If you're looking to escape to the countryside for Christmas, Middle Stone Farm is a lovely spot.  We're very quiet at this time of year and you'll probably have the farm to yourselves, it will certainly be peaceful over the Christmas holidays.  Both the Deckhouse Cabin and Stable Cottage are available for New Year, and the cabin is also available over Christmas and the Bank Holidays.  We'll be putting the decorations up soon with twinkly lights outside and a little Christmas tree and holly over the pictures in both accommodations.  

Both the cabin and holiday cottage are family friendly, they are also lovely for couples.  Both have large wood fired hot tubs, there's also a firepit outside the cabin.  

There are plenty of cosy pubs nearby if you want to go out for lunch on Christmas Day, wise to book sooner rather than later as tables get booked up fast.  Alternatively if you're planning to stay in and drink fizz around the fire, we can provide breakfast hampers, meat, local ciders, gin, prosecco or champagne  - whatever you need ready for your arrival.  The local National Trusts are open all year round, with good walks and stately homes to explore at Dunster and Knightshayes.  

The year we arrived at the farm we installed solar panels on our barn roofs and a bio mass boiler, so lots of our energy is being produced ourselves from renewables.  Both the holiday cottage and the cabin have wood fires as well as central heating from the biomass boiler in the Stable Cottage.  Our water is from our own borehole spring and all our firewood is from sustainable forestry on Exmoor.  We do our own laundry using power from the solar and most of the produce in our breakfast hampers and homemade meals is either produced on our farm, if not very local.  

We love a winter walk on the beach, Blue Anchor Bay is our nearest, about 25 minutes drive from here.  It's a combination of stones and sand, and a good mile long, Dunster beach is next year for miles more sand and views over towards Wales.  West Somerset is a quiet part of the West Country, it's never busy here even on a Bank Holiday, so you'll see plenty of dogs running free, happy families and friendly smiles.  There are plenty of pubs in nearby Dunster or Porlock if you want to eat out afterwards, we have a list of our favourites on our Explore page above.  

We keep two accommodations open through the winter, The Deckhouse Cabin and Stable Cottage.  Both of these properties sleep either a couple, or family of four.  There are king beds  and childrens bedrooms in both accommodations, wood burning stoves with logs provided, the cottage also has central heating.  Parking for both accommodations is close by, so you won't need your wellies unless you're heading out for a walk!  The walks up on Exmoor or along the coast are gorgeous, there are public footpaths around the village too if you would rather stay local. 

We have couple discounts running outside the school holidays, a weekend in either the cottage or cabin is £195 for two nights, or £250 for a family of four.   These discounts continue until 16th December.  

Our shop is closed now we're quiet but you can still pre order a breakfast hamper, homemade cake, curry or lasagne which we can leave in your fridge ready for your arrival.  If you like a full English breakfast, we offer sausages and bacon from our pigs, beautiful free range eggs, farmhouse bread, local Somerset apple juice, homemade bread, West Country butter and milk.  All our accommodation has cafetiers and we provide ground coffee from our local coffee roasters, the Stable Cottage also has a coffee machine.  

There's a wood fired hot tub outside each accommodation, and we have fairy lights as well as LED lighting outside, useful now the clocks have changed!  If you want to get straight into the hot tub when you arrive, we also offer hot tub pre heats at this time of year if you'd prefer us to tend the fire and do the heating for you.  

Although lots of our guests stay on site, curled up by the wood burning stove or cooking breakfast over a fire pit, if you want to venture out there's plenty to see and good places to eat.  Winter weekends in the country are synonymous with blustery walks and hearty pub lunches, most of the pubs around here serve a proper roast Sunday lunch - with all the trimmings.  There are too many to list here, but you'll find them all on the net, and a list of our favourites on the Explore page above.  Nearby Wiveliscombe has a couple of breweries so you''ll find plenty of local beer on tap too.  

