Eco Church leader Peter Nicholls, a recent churchwarden at All Saints Church, Hethel, is involved with an innovative co-housing “intentional community” project in Norwich called Angel Yard. Here he explains the thinking behind it and what our eco churches may be able to learn from it.
‘Cohousing’ is a concept on the rise, not least for those concerned to “safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth”, as the fifth Mark of Mission has it. Although cohousing is about personal choices re where and how to live, there are some general ideas that churches might relate to and which chime with the Lifestyle section of the Eco Church framework.
Since late 2019, my wife Cathy and I have been involved with a cohousing development in Norwich that promises a highly sustainable way of living on the four ‘axes’ of energy, transport, food and stuff. Called Angel Yard (after the old Norwich ‘Yard’ that was on the site), the 34 flats and houses will be highly insulated and cleverly designed to maximise solar gain while guarding against overheating in summer. The contractor will be expected to meet low targets for embedded energy in the build. The apartment blocks’ roofs are ideal for PV panels, helping towards zero carbon in the whole community. Close to Norwich city centre and bus routes, it ticks the “15-minute city” box. There is generous bike storage and parking (only) for a pool of five bookable EVs.
Those living at Angel Yard are unofficially opting to be part of an ‘intentional community’, having their own high-quality house or apartment and front door, but lots of shared space too: a shared garden, shared indoor space (the ‘common house’ with adjacent kitchen), shared laundry, shared workshop and multi-purpose rooms that can be used for overnight guests. This spirit of sharing addresses the ‘minimising stuff’ agenda and is taken further with the idea of a virtual ‘library of things’ – items owned by or within the community that anyone can borrow and use.
The Angel Yard strapline is “Life is Better Shared”, not hard for followers of Jesus to agree with. When we move in in late 2026, living in a cohousing development will make it easy to ‘look out for one another’ and to share activities and occasional meals: an opportunity to exemplify low-carbon cooking.
What might be useful for Eco Church communities to learn from? Ensure that the BREEAM box is ticked for any building work? Promote walking and biking? Bikes to borrow from church, especially in rural communities beyond the reach of Beryl? Occasional repair workshops to keep them on the road? Weekly low-carbon shared meals in the church hall if you have one? A database of artefacts (from paper shredders to ladders to food processors to jet washers) that church members have and are ready to lend?
If you’d like to know more or even consider joining us, have a look at www.angelyard.org.uk