Holiday Cottage near Daylesford
A pioneering organic farm and farmshop near Kingham, with a celebrated café, creamery, bakery, cookery school and wellness spa.
A pioneering organic farm and farmshop near Kingham, with a celebrated café, creamery, bakery, cookery school and wellness spa.
Daylesford is the original organic farmshop, the heart of an estate near Kingham that has championed organic farming for decades. The farm grows a wide range of seasonal fruit, vegetables, salad and herbs, and the shop is a destination in its own right: an on-site creamery turning out artisan cheeses, an award-winning bakery, a beautiful café and a grocery brimming with produce grown or made on the estate. Beyond the food there is the Daylesford Cookery School, Bamford natural skincare and clothing, and the nearby Bamford Wellness Spa, making it as much a day out as a place to shop. Around 30 minutes from Well Cottage, it is the perfect stop for a long, leisurely lunch and a basket of provisions to take home.
The farm shop itself is worth a slow circuit. The creamery counter turns out a rotating cast of artisan cheeses, from a creamy, lactic fresh curd to aged hard varieties that change with the seasons, and the bakery sells sourdough loaves still warm from the oven alongside proper croissants and seasonal tarts. The grocery is stocked with produce grown or made on the estate, so you can build a whole weekend of meals from a single visit. We tend to arrive with a rough list and leave with rather more than we planned, which is part of the pleasure of the place. Pick up a hamper of provisions and you will eat well back at the cottage without lifting much of a finger.
The Daylesford Cookery School runs half-day, full-day and private sessions built around the farm's own produce, from bread and pastry to preserving and seasonal cooking. Some experiences include a tour of the farm itself. Classes book up quickly, so if you fancy one it is worth reserving well before your stay rather than hoping for a place on the day.
Daylesford is around 30 minutes from Well Cottage by car, an easy drive through the lanes via Chipping Norton. Saturday mornings bring a crowd, so arriving early or coming on a weekday gives you the place at a more relaxed pace. The farmshop keeps long hours through the week and shorter ones on Sundays, so it is worth checking the current times before you set off, particularly if you are planning to eat. The farm is open year-round, and autumn is especially good when the kitchen garden harvest is at its peak. We usually make a morning of it: park up, do a slow lap of the shop, and settle in for an unhurried lunch before heading back.
The estate rewards a longer visit. We often pair a Daylesford morning with lunch at The Wild Rabbit, the estate's own inn nearby, whose kitchen draws on much of what you will have just seen on the shelves. If you would rather something restorative, the Bamford Wellness Spa is part of the same estate, offering face and body treatments, yoga and a relaxation pool. Combining a morning at the shop with an afternoon at the spa makes for one of the more indulgent days the Cotswolds can offer, and it is all within a few minutes of the cottage. For a quieter caffeine stop, The Straw Kitchen sits close by as well.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.