A Feather Down hideaway is a canvas tent with a wooden floor, a proper bed, a wood burning stove and no electricity, pitched in a field on a farm that is still being worked around you. Thirteen of their UK farms take dogs, and this is all thirteen, from a sheep farm under the North Wessex Downs to an estate outside Jedburgh.
The terms are the same at all thirteen and they are the ones a working farm asks for. Dogs stay on the lead across the site, and there is no enclosed garden, because you are sharing the ground with livestock. Two per hideaway, a fee per dog per stay, and they stay with you rather than being left in the tent. In practice that last part is the appeal: the whole week is spent outdoors together, from lighting the stove in the morning to sitting out until the fire dies, and there is no door to shut them behind while you go off somewhere they are not welcome.
Jump to an area: Bedfordshire · Cornwall · Devon (Butterleigh) · Devon (Kingswear) · Dorset · Gloucestershire · Gwynedd · Hampshire · Norfolk · Scottish Borders · Somerset · Sussex · West Berkshire
New Barn Farm, Bedfordshire
Eight hideaways on a farm at Carlton, north of Bedford, with the fullest menagerie of any site here and food cooked on the farm to go with it. There is woodland to walk inside the boundary, which matters more than usual when the dog is on a lead everywhere: it means the day does not have to start with the car.
It is the least scenic entry in the guide and the most family shaped. The nearest of our walks, Priory Country Park, is nearly seven miles away, so a proper off lead run means getting back in the car, and no dog beach is anywhere near.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Farm animals, woodland, homemade food
- Nearest walk: Priory Country Park, 6.7 miles
- Best for: Families who want the animals to be the holiday
Gwel Teg Farm, Cornwall
Five hideaways on a mixed farm above Looe, looking down over a meadow, with a hot tub available to hire rather than standing at every tent. South east Cornwall is the quieter half of the county, and this sits in the part of it that people drive through on the way to somewhere busier.
The coast is the reason to come and it is not on the doorstep. Polkerris Beach is nearly thirteen miles off and closed to dogs from Easter to the end of September anyway, and the Polperro and Talland Bay circular is six and a half miles away. Budget for driving to the water.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Hot tub to hire, meadow views
- Nearest walk: Polperro and Talland Bay Circular, 6.5 miles
- Best for: A quiet base in the half of Cornwall people overlook
Billingsmoor Farm, Devon
An organic dairy farm at Butterleigh in mid Devon, with hot tubs, woodland inside the boundary and a ten person tent for the kind of trip where two families travel together. Being mid county puts both coasts within about an hour, which is unusual and useful.
Mid Devon is the trade, though, because nothing at all is immediately outside the gate. The Grand Western Canal towpath at Tiverton is the closest of our walks at a shade over three miles, flat and easy and good for a lead walk, and Dawlish Warren is nearly seventeen miles away on the coast.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Hot tubs, woodland, ten person tent
- Nearest walk: Grand Western Canal, Tiverton, 3.6 miles
- Best for: Two families travelling together, with both Devon coasts in range
Fountain Violet Farm, Devon
Six hideaways on a beef farm at Kingswear, high above the mouth of the Dart, with a pizza oven and campfires at the tents. Of all thirteen this is the one closest to open water: Sugary Cove is six tenths of a mile away, across the river at Dartmouth, and the coast path runs along the top.
Close is not the same as easy. Sugary Cove is a small cove reached on foot and getting to it from Kingswear means the ferry, so the short distance on the map is a longer errand in practice. The Sharpham Estate and River Dart walk is six miles inland if you want something you can drive straight to.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Pizza oven, campfires at the tents
- Nearest dog beach: Sugary Cove, 0.6 miles
- Best for: The Dart estuary, the coast path and a fire every evening
East Shilvinghampton Farm, Dorset
Nine hideaways a few miles inland from the Jurassic Coast, with alpacas you can take out for a walk and a sauna pod on site. It is the largest of the thirteen and the one with the most going on without leaving the farm.