We have a little bit of availability left for October Half Term, Hawk Lodge is the last safari tent left from 24th to 28th October, this one sleeps a family of up to 6, it's dog friendly and close to the children's play areas.  The beautiful clear days we've been having recently mean it is cold at night, but the stars are amazing, and we provide lots of firewood for you to use on the lodge stove and keep yourselves warm. 

There's pumpkin picking in nearby Wellington, the local National Trusts always have something child friendly on and the Bear Trail over the border in Devon is always a fun option during the school holidays!  

Toasting marshmallows around the fire in the autumn is rather special as the sun goes down, there are so many different recipe variations on the net, the simplest being Rich Tea Biscuits, a few squares of milk chocolate and a couple of nice fat marshmallows of course.  We'll have all the kit ready in our shop ready for toasting on the firepit.  

At this time of year all the beds in our safari lodges have fleece blankets and hot water bottles as well as warm duvets, our bedding is non feather and hypo allergenic so should be fine for anyone with bedding allergies.  When the last person goes to bed, we suggest you put on a couple of heat logs on the wood burner which which burn slowly through the night.  It's always cold when the first person gets up to light the fire again in the morning, so remember to pack warm bed socks or cosy slippers.  

We're a working farm with animals and have products from our farm in our shop.  You can order a breakfast hamper in advance of your stay, or pick up things from the shop after you arrive.  We always have pigs to admire on the farm, and sausages in the freezer.  We have created our own sausage flavouring with the help of a local butcher, our bacon is also delicious, both for eating with eggs and toast, or in a pasta sauce.

Unfortunately the fox took all our hens this summer, now we only have a cockerel who despite being handsome, doesn't produce any eggs!  So this year we have eggs from our neighbour (in all different colours), they are free range and delicious, with lots of deep yellow double yolks.

Farmhouse bread, freshly cooked croissants and pain au chocolates are also available to collect from our shop ready for breakfast.

All our accommodation has its own private wood fired hot tub, we have eight of them on the farm.  They're made in Sweden and the hot tub water is heated via a wood stove, if you choose to hire the tub, we'll provide you with an extra supply of firewood to heat the water yourselves.  Outside of the school holidays we offer hot tub pre heats, this is a good idea if you're arriving late after work or school and want to get straight in when you arrive.  

The hot tubs here on the farm are large, the tubs next to the cottage and cabin are for four people, and the safari tent hot tubs are for six.  These are optional extras and cost £60 for a four night stay, you can read about how they work here.  We're glad we invested in wood fired hot tubs, rather than electric ones with the current cost of energy crisis.  Although the cost of firewood has gone up, we have kept our hot tub prices the same for this winter and next year, and will absorb the increase ourselves, rather than pass it on to our guests.  

We buy our firewood from a high quality seller on Exmoor, the facts on his website state Co2 released from burning wood is equivalent to Co2 absorbed by the tree during its growing life, unlike other fuels burning wood is carbon neutral.  

We have discounted prices for the next couple of weekends with additional discounts for couples.  A stay in our cabin or cottage for the weekend of 14th October for example is now £245 for a couple or £295 for a family of four.  We continue to run farm tours for anyone who is interested, the animals are well trained to a bucket and will come running when they see us, pigs are never full and at this time of year we feed them buckets of apples as well as their normal foods.  The goats like a few branches taken from one of our trees with good growth and the sheep will run over as soon as they hear the gate unlatch!  

October is the time of year when we plan our lambing - we have a new ram this year, Patrick has named him Raymond as he's a french breed and if you're into sheep, a rather fine specimen who deserves a name!  He'll go into the paddock of ewes on the 20th October and I expect we'll begin lambing in mid March.  Hopefully perfectly timed so all the lambs will be born before we open the safari tents for the Easter 2023 holidays!  If his visit to the ladies doesn't go as well as we plan, we'll put some of these lovely Exmoor rams in instead - they produce the sweetest of lambs!  

