LONDON (Reuters) - More than 200 years after they went out of fashion in Britain, professional hermits are back in the job market A newspaper advertisement seeking a resident hermit for the stately Shugborough Home in Staffordshire, central England, has prompted a flood of replies from men eager to ditch stressed-out modern life for a spot of peaceful cave-dwelling. "There have been a few hermits in Britain since their heyday but they've usually just been recluses and loners. This is the first time the job of a resident hermit has been advertised in more than 250 years," organizer Corinne Caddy told the Daily Express.
"(We) have been stunned by the number of applications we have received. It seems there are lots of people out there who just want to be a professional hermit," she said.
The successful applicant will be expected to live in a cave on the grounds of the estate and abandon human contact, except for scaring visitors -- and will probably have to give up shaving and bathing as well.
Artist Anna Douglas, who came up with the idea to highlight National Heritage Week, told the paper that it had been very fashionable in the 18th century to have a hermit living in a remote corner of an estate.
Hermits were always men and were paid handsomely in return for being tied to a five-year contract.
"We are keen to see whether we can recreate this fashion and whether people are equally eager to escape from the pressures of everyday life as they were in the 18th century," Douglas said.
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OK UKrs. Here's your chance.
