and more. You won’t have to lift a finger in the kitchen or think about any of the chores and responsibilities of home and work.

We call our retreats ‘Time to Write’ because they provide just that. A typical retreat day starts with a help-yourself breakfast before a short workshop designed to give you some craft skills and a kick-start to the writing day. After a mid-morning coffee break with a homemade sweet snack, you have writing time until lunch. Afternoons offer further time to push on with your own project, plus the option of one to one time with your host tutors Kath and Jane. In the evenings we gather for dinner followed by writing-related  conversation and readings by the fire, including a mid-week visit from a guest author who also provides a half day workshop for extra stimulation.

All our activities are optional. If you simply wish to tuck yourself away and get on with writing, you are welcome to do that. You’ll have a desk or table in your room, and there are other comfortable spots around the house in which to work, read and relax. Becks, our trusty retreat Boxer dog, is always happy to be taken for a walk if you would like company as you explore the surroundings.

Most of all, we want you to have a week without distractions, in which your writing is the priority. At the start of the week we will help you map out  how best to use your time with us, and we will send you home with a plan to keep the magic going.

OUR 2026 PROGRAMME

We have two confirmed 5-night residential retreats for 2026:

10-15 May at Bonython

22-27 November at Rosemerryn

We expect these retreats to fill up quickly but it is worth adding your name to the waiting list in case someone has to withdraw. Cancellations do sometime happen and if we have you on our list you will be among the first to hear of a space becoming available. If there is sufficient demand we may be able to offer a third retreat at Bonython during early autumn.

The venues

ROSEMERRYN is a handsome early-twentieth century artists’ residence, tucked away in its own wooded grounds. The house lies close to Lamorna Cove, a few miles west of Penzance (where the mainline train from London Paddington ends). As soon as you leave the road and turn into Rosemerryn’s lane, you enter another world. Nearby walks take you back in time to the Merry Maidens stone circle and other scenic spots including the famous cove. Rosemerryn’s light-filled studio is the perfect setting for our morning workshops, while the main living and dining room, once the art studio, is the perfect place for evenings by the fire. We love the farmhouse-style kitchen where breakfasts and lunches are served, and the bedrooms are characterful and colourful. It is always a treat to return to Rosemerryn, our very first retreat venue in 2014, and still our regular ‘home from home’.

Rosemerryn has five guest rooms, all sole occupancy:

• A downstairs double with en suite shower and almost level access with a small step from the outside. 2026 price: £950.

• An upstairs double with en suite shower.  2026 price: £950.

• An upstairs double with adjacent private bathroom with bath and shower overhead. 2026 price: £950.

• Two upstairs twin rooms, sole occupancy, sharing a shower between them.

  2026 price: £880.

Prices include accommodation, writing workshops, one to ones, and all catering and refreshments, including wine with dinner.

BONYTHON sits within the Bonython Estate on The Lizard near Cury Cross. It is famous for its beautiful gardens, to which we have free access during our stays. Our retreats at Bonython accommodate seven guests in two properties.

The Farmhouse oozes character, with four luxurious bedrooms, a spacious ground floor with living area, garden room, snug and kitchen-dining room. A stay here feels really special, with a level of comfort that is positively pampering. We love the peace and quiet of the estate and its surrounding countryside, just a few miles from Helston and a short drive from the  dramatic scenery of The Lizard, The British Isles’ most southerly point.

Mews Cottage is a charming three bedroom cottage a short walk (about 7 minutes) from the Farmhouse. Like the Farmhouse, it is beautifully appointed, cosy and peaceful. It sits within a small courtyard of other former-estate buildings with its own parking.

Our morning workshops alternate between the two houses. You will enjoy breakfast in the house in which you are staying, and lunches and dinners are taken in the Farmhouse. This ensures there is a  sense of togetherness, whichever property you stay in. Kath will stay with guests in the Farmhouse, and Jane occupies a small barn which is tucked away behind Mews Cottage.

Bonython’s guest rooms are either en suite with showers, or have a private bathroom with bath and overhead shower. There is a choice of double or twin bedded rooms in both houses, all sole occupancy. If you would like a ground floor room, Mews Cottage can provide one. All other bedrooms are on the first floor.

The Farmhouse

Three upstairs double rooms with en suite shower. 2026 prices: £990 per room.

One upstairs twin room with private bathroom with bath and overhead shower. 2026 price: £940.

Mews Cottage

A ground floor double room with en suite shower, level access with a small step up from the door to the outside. 2026 price: £990.

An upstairs double room with en suite shower. 2026 price: £990.

An upstairs room with twin beds (for sole occupancy) and a bathroom with bath and overhead shower, and separate WC next door. 2026 price: £940.

To enquire about availability please email contact@thewritingretreat.co.uk and mark it for Jane’s attention.

A deposit of £250 secures your booking and balances are due 8 weeks before the retreats.

Scroll down for more about our writing weekends and Sunday retreats.

Spring Sundays

Our Spring Sunday retreats are the perfect way to pick up new writing skills and hone your craft. These one-day retreats take place in the glorious setting of Flushing Sailing Club overlooking Falmouth Harbour. Doors open at 10.45am for an 11.00am start, and we finish by 4.00pm. All  refreshments and a delicious home-cooked lunch are included.

Our 2026 series is about Beginnings, Middles and Endings:

Every story needs a beginning, a middle and an end, but what is the function of each one within the whole arc of the narrative? In this series of three Spring Sundays we will lift the bonnet on the fundamentals of story structure. You will learn how to create an opening that is the spring board for everything that follows, handle the turning point that arises in the middle, and tie everything up to a satisfying conclusion by the ending. If you have a work in progress, this series taken as a whole will ensure that you have the component parts in place. If you are starting something new, or are struggling with just one of these key aspects of structure, the relevant Sunday will set you on the right course.

Sunday 22 February

10.45am to 4.00pm

IN THE BEGINNING

The first act of your novel or memoir is where the essential elements are established, giving the story its lift-off. This workshop introduces those elements from the set up to the first plot point.  You will learn how to introduce your protagonist and their world in a way that foreshadows the events to come and poses the dramatic question that will drive your plot.

Sunday 22 March

10.45am to 4.00pm

AT THE MIDPOINT

Your narrative arc is going full steam ahead, with rising action and points to test the protagonist until they reach the midpoint turn. In this workshop we’ll help you work out what that midpoint turn is in the context of your story, and how to make it the climactic turning point for everything that has gone before and everything that follows. 

Sunday 19 April

10.45am to 4.00pm

IN THE END 

After the turning point, your story will keep building to the point of climax, and reach some kind of resolution. In this workshop we explore what happens at the end of the story, and what your protagonist has to let go of. The workshop will point the way to an ending that makes sense in the light of what has gone before.

Full Spring Sunday series: £180.00

Individual Sundays: £70.00