At The Cowshed

Really enjoyed our stay. The breakfast materials in the fridge were amazing and the huts were warm and cosy. No mobile coverage let us disconnect and enjoy ourselves as a family. A good location for the day trips we wanted to make to Glastonbury, Longleat and Cheddar. Big open field with a big open October sky.

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We had a lovely stay, myself and my wife wanted a nice getaway out in the country. The hut was very cosy and had nice facilities to keep it warm. The location was quiet and peaceful which was what we were looking for.

We were provided with a nice breakfast pack and the kitchen space was ideal for this, ended up having a lovely breakfast outside with excellent views.

We left the child friendliness blank as we were travelling as a couple so we cannot comment on this, also as we are in the middle of the country there was no wifi and low signal but i feel this is to be expected.

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We had a fantastic weekend at the Cowshed. Facilities were spotless and everything was provided for us. Endless wood for the firepit and the wood burning stove to heat the hot tub. Charlotte was so helpful with regards to local information and any enquiries we had. We had a truly amazing time, loved every minute.

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Stayed in a two person hut for a birthday.

Very clean, well stocked kitchen.
Nice facilities including garden area.
Friendly and approachable host.
Quiet and tranquil, amazing view of the night sky.
Quirky logburner and hot tub set up, great idea but plan ahead if you want to use! 3 hours to heat up properly. Free fire wood.

Due to lack of available outdoor lighting, take some torches, I wonder if putting up fairy lights around the hot tub area would be allowed without light pollution ruining the view of the stars?
Mattresses are firm, a bit too hard for me but this is more personal preference, my partner had no complaints.

Morning breakfast was a lovely addition and hosts are more than happy to cater to dietary requirements.

Having to leave.

A perfect getaway with friends and children. Great location, beautiful setting, cosy huts, gorgeous sunsets and night time skies, lovely friendly hosts, great company and fun neighbours...excellent facilities such as clean toilets, a very well stocked kitchen, bbqs, free firewood! hot tub (the kids did not want to get out!) quirky communal eating area etc the list goes on. So many thoughtful touches to make your stay hassle free and relaxing from beds made up on arrival, a delicious breakfast plate for your first morning, to a supply of games for children and adults alike to keep entertained. We literally did not want to leave! Thank you Charlotte and Richard for a great weekends stay!

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Everything. Beautiful. Loved it

Would just say to but some anti grips on the steps as slippery. Also a light by the fire pit. Maybe a sensor one.

Everything about it. Great location.

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Space, setting, layout of huts, hot tub, communal area, thoughtful touches: breakfast pack, mini fridge in hut, clean bedding and towels, very well equipped communal kitchen (kettle, crockery, toaster, oven), trolley for transporting stuff from car, gas bbqs, chairs and table outside each hut, clean toilets and toilet showers and lovely welcome from Owner.

Double bed a bit lumpy (better than sleeping in tent)! Would be good to have some sort of shelving / storage in the hut maybe in shower too (it was too steamy and wet to hang bits on back of door). Very minor points and I think “dislike” is probably a bit too strong. Would not hesitate to recommend or rebook.

The showers were always hot and the water pressure good. Breakfast by the fire on the cooler days was nice (but only one family at a time can do this). Huts are well insulated and very soundproof which surprised us.

There are lights and 4 power sockets in the hut and a fridge and heater. (Although for us the heat from the fridge kept the hut quite warm). Although the bedside light provided in ours was missing the cable to get it to work so it was just for show!

You get a plate of cooked breakfast ingredients for breakfast on your first day which was nice.

The chickens by the entrance to the field are cute and the field full of sheep next door are lovely neighbours and the kids loved them.

Storage is at a premium in the huts, but there is space to slide narrow cases under the bed in the shepherd's hut (carry on size in width) for easier organisation.

It's a very safe field and enclosed so small people can run free, but beware of stinging nettles and the large stone mushrooms which didn't look very safe for littles to play near. There's a single swing to keep older kids occupied so worth bringing some things like bikes and balls if you have small people with you.

The small nature of the site does mean you get to know the other families well, and all were very pleasant and nice to get to know. The children all played together regardless of ages and shared turns on the swing well too. There was a nice feeling of cooperation on tasks like getting the fire going long enough for the hot tub as well, and coordinating loo roll supply!

We stayed for a week, but I feel like it's more a place that you stay one or two nights as otherwise the flaws start to get to you.

You can't take your car to the hut to unload and the trolley provided is very heavy (and as you aren't greeted you may miss it). Beds are hard, and the cupboard in our shepherd's hut stank of damp. There is no ladder onto the top bunk in the 4 man huts, and where a perfect place for a cupboard and ladder unit is in the hut there's a massive milk churn which just got in the way and took up valuable space.

They provide everyone with towels but no way of hanging them to dry in the hut (eventually a clothes horse appeared by the fire in the communal area... but was hanging the towels of guest who had left many days previous and not bothered to put their towels back in the hut).

They give you the ingredients for a fried breakfast on the first day... but no oil, washing up liquid, cloths, etc so when 4 families all had their first day at the same time like we all did, we ended up with a marathon pan scrubbing session using just a dishcloth and nothing was clean until the next day when we went shopping for cleaning supplies! Just a note, they also don't provide shower gel in the showers (as I think the description says they do). Toilet roll we think was guest provided (although we were never sure, it just ran out a lot and we all took turns getting more when it did) but we did think the hand soaps may have come from the owners as there were always loads of them.

Hot tub is so dangerous and would honestly recommend no children at all in there. My 4 year old daughter got a massive burn from the uncaged outlet as the pipes are angled wrong so you get hot steam bubbles shooting out instead of a flow of warm water. My husband was in with her, supervising and trying to keep her away from the outlet at the time, but a steam bubble shot out of the outlet and scalded her badly. Also takes 3-5 hours to heat. Hot tub water is changed once a week, but just before it's changed can be quite sooty from the fire going for so many days with the chimney outlet next to it.

The main kitchen kitchen was so small and always a bit grotty and unclean. The previous night's sea of cups were always there in the morning, all dishes in the clean area were sticky and unclean so you had to rewash everything before use. The fridge would have the unwashed breakfast plates (which had contained unpacked bacon and sausages from the owner on your first day) for many days after they were put in the fridge, and recipients had often left many nights previous. Which felt like a mega food hygiene fail.

The communal area is also really small and pretty grubby because of fire ash and dining, and the cushions look like they could really use a wash!

Obviously can't be helped but phone signal is incredibly poor in the area so plan you activities and download any maps you need before you go as you can't get enough to book or download maps on most networks (three seemed a bit better but O2 is non existent... not enough to send a text message most of the time).

And due to the high location, Kilmington is much cooler than the villages around so bring a few extra layers! It gets really windy in the field at night especially.

While we were there, two different families left a night earlier than planned.

We loved the coziness of the Shepherds Hut and the fire heated hot tub. It’s peaceful and beautifully situated for lots of walks and exploring.

Lack of light over the BBQ and could do with a couple of chopping boards.