Alpacas and a leashed dog do have to share the same ground, however, and that is a real consideration if yours reacts to livestock. Hardy's Monument and the Portesham Downs are a mile and a half up the hill for open chalk downland, and Weymouth Beach is four and a half miles south.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Alpaca walking, sauna pod
- Nearest walk: Hardy's Monument and Portesham Downs, 1.6 miles
- Best for: The Jurassic Coast without paying to sleep on it
Moor Farm, Gloucestershire
Seven hideaways on a working farm outside Gloucester, with a play area, pizza nights and a pool open in season. The Cotswolds start a short drive east and the Severn is closer still, which gives a week here two quite different directions to point at.
A pool on a site where the dog is leashed throughout is a logistics problem as much as a perk, though, and one to weigh if you are one adult with one dog and two children. Frampton Pools nature reserve is the nearest of our walks at just over two miles, flat and quiet.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Play area, seasonal pool, pizza nights
- Nearest walk: Frampton Pools Nature Reserve, 2.2 miles
- Best for: The Severn vale and the Cotswolds from one pitch
Pant y March, Gwynedd
Four hideaways on a hill farm above Llyn Tegid, inside Eryri National Park, with a sauna pod and hot tubs. It is the smallest site in the guide and the most obviously spectacular, and four tents on a Welsh hillside is a very different proposition to nine in a Dorset field.
The lake shore walk is under three miles away and the Llyn Tegid shoreline route is the obvious first morning. Harlech Beach is the nearest sand at twenty miles, which over Welsh mountain roads is a commitment rather than a detour.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Sauna pod, hot tubs
- Nearest walk: Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) Shoreline Walk, 2.7 miles
- Best for: Eryri on a small site with only three other tents
Manor Farm, Hampshire
Seven hideaways inside the South Downs National Park near Alton, each with its own firepit and some with a metal hot tub. Being in a national park rather than near one is the difference here, and it shows in what is walkable.
Selborne Common is two miles away, which is Gilbert White's parish and about as good as southern English beech hanger walking gets. The coast is the compromise: East Head is over twenty three miles south, so this is an inland week.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Firepit at every tent, hot tubs at some
- Nearest walk: Selborne Common, 2.2 miles
- Best for: Walking the South Downs from inside the park
Heydon Grove Farm, Norfolk
Four hideaways on a quiet farm at Heydon, with a playground and firepits and very little else, which is the appeal. Heydon itself is an estate village that has barely changed in a century, and the site is small enough that a week here is genuinely low key.
North Norfolk's coast is the draw, but Weybourne Beach sits nine miles north, which makes it a day out and not an after dinner wander. Closer to hand, Marriott's Way at Reepham lies three miles off along a disused railway, flat and easy on an old dog.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Playground, firepits
- Nearest dog beach: Weybourne Beach, 9.0 miles
- Best for: A deliberately quiet week within reach of the north Norfolk coast
Chesters, Scottish Borders
Four hideaways on an estate near Jedburgh, with a walled garden, a river running through and hot tubs to book. It is the only Scottish site of the thirteen and the furthest north by a long way, which makes it the one worth building a longer trip around rather than a weekend.
Peniel Heugh and the Waterloo Monument sits a little over two miles from the tents, and hands you the whole Tweed valley from the top. There is no dog beach within twenty five miles, and the drive from most of England is the real cost of coming.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Walled garden, river, hot tubs to book
- Nearest walk: Peniel Heugh and the Waterloo Monument, 2.4 miles
- Best for: A long week in the Borders, not a short hop
Warren Farm, Somerset
Five hideaways high on the Mendips above Cheddar Gorge, with a play fort, a communal barn and tractor rides. The altitude is the character of the place: it is open, it is exposed, and the views go a long way in most directions.
Exposed means weather, however, and a canvas tent on top of the Mendips in an October gale is not the holiday in the photographs. Black Down and Beacon Batch is under two miles away and is the highest ground in the Mendips, with Weston-super-Mare twelve miles off for sand.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Play fort, communal barn, tractor rides
- Nearest walk: Black Down and Beacon Batch, 1.7 miles
- Best for: High open Mendip country with Cheddar below
Sunninglye Farm, Sussex
Five hideaways on a wooded farm near Tunbridge Wells, with a pond, ponies and a campfire at every tent. It is the easiest of the thirteen to reach from London, which is either the main attraction or the reason to look elsewhere depending on what you came for.
