Bertie and Bryony Hancock are enchanting: young and enthusiastic, they clearly love what they do. They’ve created an equally enchanting guesthouse in a beautiful old building in the grounds of The National Trust’s Buckland Abbey. As delightful as it’s historic, house guests are free to wander in the wildflower-filled Cider House Garden and see the immaculate monks’ kitchen gardens and beehives, all maintained by the National Trust. At the Cider House there are four sophisticated yet homely bedrooms, with all the right touches, including Roberts radios, magazines, flowers and Ren products. Breakfast is a feast cooked by Bryony and served by Bertie, and although dinner isn’t provided, there are plenty of local pubs (two within walking distance), gastro-pubs and restaurants. And there’s something else: a ten-minute walk from the Cider House, in the most glorious unspoilt countryside with views down to the Tamar estuary, are the guesthouse’s two exceptional and luxurious double-bedded shepherd’s huts.
The Garden House, a sensational garden containing over 6000 different plant species.
Dartmoor Gin, Sharpham Cheese, Brixham Crab, and fresh pickings, eggs and honey from the kitchen garden.
Use the Dartmoor Artisan trail and support one of the many local, traditional artisan producers in this amazing part of the country.
Nota Bene
It’s the only luxury bed and breakfast at the heart of a National Trust estate where guests can roam all 700 acres after Trust visitors have gone home. Buckland Abbey is the former estate of Elizabethan sea captain and explorer, Sir Francis Drake.
