Coombeshead Farm

Coombeshead Farm

Coombeshead Farm sits a mile outside Chudleigh, in twenty five acres of Devon farmland where wild deer come out at dusk in the fifteen acre dog walking field and cider apples are pressed by hand every October. The four cottages have kitchens, wood fireplaces and private bathrooms, with hypoallergenic bedding on hand for allergy sufferers, wi-fi that reaches the rooms and free parking outside. There's a picnic area and a barbecue for evenings, and beyond them a stream, an ancient orchard and a wildflower meadow thick with butterflies. Pets stay for thirty pounds per stay, and dogs are free to run with the sheep, donkeys, chickens and Dexter cattle that Peter and Julie Bannister keep as pets rather than livestock; guests are welcome at feeding time, and in April at lambing too. Check-in is at two in the afternoon, check-out at ten; days here are set by weather and animals. What no comparable Devon stay offers is this calendar: a January wassail to bless the trees, an Easter egg hunt that has been known to wait for a lamb to be born, and the cider pressing every autumn that depends entirely on the year's harvest. Dartmoor National Park is under two miles off, Haldon Forest with its cycle trails a mile further, and the beaches of Teignmouth and Torbay are close enough for a day trip. It suits people happy for a farming family to be the only staff they see and content to cook their own dinner after a day outdoors. It does not suit anyone wanting nightly turndown, a concierge, or distance from mud. By the second morning, the donkeys will know the sound of your car. A working Devon farm under two miles from Dartmoor, with four self-catering cottages among orchards, donkeys and Dexter cattle, where cider is pressed by hand each October and dogs stay for thirty pounds a visit. It suits those happy to share a farmyard, not those chasing hotel polish.