A pond on a site where dogs are leashed is worth knowing about in advance rather than discovering with a wet spaniel. Bewl Water is four miles away for a long flat reservoir circuit, and the sea is a long way off: Cooden Beach is twenty miles south.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Pond, ponies, campfire at every tent
- Nearest walk: Bewl Water Reservoir, 4.0 miles
- Best for: A first canvas trip without a long drive out of London
Foxglove Farm, West Berkshire
One hideaway on a working sheep farm at Inkpen, with a wood burning stove and no electricity at all. A single tent on a farm means there is nobody else on the site, which is the rarest thing in this guide and the reason to pick it over the other twelve.
A working sheep farm is also the hardest version of the on lead rule, because the livestock are the point rather than a backdrop. The North Wessex Downs begin at the gate and Walbury Hill and Combe Gibbet is a mile away, the highest chalk point in southern England, and a proper walk that starts at the gate.
- Dogs welcome: 2 per hideaway
- Enclosed garden: No, on lead across the whole farm
- On site: Wood burning stove, no electricity, sole occupancy
- Nearest walk: Walbury Hill and Combe Gibbet, 1.1 miles
- Best for: Having the whole farm to yourselves, with downland from the gate
Practical Advice for a Farm Stay with a Dog
The tents are the same everywhere. These are the things that vary, or that catch people out.
- The lead rule is absolute. It applies across the entire farm, not just near the animals, and it is the single biggest difference between this and a cottage with a fenced garden.
- Budget the dog fee. Thirty pounds per dog per stay, two dogs maximum per hideaway.
- They cannot be left alone in the tent. Canvas does not contain a distressed dog, and it does not muffle one either. Plan days you can take them on.
- Pick your nearest walk before you book. Distances here run from one mile to nearly seven, and on a site where nothing is off lead, that first walk is the whole shape of your morning.
- Wood burner, no plug sockets. Bring a way to charge a phone if you need one, and expect to dry a wet dog by the stove rather than with a hairdryer.
- Check the season. Canvas in August and canvas in late October are different holidays, and the exposed sites feel it most.
Map of Dog Friendly Farm Stays in the UK
Thirteen farms, from Kingswear above the Dart to an estate outside Jedburgh. Open the Wildpack Map to see which sit near the coast and which are inland, and what else we have listed around each one.
13 stays on this pageMap these stays, and thousands more
The Wildpack Map plots every dog friendly walk, beach, stay and attraction we have listed across the UK. Open it to see what else is within reach in the UK, filter by what your dog needs, and get directions to the car park.
What's Nearby?
If a farm stay is not quite it, or you want the walking sorted before you book:
- Dog friendly cottages and lodges with hot tubs: The same instinct with an enclosed garden and a front door, for a dog that needs to be let off.
- Dog friendly hot tub cottages near a dog friendly beach: For when the sea matters more than the field.
- Dog friendly walks in Devon: Two of the thirteen are in Devon, and this covers the coast paths and moorland around them.
- Dog friendly beaches in Dorset: The Jurassic Coast below East Shilvinghampton, and which stretches take dogs in summer.
- Dog friendly walks in North Wales: The Eryri walking within reach of Pant y March.
Both Devon farms sit inside our wider Devon stays listings, and Warren Farm inside Somerset, if you want the cottages alongside the canvas.
Final Thoughts
These thirteen suit a particular dog and a particular week. The dog is one that is content on a lead all day and happy to sleep beside a stove at night, and the week is one where you are outside from morning until the fire dies rather than coming and going. For that combination there is very little else like it in the UK at the price.
For any other dog, the honest answer is that the lack of an enclosed garden is not a detail you will stop noticing. A cottage with a fenced patch and a beach down the lane is the better holiday, and there is no shame in booking one. The farms will still be here when the recall is.
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