The Coach House Project
An academy for alternative education and esoteric art, in the heart of the West Country. Restored to glory, built to purpose.
Manifesting The Visible College
Sef Salem’s longstanding dream of a full-time conference and retreat centre, where practitioners of all reasonable paths can come without fear of prejudice, turned into an opportunity in 2023. After discussions with friends and colleagues in the arts and academia, the decision to fold teaching and art into the project made the proposal viable.
Now with the owners of the wonderful site Oxwick on board, we are founding a charity to restore the Georgian Coach House and preserve as much of the rich history as possible, while creating studio spaces, offices, seminar rooms, and accommodation. You can learn more about the history of the site here.
Oxwick was originally built in the 18th Century and has been passed through several hands until it was bought by its current owners in 2010. While the farmhouse has been lovingly restored, the Coach House has been ruined since the 19th Century.
We mean to change that and restore this beautiful building, creating a space for all to learn and practise.
Our vision
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We are currently seeking a grant for a feasibility study to give accurate costings for the renovations. We estimate £1-1.5million across several years. Once this has been completed, the charity will be writing bids for funding to various bodies.
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Once completed, the Coach House will have six studio, office, or accommodation rooms, and two larger seminar or workshop rooms. These will be available to lease for three, six, or twelve month residencies, or rent for regular classes. We already have artists and academics intending to give lecture series, courses, and workshops once the space is restored.
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The Coach House will act as a hub for the activities on site at The Visible College, with friendly staff able to direct enquiries towards groups who run events or classes through us, or facilitate hiring the space for groups or retreats.
Want to learn magical pottery? There’ll be a class for that.
Want to complete the Abra-Melin working? We’ll have a room for you here.
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Are you a practitioner, artist, or academic who would like to see a permanent space for the community?
Do you have experience of writing funding applications or as a charitable trustee?
Do you like putting old buildings back together for fun and prophets?
Get in touch!
Get involved
The project is in early stages but we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
For now, you can still hire the other facilities at Oxwick through The Visible College, so click here to learn about our event space and retreat packages.