October is a gorgeous time to come and stay with dramatic autumnal sunsets, stargazing and toasting marshmallows around the firepit.  The trees are turning bronze and the leaves are falling, perfect for crunchy family walks.   The hedgerows are alive with berries and full of wildlife,  if you step out quietly in the evening you may see the local barn owl who swoops over our fields at sunset.    There's a nip in the air but with large wood burning stoves, and lots of blankets and hot water bottles you'll be cosy in our safari tents.  

A half term holiday in Somerset is a whole lot less stressful than going abroad, although we can't predict what the weather will do, there'll be no queuing at airports or the worry about your suitcases going in a different direction!  Just pack some warm clothes and wellies, we provide most of the kit you'll need for your holiday.  

There are large wood burning stoves ​in the heart of the lodge, with ovens and hobs to cook on and they are also used for heating the space.  They work a bit like an Aga with a good size oven and the top of the stove is your hob.  We provide lots of sacks of firewood for you along with kindling, firelighters and matches etc.   There are firepit style barbecues outside too if you'd rather cook your breakfast outside.  

We'll be running regular farm tours through Half Term which include a tractor ride, opportunities to meet our many piglets, feed and stroke our friendly flock of sheep, get close to the alpaca, feed the goats, our one remaining cockerel (the fox had the hens) and have a scratch of the larger adult pigs.  We also have moorhens and a family of ducks on the pond and no end of rabbits, pheasants and wildlife pottering around.  

There are two children's play areas in the glamping fields, and we also have a covered space with table tennis.  The badminton net is still up, wellies are definitely a good idea in October as the grass is long and dewy at this time of year.  Our fields are unlit so some head torches are a good idea as well if you want to be outside after dark.  

We have lots of ideas of local places to visit on our website.  Dunster Castle is brilliant for families, they usually have Half Term activities, a pumpkin or halloween trail, Knightshayes Court in Devon is also nearby and another good National Trust.  The Bear Trail is a local assault course, great for children, teenagers and adults - getting muddy is optional, they have a wood fired pizza oven too.  

Taunton has bowling, the Odeon Cinema, Somerset Museum (free), all the usual chain pizza places and a farmer's market once a week.  We like the independent Scott Cinema in Bridgwater, brand new with several screens and great value - we definitely recommend it.    Exeter isn't far away and a great city to explore - Topsham is lovely, there's Crealy Fun Park on the outskirts too if you're looking for rides!

Exmoor National Park is on our doorstep, there will be a calendar of events on their website - it's beautiful - head out for a walk on a fine day - Dunkery  Beacon, Selworthy, Horner Woods, Porlock Weir - they're all nearby and gorgeous!  

It's quiet again on the farm now the schools have gone back, if you are a couple, or family with pre school age children, now is a lovely time to stay, you may well have the farm to yourselves!  We have discounted our prices for the next six weeks, for example a weekend in the cabin is £245 for a couple or £295 for a family of four.  Four night mid week stays are £325 for couples, £375 for four.  

We have also reduced prices in our safari tents, they are larger sleeping up to six, couple discounts are available if only two adults are staying in there, we have three dog friendly safari lodges too.  

Exmoor National Park is on our doorstep, and in late summer the moorland is a sea of purple heather and wild flowers, it's never very busy up there and September is the perfect time of year to walk some of the many footpaths or a part of the South West Coast Path.  We have links to our favourite beaches and rivers on our website and if you want some less well known walks head to one of the friendly Tourist Information Centres, either at Dunster or Dulverton, both about 20 minutes from us.  

For water activites, Wimbleball Lake is 20 minutes from here with sailing, paddle boarding, kanoeing etc, or you could get in touch with Exmoor Adventures over in Porlock Weir, they have lots of activities both on and off water including electric bikes.  Porlock Weir is really lovely, with independent food places, gorgeous views and a beach to explore, it's a good place to spend the day, if you set out early, you could drop in to Dunster Castle on your way past.    Dunster Castle, National Trust is open all year round, with gorgeous semi tropical gardens, water mill, couple of cafes there's lots to see outside as well as inside the castle.  

