There is  a pretty Georgian open coal fire built into the ancient baking oven, which you can light and gaze into as you sink into the comfy sofa and enjoy the sunset over the orchard garden.

You enter the main room with its lovely brick floor and large, handmade French windows at the far end leading into the sunny orchard. There is a hand built ash wood kitchen with Belfast sink and gas hob, grill and oven to your right. The cottage has a TV with built in DVD player.

Upstairs there is a large bedroom with a king-sized bed and a wonderful memory foam enhanced mattress. The floor is made of ancient reclaimed wood and the high arched ceiling has all the beams exposed with more wood placed behind the beams giving a very cosy but expansive feel to the room. The end of the room is partially divided off with a heavy brocade wall drape which accentuates the character of the room and provides a cosy armchair reading area beside the far window.

There is an en-suite bathroom with a large shower and antique sink and lovely Kilims and rugs throughout the cottage.

The Bakery is tucked away at the corner of the front orchard garden, giving honeymoon guests an even more private nook to view the world from.

Dog owners please note there is an acre of dog exercise Orchard and meadow at The Bakery along with a pretty Dog washing station for muddy doggies including white fluffy towels ! – plus  there are footpaths directly from the cottage into open countryside with a lovely dog friendly pub just a 15 minute walk away.

Up to 2 well behaved doggies are Welcome, Charges apply at £20 per dog for up to 7 nights.

This is one our most romantic Character Cottages and has a very special atmosphere about it.

The Gardens

You enter the cottage from the second courtyard and there is also an entrance from the front Orchard garden.

Outside the French doors is a special patio which is semi enclosed by hedges and vine covered planters giving you a pretty little private snug to enjoy a glass of wine while you wait for the sun to set, in private.

There is plenty of space in the front garden to laze around under the apple and pear trees and have a BBQ in Summer and you can walk straight out of the garden into the fields where a footpath with take you into the countryside or to the local pub.

We have a large central courtyard where you can unload your car when you arrive, in the courtyard there is a big open sided historic ‘Cart Lodge’ barn were guests can pull out a BBQ or sit in the barn which is lit with fairy lights and candles and watch the night skies.

There is also a barn with bikes for guests to use, a big coal bunker guests to purchase fuel at cost  (don’t worry the cottage is warm and cosy with its own central heating alone).

Behind the ‘Cart Lodge’ Barn here is also an acre of Orchard and lawn with a pond at the back of the property where I have established some peaceful private areas with tables and chairs or benches and where I have planted some very rare apple trees. This is an ideal dog exercise area. Next to it is a large off road car park.

You can walk directly from the gardens onto footpaths leading to the Church, Pub or circular countryside walks.

The South Suffolk Cycle route runs past the cottage and I provide bikes for free.

Although this cottage is near London you feel a million miles away, tucked into the countryside.

Outside

The Old Grove Farm, is set in open countryside and made up of brick buildings in a E shape which were a farm workers cottage, winnowing barns, dairy’s and bakeries.

It has a large central courtyard with a long barn creating a double quadrangle, the buildings are now converted into 6 lovely holiday cottages with individual entrances from different areas and surrounded by gardens and Orchards, it is where our business started and where we are based.

While being right in the countryside, we are not cut off from civilisation and a 5 – 10 minute car drive will get you to shops and supermarkets, café’s, swimming pools. Museums, the Quay Theatre and the river Stour.

There are good Pubs are all around us and our local which is ¾ mile walk across the fields from us has its own Macro Brewery and a selection of the best beers and ciders you can come across: The White Horse Edwardstone.

The Bakery is a very special place that is a joy just to be in. Perfect for a couples romantic getaway.

Green Credentials

This building dates back to 1700 and is renovated and repaired with traditional and reclaimed original material’s like the ancient reclaimed wood panelling, doors and beams, lime plaster and paints, original Suffolk White floor bricks, locally sourced timber and locally fired or reclaimed bricks.

We operate our own Clear Water Treatment plant which biologically cleans all our waste water to such a pure degree that it can be discharged back into the environment.

We use many ecover products when possible.

We encourage guests to explore the local area by bicycle or foot.

We offer guests an occasional egg from our own chickens when possible (they are very temperamental), fresh herbs from our herb garden and fruit from our own Apple, Pear, Plum and Quince Trees – some of these tree’s were thought to be extinct but we have them 🙂

We sometimes keep Bees and have many flowering plants to encourage bees to our gardens.

We share our grounds with bats, badgers, fox, hare, rabbits, deer and an amazing array of birds  – from Buzzards and Owls to blue-tits, goldfinches and woodpeckers: all these animals and more find food here and shelter in our many hedges and various gardens.