Drovers Retreat – A sense of Place

This old stone barn that welcomes you today, encapsulates history. It stands just above an ancient Drovers track, which in former centuries saw the passage of cattle and sheep across Wales to markets far beyond, and once housed cattle beneath its roof.

We have tried, modern planning rules and contemporary regulations permitting, to retain its sense of history. Flagstones that felt the press of hooves in former years, were lifted to accommodate a thick insulated floor and then replaced on top - a veritable heavy-weight jigsaw puzzle on kitchen and living room floor.

Above you, the vaulted roof has been raised a little, supported by extra stones from around the farm and laid with reclaimed Welsh slates.

In 1988 when we moved to the farm the roof was in bad repair, with huge gaps letting in the winter storms. We rescued the good slates and quickly clad the roof with corrugated sheeting. This preserved the structure and the barn became home to our day-old chicks nestling under heat lamps, much to the interest of a local tawny owl! They grew and so did our business until we made the decision to outsource our poultry.

While we were occupied with the paraphernalia of our organic business, 20 staff, nationwide customers and the whirl of our demanding enterprise, the tawny owl took up residence in the redundant barn once again. Undisturbed, nettles grew outside the door while wild raspberries took hold, bearing bountiful harvest.

Around this barn trees grew, and autumn leaves fell, making rich mulch. Empty glass bottles and jars of all sorts, discarded over the centuries, were buried ever deeper as the years passed. Pipistrel bats zigzagged past on their way to their farmhouse resting place and bits and pieces of the farm’s history lay redundant in the barn.

In 2016, with our organic meat and farming co-operative businesses sold, we decided it was time to give the old barn which is now Drovers Retreat a new purpose.

With our early 17th century listed farmhouse and the old farm buildings around the farm yard, we have tried to maintain as much of the history contained within their walls as we can.

With the conversion of what was probably the housing for the farm’s dairy cows, we have maintained the original openings in Drovers Retreat, adding just two bedroom windows as fire regulations demanded. Two of the original ‘A’ frame roof supports have been sand blasted, seasoned with Danish oil and replaced.

Of course, we would have preferred to keep the uneven time warp and natural curve of the walls, but we live in climate conscious times where insulation is demanded, and thick cladding now hides the contours and imperfections of its history. But take a moment to appreciate the walls outside. We have sand blasted and re-pointed the stones but otherwise they stay where they were originally placed; cut, fashioned and set straight and true without laser alignment and modern building tools – a testament to the skill of the Victorian builders. On the shorter, eastern wall at the top of the yard you can see irregular, ‘undressed’ stone. We had to clear away a few feet of earth, a tree root and quantities of rubbish to find the base of the wall to install the drains. It seems then that the wall was originally built into the lie of the land from inside out so the ‘outside’ of the stone had never seen the light of day until 2016! We have left the irregular face to show this history of the building.

Back inside, the internal wall adjoining the ‘wet weather/play barn’ shows the original wooden frame. This wall follows the splayed angle of the main barn giving the bedroom and kitchen an irregular shape – it's not just the effect of the beer!

Apart from the beds, comfy chairs and light fittings we have furnished ‘Drovers Retreat’ with pieces passed down through our family and artefacts from our travels. We try to step lightly on this planet and have re-used and recycled as much as possible, sourcing pieces from junk shops and 'Freecycle’ schemes along the way.

You will see influences from our years in Africa and bits and pieces from our Devonshire, Welsh and London ancestry, which eclectic mix we hope makes for a comfortable and restorative stay. Oh, and look out for the pairs of old farm workers’ boots - what tales they could tell!

Relax, enjoy and feel the peace of this amazing slice of our history.