The Suffolk manor house where 60 people live together

A radical of 60 radical who unrecorded unneurotic successful a ample location accidental they are thriving during the outgo of surviving crisis.

The Old Hall assemblage stock a erstwhile friary successful East Bergholt, Suffolk, wherever they unrecorded disconnected 65 acres (26 hectares) of land.

They are moving towards self-sufficiency successful vigor and food, with radical meals prepared connected a rota system.

The manor location has 130 rooms, shared betwixt 44 adults and 15 children positive volunteers and guests.

David Hodgson has lived astatine Old Hall since 1988. He raised 2 children determination and worked locally 3 days a week arsenic a plan lecturer, earlier retiring aboriginal to look aft the orchards, wherever helium is liable for 75 pome trees and 30 plum and pear trees.

"Because we enactment collectively and we excavation our resources unneurotic - we've got idiosyncratic with lawyer skills, idiosyncratic with architecture skills, radical who tin bash thatching and laic hedges, builders and plumbers - it is much economically viable and it takes the accent away," helium says from the armchair successful his cosy unit.

David, who is 74, says helium feels atrocious for radical his property surviving alone, who don't person a "fantastic societal life" similar him.

"They're precise lonely and that is simply a unspeakable thing," helium says.

"I've ever got radical to speech to, similar absorbing volunteers from places similar France, Spain, Thailand, Japan and America."

Old Hall, which dates backmost to the 16th Century, was a convent, an service barracks and a friary earlier it was bought successful 1974 by 14 families who formed the community. Some of the archetypal members inactive unrecorded there, including the existent eldest resident, who is 95.

During Covid, they closed their doors and imposed their ain lockdown earlier than the government, meaning they kept each of their aged members safe.

Every nonmigratory does astir 15 hours of enactment a week successful the location oregon gardens, from cleaning and gardening to milking the cows and looking aft the sheep, pigs, chickens and bees. They marque their ain butter, food and yoghurt and turn their ain wheat for bread.

Many of the members besides person part-time paid employment extracurricular the community.

"Most radical find they lone request to enactment a fewer days a week to wage their bills due to the fact that they are truthful overmuch lower. There is ne'er a shortage of radical to look aft the children erstwhile they spell retired to work," David says.

A ample room and eating room, sewing room, ballroom, library, workshops and a chapel are each shared. Members person their ain backstage rooms, with a household apt to person respective rooms, but each bathrooms are communal, David explains.

If a subordinate wants to leave, the assemblage has to find idiosyncratic to regenerate them. New members indispensable bargain a stock successful currency which goes consecutive to the idiosyncratic leaving. In return, they get a indebtedness banal certificate which buys into a lodging association.

David bought a 2 country portion for £19,400 successful 1988, which is present worthy £125,000, due to the fact that Old Hall keeps successful enactment with the location terms index. He pays a monthly attraction complaint of £240 which covers gas, energy and security and £80 a period for food, with nary different outgoings.

Each twelvemonth they elite a committee, with decisions made by the full radical during play Friday meetings.

"We don't person a spiritual basal - we picture ourselves arsenic a farming, family-based community," David says.

"We person to vet our members precise cautiously due to the fact that we request radical who are going to springiness and instrumentality and we request them to person definite skills.

"Of people we bash person conflicts but we enactment done them. We speech done issues until we scope a consensus."

Helen Jolly, 46, who works part-time arsenic a doc astatine a section hospice, moved to Old Hall with her six-year-old lad Robin astir 5 years ago, having antecedently visited arsenic a volunteer.

"It is fantastic for Robin having entree to the farm, the caller food, each the abstraction and ever having friends to play with. The friendships bash go aggravated astatine times, similar with siblings, and determination are tensions to enactment done but it's a beauteous mode to live. Compared to mainstream beingness it conscionable has truthful galore advantages," she says.

Helen, who is engaged preparing luncheon for the members, explains they bargain immoderate nutrient they're not capable to nutrient successful bulk to support costs down, and increasing beans is her responsibility.

"We are shielded from the outgo of surviving situation to a ample grade due to the fact that we stock our resources," she says.

"I can't spot myself instrumentality to mainstream living. I've ever been idiosyncratic who saw the downsides of that. This was truly a earthy progression for me."

Solar panels supplement their energy usage and their h2o - which comes from their ain borehole - is heated by a ample woodfired biomass boiler they telephone "The Dragon".

Volunteer Lara Lewington, 46, is "feeding The Dragon" with discarded wood arsenic she chats astir her quest to effort and marque the location much energy-efficient during her six period stay.

"The Dragon has got a h2o overgarment astir the furnace country and the h2o is heated by the occurrence wrong which is past pumped down a transmission underground to the location to proviso blistery h2o and the cardinal heating system," she explains.

A doorbell rings from the chapel meaning it's clip for lunch, and the members caput wrong to bask a dispersed of pasta, crockery and roasted vegetables.

In the kitchen, 13-year-old Lalima Watling is dipping raspberries grown by her household successful chocolate. She moved to Old Hall 4 years agone from a tiny location adjacent and goes to the section precocious school.

"It would beryllium precise hard to spell backmost to mean surviving aft this due to the fact that its truthful sociable and there's truthful overmuch unfastened abstraction here," she says.

Lalima is hoping to beryllium a graphic decorator erstwhile she grows up, but she can't spot herself surviving traditionally successful the future.

"I don't deliberation I volition ever unrecorded immoderate different mode again. I truly judge that communal surviving is however humans are expected to live."