The house rule
Hannah & Tom Ashdown · Hollow Oak Farm
A threshing barn from 1790, its oak frame intact. 140 seated for dinner, 200 for the evening.
A walled lawn, an oak arch for ceremonies outside and the long view west for the last hour of light.
Forty old apple trees, a mown path for the photographs and lawn games under the branches.
Two bedrooms, a deep bath and breakfast in the larder. Yours for the morning and the night.
Thirteen hours, and the place is yours for every one of them. This is how most of our days run.
11:00
Getting ready in the cottage while the barn is dressed. Priya meets every supplier at the gate.
15:00
Under the oak arch in the garden, or in the barn if the sky says otherwise — decided together at ten that morning.
18:00
Long oak tables for 140, sixty hurricane lanterns and the doors left open to the garden.
21:00
Festoon lights through the beams, the floor cleared, two hundred for the evening.
21:40
At midsummer the sun goes down behind the oaks after half past nine. The floor empties onto the lawn to watch.
00:00
Across the orchard by lantern light, to a quiet bed in the cottage.
Food from one of our four caterers, drinks from our own bar — both on top.
A quarter of the day's price holds the date; the rest is due twelve weeks before.
Birthdays & anniversaries
Dinner for up to 140, the dance floor afterwards and the fire pits lit in the orchard.
From £3,200, an evening, Sunday to Thursday
Company days
Meetings in the barn, lunch on the lawn, rounders in the meadow. Screen, speakers and fast wifi provided.
From £2,400, a day, Monday to Thursday
Family gatherings
Reunions, christenings and naming days, with room for children to run.
From £1,800, an afternoon
The barn at nine o'clock, every light on and the doors open to the orchard — that's the photograph on our wall.
We came for a viewing in February with mud on our boots and booked before we reached the car.
It rained until two. Priya had the chairs back on the lawn in twenty minutes.
Fri, 12 Mar 202719:00
The Barn HallFree
Six wines from small vineyards, poured and explained by the people who made them.
Sun, 21 Mar 202710:30
Orchard gateFree2 dates
A slow hour through the orchard and the kitchen garden, with tea at the end.
Sat, 17 Apr 202719:30
The Barn HallFree
One table, forty guests and a four-course menu from the season's harvest.
Thu, 6 May 202718:00
OnlineFree
Questions answered live — timings, suppliers and what to book first.
Sat, 22 May 202720:00
Sat, 12 Jun 202711:00
Visitor laneFree
Walk the grounds, meet the team and see the barn set for a celebration.
Follow the signs for Hollow Oak Farm from the village green; the barn is at the end of the lane, past the paddock.