Our two fine Exmoor Horn Rams have left the farm now for new homes and Patrick will pick up a new ram or two next week so we can get them used to the farm before they go in with the ladies in November!   We've had around 100 sheep on the farm this year, so it's time to reduce the flock a bit before lambing again in March when I expect we'll go back to 100.  If you'd like to stay when we're lambing, we open the safari lodges at the start of April when the last ewe should have had her lambs and we usually have a few ophans for anyone who'd like to have a go bottle feeding.    Our cabin and cottage are open all year round, lambing is usually 2nd and 3rd week of March.  

Less sheep will mean we have more time to focus on our pigs, three of the sows have recently given birth and we have 16 fine little Mangalitsa piglets who've been entertaining us on farm tours.  The goats tend to be a bit bored when we have less guests staying, so we plan to make them a playground this year.  We love a bit of upcycling and have pallets on standby to make them some climbing ramps! 

We have lots of October availability, both in safari tents, and the cottage and cabin.  Half Term seems to be on different weeks for different schools, but we'll be running farm tours whenever we have families staying and our shop will be well stocked for our last busy holiday of the year.  

The Deckhouse Cabin is available from 23rd August onwards, for either a full week, mid week stay or just the Bank Holiday Weekend.  Three nights is £395, a full week is £1020.  The cabin sleeps a family of four, two adults and two children under the age of 12.  It's separate from the rest of our glamping so a good option for guests wanting a bit of extra privacy, but only a minute's walk to the play area if you have children who want to make friends with the families staying over in our safari tents. 

We are a very friendly farm stay option with lots of animal goings on at this time of year!  Don't ask us how many pigs we have, we have rather lost count this month as three of mangalitsa sows have recently produced lots of piglets.  They are super sweet and we'll show you them during one of our farm tours.  

We have lots of availability at the end of the month, including a whole field together which would work well for a group of families or extended family wanting to have a whole field to themselves.  If you hire Buzzard, Hawk and Kestrel Lodges we include our barn where guests can all eat together under one roof space.  These lodges are also dog friendly and near the children's play areas.  If you're thinking of booking several accommodations together, do get in touch with us first as we will be able to make an offer for group bookings in September and October.  

Outside the school holidays we have price discounts for couples.  The price for a couple staying in our cabin or cottage in September for example is £260 for two nights (or £310 for a family of four),   September tends to be quieter on the farm, so you're likely to have a field or the playground to yourselves.    We have whole fields available if you'd like to stay as a groups, get in touch if you do so we can let you know about any group offers.  

If you're thikning ahead to October Half Term, we have lots of availability for short stays or a full week if you'd like to stay for longer.  We include a generous supply of firewood in the cost of staying in our safari lodges or cabin, and if you're unsure about glamping, we have a holiday cottage too which has central heating as well as a log burner.  We'll have fires lit before you arrive and the lodges all have thick duvets, hot water bottles and lots of cosy blankets.  You don't need to rely on candle light, there are lamps and LED ceiling lighting as well.  The local National Trusts usually have halloween trails running too.  We close the safari tents at the end of October Half Term for winter renovations, if we plan something exciting I'm sure I'll have photos on Instagram so keep an eye if you're thinking of booking a stay for 2023!

For anyone who's looking to book a very, very last minute holiday, we still have some availability and have been reducing prices over the last few weeks and creating some shorter stays too. 

We're offering a Saturday check in tomorrow for 30th July for a two night stay and have several options through August.  We're doing two or three farm tours a week to make sure everyone gets a chance to come on one.  The fox visited during a farm tour last week (luckily no small children were watching), so we only have one cockerel left (he's moved in with the pigs), but everyone else is fine and looking forward to baaing, bleating quacking, snorting, hooting when guests come through to watch them being fed!  

