Pickwell Manor

About

Pickwell Manor is set in a beautiful countryside location within six acres of garden and grounds. The grounds offer glorious views over the surrounding Devon countryside to the nearby coast, less than half a mile away. The Manor is just five minutes’ drive from the golden sands of Putsborough beach and the village of Georgeham with its quaint pubs, village shop and Post Office. If you prefer to get out into the wild, there is a scenic 20- minute walk down through fields to the beach.

We believe that holidays are a special time and hope that Pickwell Manor will provide the perfect space for you to escape, unwind and recharge. We are big believers in friendship, family, community and hospitality. It is our hope that your stay with us will give you the time and space to celebrate these aspects of life, and that you will feel energised and inspired by this special part of the world.

The apartments:

The property has been thoughtfully divided into eight apartments which retain the building’s historic features at the same time as offering beautiful and well-equipped holiday accommodation. Each apartment is decorated to celebrate the styles of the part of the house in which it is situated. The Affinity apartment boasts huge rooms with a stand alone bath. The more modern Constance apartment has hidden built in bunk beds and a roof top terrace to enjoy the sun, whilst The Chapel apartment is full of romantic character including an outside bath complete with fairy lights!

We provide luxury bedding and towels along with some welcome basics and of course wine and cake to help with the “unpacking”. Some apartments have extra sofa beds and Z-beds/travel cots can also be provided to ensure the apartment works for the guests sleeping needs.

The bathrooms are stocked with British made organic bubble bath and hand soap and bamboo paper wrapped toilet rolls.

Also onsite are our “useful things” cupboards well stocked with baby bath items, board games, puzzles, baking bits, night lights and first aid kits. We also have an honesty shop for extra toilet roll, dishwasher tabs, cloth washing tablets, and coming soon eco travel products.

The facilities:

The facilities onsite include a tennis court, games room, woodland, gardens, croquet lawn, “pirate island”, electric car charging points, laundry room, surf/bike store, den building kits, treasure hunt and plenty of games/books/toys/beach kit to borrow.

Within the grounds we have a woodland trail complete with treasure hunt, camp-building kits, special outdoor ‘spotter’ packs, and pirate-flag making kits all ready for you to hoist up the flagpole on the mini pirate island!

There is also a:

Packed games room

Wendy house 

Tennis court

Basketball hoop

Giant chess set

Croquet

Campfire

BBQ area

Animal area (currently pigs, chickens, rabbits)

Laundry room (2 washers and 1 tumble dryer)

Outside washing lines

Wetsuit rinsing and surf store

Bike store (please bring your own bike locks)

Beach items to borrow such as buckets, spades, wind breaks and beach games.

During the school holidays we run meet the animal sessions, craft activities and during the summer holidays an afternoon cream tea!

Green credentials:

We’re passionate environmentalists at Pickwell, so we made the decision very early on to make sustainability just as important as any other factor in creating the kind of place we wanted to live. Along with running our own charity “The Pickwell Foundation” which supports displaced people and the planet (all our profits are fed into the charity) we currently list the below onsite:

Biomass boiler for all our hot water and heating

Solar array and storage batteries for the majority of our electricity (the rest comes from green sources)

4 electric car charging points (we also have our own electric cars)

Private spring for our water

Private septic tanks for our waste

2 electric bikes for hire by guests

Composting area (plus chickens and pigs to help remove food waste!)

Recycling facilities

FSC wooden furniture

LED light bulbs

Bamboo sustainably sourced toilet rolls

British made soaps, homemade cakes and Devon wine

Green certified cleaning products

History:

Pickwell Manor dates back to the 10th Century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, by which date it had already been in existence for almost a hundred years.

It is steeped in history and legend, from the first Saxon resident Edmar to the Norman Knights (who were not above seizing the odd shipwreck or two in the nearby bay). We also know something about the residents during the reigns of Edward VI and Bloody Mary in the 16th century, and up to the present day.

Legend has it that after the death of Thomas Beckett in 1170, three of the murderers fled to Pickwell. They were captured here and beheaded in front of the house. Whenever there is a full moon on December 29th (the anniversary of Beckett’s death) it’s reputed that the three knights can be seen riding from Pickwell to the beach – without their heads!

The current house was rebuilt in 1906 in a Jacobean style, after a fire destroyed nearly all of the previous building. It is grade II listed to preserve its stunning architectural and historical treasures.