There’s something about a building that remembers. The doors swell in winter, the stairs know where to creak. You walk down a corridor and feel the past brushing against your arm. This is how it feels at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, tucked inside a Victorian courthouse in South London—a place once built for judgement, now used for kindness.
Since 1995, Jamyang has lived in The Old Courthouse, its red bricks quietly bearing witness to people arriving to study, meditate, drink many cups of tea, and learn the art of slowing down. But after nearly 30 years of generous use, the building is ready for its next chapter. Enter The Sanctuary Project—a big-hearted renovation, not just of walls and windows, but of how we think about space, community, and care.
And if you’re someone who believes in gentler futures, we’d love for you to be part of it.
First, a little history
Jamyang began in the late seventies—back when meditation was still considered a bit weird and the only people who said “mindfulness” were therapists or monks. It started in a modest spot in Finsbury Park, slowly growing as more Londoners, frayed by city life, found their way in. By 1995, it needed more space, and The Old Courthouse—a building with a history and a heartbeat—became home.
The courthouse itself was built in 1869. Its cell block still exists, holding its silence. According to Historic England, it’s the oldest surviving criminal magistrates’ court in London. It’s hard not to be moved by that—by the idea that a building once used for punishment could become a place for peace.
The Sanctuary Project: A (re)building story
The Sanctuary Project is our way of honouring the past while preparing for the future. It unfolds in three stages, like a well-planned renovation or a good novel.
Phase 1: Open the doors, lift the floor
This part is about access, which is another way of saying welcome. We’re reworking the North Wing so that everyone—walking, wheeling, pausing on the way—can come in. A new lift, public toilets, study rooms, contemplative space, a community kitchenette. Quiet places to work or think or just not speak for a while. There’ll be a contemplative garden, too and we’ll be converting the huge basement into publicly accessible rooms. On the top floors our volunteers and resident monastics will find rooms with light and rest.
Phase 2: Plant some beauty
Here, we turn our attention to the Courtyard and the Lotus Guesthouse—places where guests and visitors, monastics and seekers, pass through and pause. There’ll be more bedrooms, a shared kitchen, and a fully accessible bathroom. The garden will rise—literally—becoming a green space threaded with trees, water, and somewhere to sit with a biscuit and a friend. It’s about care, again. But inside and outside.
Phase 3: Future-proofing the refuge
And then, we look up. Solar panels. Sustainable heating. Thoughtful materials. With the help of architects, engineers and dreamers, we’re working towards a building that’s kinder to the planet without losing the story in its bricks. We’re thinking long-term—about warmth and light and all the things that make a space feel like sanctuary.
The Circle of 108
Big renovations, like big ideas, need people. That’s where The Circle of 108 comes in—a group of supporters helping to bring this project to life. It’s a sacred number in Buddhism, but more than that, it’s an invitation.
To give, if you can. To believe in buildings as places not just to be in, but to belong to. To be part of something a little bit radical—because creating peace in a former courthouse is, if nothing else, a beautiful kind of rebellion.
So far we have received 77 pledges of £1,000 – just 31 away from our final target.
So if any of this speaks to you—if you’ve ever sat in Jamyang’s Gompa and felt something shift, or if you’ve never been but just like the idea of turning old cells into gardens—you can join us.
We’d love to have you in the circle.
👉 Learn more about The Sanctuary Project and how to join the Circle of 108
