THE nuns of Stanbrook Abbey are to leave Callow End after living at the heart of the village for 165 years.

They need somewhere smaller which is cheaper to run, it has been revealed.

One of the reasons for the move was the community's need to make the best use of its resources, both human and financial, said Abbess Joanna Jamieson.

There are now 28 nuns at Stanbrook, including two aged in their 90s, plus two postulants in the first stage of their training to be nuns. The community also includes 120 lay people.

The playwright George Bernard Shaw was a friend of Stanbrook and two successful musicians, the singer and harpist Mary O'Hara and the international cellist Elaine Ackers, once belonged to the community.

Stanbrook was also home for nearly 40 years to Maria Boulding, the hermit nun who has lived, with the backing of the community, at a secret location since 1985.

Mother Abbess, who has lived there since 1956, said the move would open a new phase in their history.

"A strong sense of monastic purpose has given us the courage to make this difficult decision.

"It will be a great upheaval, but we have moved before.

"It's part of our tradition," she said.

"We will move together, like a family. There is no question of dispersal. We will do everything we do here somewhere else that is not quite so big and so expensive to run."

The Abbess was made an honorary canon of Worcester Cathedral last year, the first time since the Reformation that a Roman Catholic had held that position.

St Mary's, the Abbey's guesthouse, is used for some staff meetings of the Anglican diocese and for the annual ordination retreat.

The Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev Dr Peter Selby, said the diocese valued its links with Stanbrook.

"The news that they have decided to move elsewhere has much sadness about it, but we deeply respect the faith and conviction that brought them to this point," he said.

"We hope very much they will find land in the diocese of Worcester so that we can continue our close and valued relationship."

The enclosed, silent order of Benedictine nuns, founded in Flanders in 1623, came to Stanbrook in 1838.

Over the years they have reached out to the wider community and have made some famous connections.

The walls enclose 17 acres, which once allowed the nuns to be almost self-sufficient, growing their own fruit and vegetables.

Stanbrook's Edward Pugin church was completed in 1871 and its Gothic revival tower has become a familiar local landmark.

The nuns are now hoping to find a sympathetic buyer for the monastic property.