ABSTRACT
The Reformation of the mid-16th century brought to an end many aspects of traditional faith. With the framework of Catholic religion removed, many hermitages and anchorholds were vacated and consequently dismantled or requisitioned for alternative use. However, the universal call of the hermit; the inexorable impulse for spiritual solitude, was never to truly diminish and was to re-emerge a century or so later within renewed expressions of religious vocation as well as the introduction of secular hermitages including the ‘ornamental’ and ‘garden’ hermit. This chapter will examine the rich evidence for the ‘afterlife’ of the medieval hermitage in Britain between the late 16th and 21st centuries.
