A community of Discalced Carmelite friars living in the Oxfordshire countryside has welcomed three young men into their priory for a week-long immersive experience, filmed for the Channel 5 documentary series ‘Trading Places’.
The programme follows the young men as they swap their everyday lives for the rhythm of prayer, silence, community, and manual work that defines the daily routine of the friars at the Carmelite Priory on Boars Hill, near Oxford.
The Priory, set in seventeen acres of woodland, is home to a growing community of friars from diverse backgrounds, including Nigeria, India, and Ireland.
Fr Alex Ezechukwu OCD, the Prior, said:
“We believe that the contemplative life is not a retreat from the world but a gift offered to it. When the opportunity came to welcome these young men into our rhythm of prayer and silence, it felt entirely natural – even necessary. Carmel has always been a place where people come to encounter something deeper than the noise of everyday life, and we hoped that, even in the space of a single week, these three young men might catch a glimpse of that. We were not trying to recruit them to religious life; we simply wanted to share what we have been given.”
Fr Ezechukwu went on to explain that the week was a mutually enriching experience of encounter between the friars and the young men.
“Their honesty was disarming. They asked questions we had perhaps stopped asking ourselves, and in doing so they invited us to rediscover the freshness of our own vocation. Their energy, their searching, their willingness to be vulnerable in an unfamiliar environment reminded us why this life matters and who it is ultimately for. We did not simply host them; we were genuinely changed by them.”
When asked if there was anything that surprised him about the experience, Fr Ezechukwu shared:
“What moved me most was the speed with which the walls came down. I expected a degree of awkwardness – three young men from very different worlds, dropped into a priory just outside of Oxford. What I did not expect was how quickly they entered into the spirit of things: sitting with the silence, joining us for the Divine Office, asking questions late into the evening with a sincerity that was genuinely touching. One is not supposed to have favourites, but I confess I found myself hoping they would come back.”
The community is also home to CACS (Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality) and has launched the New Mount Carmel project, an ambitious plan to develop modern facilities for retreats and spiritual formation.
The Carmelite episode broadcasts on Sunday 24 May 2026 at 9pm on Channel 5.
The Discalced Carmelites trace their origins to Mount Carmel in the 12th century. The Discalced reform was established by St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross in the 16th century.
The Priory at Boars Hill has been home to the community since 1958, in the former home of Poet Laureate Robert Bridges.