Our hot tubs are the perfect place to relax during the recent hot weather.  This one below is outside The Stable Cottage (available from 9th to 16th August), we put in a new patio on the cottage terrace earlier this year, much more comfy under foot than the pebbles that were there previously.  ​

Our rural location in West Somerset is right on the Devon border, so we're perfectly placed for visiting both counties, and we're easy to get to via Taunton or the M5.  Wiveliscombe is our nearest small town, 12 minutes drive with an outdoor pool - perfect for the current heat wave, skate park, two pubs, small farmer's market.  

Wimbleball Lake is about 20 minutes away, it's really pretty and has water sports - sailing, kayaking, paddle boarding and more.  There's a footpath around the edge, maybe take a picnic (not sure about the cafe, maybe read reviews first) - or ask us for warm pasties to take with you, you can order them from our shop, or nip into Wiveliscombe to the deli and take some quiches.  There are signs saying don't let dogs swim in the lake, do please follow this as there can be blue algae in parts of the lake which is toxic for dogs.  

For river swimming, we recommend Tarr Steps, Withypool, Horner Woods, Simonsbath, or Landacre Bridge - none of these places are terribly deep, but perfect for paddling with a few deeper pools.  

All our accommodation is child friendly, families with young children are our main visitors during August.  Our safari lodges have large canopy roofs with shade over the decks, perfect for these hot August days.  At night time the tent should be a lovely temperature, although we provide extra blankets and hot water bottles, they shouldn't be needed in August!  Cooking is on a wood stove, we also provide an electric induction hob so you can warm something up quickly without lighting the fire.  

We have a few dates left in dog friendly safari tents in August, Buzzard, Hawk and Kestrel are the names of the lodge we allow a dog in.  These safari tents have enclosed decks and a loop on the front so you can have your dog with you whilst you wallow in your hot tub!  All the local beaches near here are dog friendly (and so are all the pubs!)
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If you're thinking about a glamping break this month, we have availability from 11th July.   It's gorgeous and hot here during the current heatwave, the hot tubs don't have to be lit if you want to cool down, they are great to plunge into cold as well as steaming in the evening!  For the weekend of 15th July, we have lots of availability in a choice of accommodation.  If there are two of you, the cabin and cottage are the best value, £240 for a weekend in either with our current couple's offer.   We have also reduced our prices and have some couple discounts in safari tents too.  

There's usually a bit of a breeze in the Somerset Hills, with Exmoor just above us, we think it's the perfect place to stay during a heatwave!  Tarr Steps is gorgeous for a walk in the woods and you can wild swim in the river.  Landacre and Withypool are also perfect on a hot day.  There's never a dull day on the farm.  If you're staying with children a farm stay is a good option, we have lots of animals, farm tours, tractor rides and two children's play areas where they can let off steam too.  Our covered play barn space has sofas and table tennis, it's another shady spot if the heatwave continues.  

We're 25 minutes from Taunton, and just over an hour to Bristol and Exeter so easily reachable if you're looking for a glamping stay in the South West.  Our corner of Somerset is relatively unknown, so unlike the popular spots in Devon and Cornwall, it's not too busy here in West Somerset and you'll often find you can have stretches of beach entirely to yourselves.  Our local town Wiveliscombe is friendly, with two pubs, a couple of independent cafes and small farmter's market, it has a lovely atmosphere - and it has a outdoor swimming pool!  

Exmoor is beautiful and gorgeous in the summer for quality walks and picnics by the river or up on the hills above Minehead where there are amazing views.  We love North Hill, it's beautiful up there with so many footpaths, views over to Wales and along the coast to North Devon.  You can grab some Cornish pasties, or make hot dogs with items from our shop, or all the big supermarkets are Minehead where you can gather supplies for a picnic.  

Our farmshop is only open to guests staying here, when we're busy we open it at set times during the morning and afternoon, and when it's quiet you can just call us and we'll nip over and open it for you.  We sell lots of products from our farm which we think will be useful, and delicious during your holiday with us.  Freshly laid eggs from our hens, and blue eggs from our neighbours hens.  Sausages, bacon and hearty pork chops from our pigs, and we have lamb joints which we can butterfly for you ready for the BBQ.  We have plenty of options for vegetarians and a few vegan dishes, plant based milks etc too.  

