Alison kindly showed me around the farm estate. It has been owned by the Harvey family since the beginning of the 1900’s and was originally built by Robert Hole in 1780, who later built the Parke estate in Bovey Tracey. The history of the property is fascinating and a full account can be found on the Stickwick Manor website
Located on the edge of the delightful Dartmoor village of Hennock, Stickwick is set within its own 50 acres – so peace and tranquillity abound.
There are 3 lovely Grade II listed self-catering properties to choose from, you can hire all three or any combination!
The Manor house is glorious it is steeped with Georgian styling and original features and offers seven spacious bedrooms over three floors and very grand reception rooms.
The main dining room in the Manor house can accommodate 14 around the antique mahogany table, or up to 24 with additional tables, making it ideal for family get togethers, with its inglenook fireplace with real open fire and vintage tableware and glassware is really does create a unique grand ‘Downton Abbey’ atmosphere. The Harvey family love to see the properties being used and appreciated so there is a real relaxed atmosphere, no stuffiness despite the antiques! Alison showed me the vintage china they have, and they are happy for you to use all of this – ideal for those Vintage tea parties.
I probably haven’t seen a better equipped self catering property, Stickwick provides everything from cots, stairgates to sterilisers to vintage glassware, serving platters, white napkins and even candlebras!
The Farmhouse Cottage interconnects to the Manor House and provides a further 3 bedrooms.
The final property of the three is Country Cottage, this is located next to the Manor House and has 2 bathrooms.
The layout of the estate makes it ideal for joint family holidays as each family can have their own accommodation but there is space for everyone to gather in the evenings. If the weather is nice you can even use the Toasting Shack in the grounds. A place where friends and marshmallows get toasted together! The rustic outdoor kitchen with gas BBQ (extra charge) and fire pit, offers a magical way to experience the simple delights of fire watching, marshmallow toasting and watching the sun go down as the stars appear above. What better way to spend an evening with your family or close friends!
Stickwick is very family friendly and there are activities for kids large and small! There is a large rustic play barn that has table tennis, a medium sized pool table, and darts for the ‘big’ kids, and there are ride on toys, dressing up boxes, bats, balls, skittles and selection of DVDs for the smaller kids!
Don’t forget to pack your wellies (well actually it doesn’t matter if you do there will be some to borrow at Stickwick) as you will want to visit the animals.
Dogs are very welcome to join the family gatherings at Stickwick too, there is a field where you can let your dogs off the lead and allow them to run about and there are plenty of wonderful places to take dogs for a walk around the estate (dogs must be on a lead).
They have even made catering for large gatherings a breeze! Their on-site Farm Larder Room offers a range of both local and homemade produce available for you to pre-order in advance, ready for your arrival, or just pick up anytime and pay at the end of your stay.
They can supply you with their expertly butchered, farm reared rare breed pork, lamb and beef in the form of quality bacon, sausages, burgers, mince and chops, along with local eggs, homemade cakes, crumbles and scones, homemade preserves and chutneys!
The cottages are well equipped and provide excellent catering and cooking facilities, however if you wish to let someone else do the catering, Alison can put you in touch with local food providers and caterers.
And if all that fails you are only 15 minutes walk away from the local village pub – The Palk Arms, that serves good pub grub for when you want a night off from the dishes!
Stickwick really does offer a wonderful holiday retreat, for all ages, in a relaxed environment allowing friends and families to spend quality time together and to reconnect. This really is where memories are made.
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