“Hermit Wanted” by British writer Mick Jackson is a short story about an ornamental hermit in a contemporary setting. The Guardian offers a downloadable podcast reading by Prunella Scales (22:16). Summary from the website:
When Giles and Virginia buy a big old house in the country, they decide to run it in grand style, complete with deer park, follies and peacocks strutting on the croquet lawn. Mick Jackson tells how the discovery of a cave in the woods leaves them with a situation vacant