We still have lots of availability this summer with a few short breaks available if you can only get a way for a couple of nights, and some week stays too if you're planning a UK holiday this year.  It's unusual for us to have quite so much availability at this time of year, I imagine it's a combination of guests taking those oversees holidays they missed when Covid was around, or perhaps the cost of living.  We do have couple deals running if there are only two of you, a weekend stay in our cabin for example is £255 for the weekend of 8th July.

If you've been to stay with us before, you'll spot upgrades and improvements around the farm as we always try and improve things over the winter.  All our safari tents have solid paved firepit areas this year, we have new much lighter lids on the hot tubs, new deck fences and gates on Bossington, Porlock and Kilve Lodges, and we've opened a space up for group dining as well if you're taking a field of lodges

We have eight different accommodations on our farm, so there's lots of choice!  Three safari tents are dog friendly and close to a children's play area.  Three safari lodges are in a separate field, not overlooking the play areas, but only a couple of minutes walk away, perfect for anyone with older children.  These ones are also larger, including Bossington Lodge which is really quite huge!    These large lodges are named after our three favourite local beaches.  Bossington is stunning, a huge mile sweep of stones with incredible views and National Trust footpaths, Porlock is next door, a pretty little harbour with nice independent places to eat, and Kilve is completely different - an unusual stone beach with huge fossils scattered around the beach and in the cliff walls.  

The other three safari tents here are named after local birds of prey, Buzzard, Hawk and Kestrel, you can spot all of these around Exmoor, and we have Buzzards nesting in the trees along our drive.  

If you'd like to stay on our farm, but prefer something more solid than a safari tent, we have The Stable Cottage and Deckhouse Cabin (above).  Both of these are in a separate location to the rest of our glamping, the cottage has all you'd expect in a holiday cottage, WiFi, dishwasher, TV/DVD player, double oven and so on, and the cabin is slightly quirkier and more bijou with  a mini kitchen, bespoke bunk room and its own little private fenced garden with apple trees.  

Our farm shop and children's play areas are just a minutes walk from the cabin and cottage, so you're not far from other families staying here.  The parking is right next to each of these accommodations, so perfect for families with young children.  Both the cabin and cottage sleep 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 12, as the second bedroom is designed for young children.  

No visit to South West England is complete without a trip to the beach!  We're 25 minutes from the Somerset coast and not too far from the North and South Devon beaches either.   As a family we tend to stick to the local beaches, as they are quiet even on a Sunday in the middle of August.  Our beaches are a combination of stone and sand, this beach in the photo above is Porlock Weir, if you want a sandy beach then Dunster Beach is better for buckets and spades!  

Hoping for some nice hot weather this summer so we can do some wild swimming,  Exmoor National Park has plenty of rivers for safe paddling, Tarr Steps has lots of safe shallow water as well as deeper pools to immerse in.  Landacre Bridge and Withypool have gorgeous grassy spots for a picnic and safe spots for children's paddling too.  

We still have lots of July and August availability if you're thinking about a UK holiday in the South West this summer.  

Our safari lodges are perfect for families, each lodge sleeps up to six guests and we have a couple of children's play areas on the farm, as well as lots of animals.  We'll be doing farm tours once or twice a week and if you like pigs you'll enjoy it here as we have lots of them this year, after some accidental reproduction over the winter!

We're 25 minutes from the coast, but when it's hot we tend to take our dogs (and children) to the gorgeous rivers on Exmoor instead.  This photo above is Withypool, the water is safe and shallow, perfect for paddling and catching small fish.  There's a footpath from Withypool to Landacre Bridge and plenty of gorgeous places to stop with a picnic between the two.  Tarr Steps is also gorgeous, it is quite well known so sometimes busy around the bridge, but if you take the easy footpath into the woods you'll find long stretches of shady river to yourselves.  Our dogs love it there!