Your hosts at Hartland Holiday Barns

Your hosts at the barns are Nigel, Toni, Nutty our friendly watchdog, and two farm cats – mousers that we adopted as feral kittens. Between us we aim to make your stay enjoyable, relaxing, rewarding and entertaining. We welcome and accommodate dogs in our Shippen barn, but we’re also house proud and keep all the barns in tip-top condition. Come and meet us!

Nigel and Toni

Heating, hot water and lighting

Overall, around three-quarters of our heat energy requirements are supplied through renewable energy.

The barns have thermostatically controlled underfloor heating supplied by air-source heat pumps. In the farmhouse, heating is supplied by ground-source heat pumps. The ground remains at a constant temperature all year round – at around 50ºF – and the heat pumps pick up and compress that heat, amplifying it and piping it into the accommodation. In a similar way, our air-source heat pumps are able to extract heat from the air – even at times of very low temperature – and this is used to provide heating and hot water. The advantage of heat pumps is the availability of a constantly renewing energy source without recourse to conventional fuels.

We also use high efficiency LED lighting which yields much more light, and of a more natural hue, for a given unit of electricity than conventional or mercury bulbs.

Solar panels
Another eco-friendly renewable energy addition –  the installation of Solar PV array Panels.

Barn conversion
Wherever possible we have used natural materials in our house renovation and barn conversion: oak and slate for the flooring; sustainably sourced Idigbo wood for structural timbers; and local stone has been used for repair and alterations to the barns.

Rainwater harvest system
Rainwater is harvested, filtered and stored in an underground tank, then re-cycled for external watering and cleaning.

Ground-source heated greenhouse
We have constructed a subterranean heating and cooling system, enabling us to sow and plant all year round.

The smallholding
Our smallholding is a work in progress; we are establishing a wild grass and flower meadow, and instituting the rolling management of our hedges to encourage all kinds of wildlife. We have positioned owl, bat, bird and nature boxes, and created covered shelters and small ponds for amphibians.