Upper Barn Cottage

Upper Barn Cottage is a detached 17th-century barn at Middle Burrow, near the village of Wootton Courtenay inside Exmoor National Park. It was a threshing barn first and was converted in the seventies and again in 2018. Wheddon Cross is 3.6 miles away, and a footpath leads from the cottage straight up to the moors.

The layout is reversed. The kitchen/diner and a sitting room with a woodburning stove are on the first floor, and the sitting room looks over the garden, the pond and Grabbist Hill. Both bedrooms are downstairs but at opposite ends of the building, reached by two separate staircases. One has a king-size double, the other a twin. A door from one bedroom also crosses a courtyard to the other, which may not suit toddlers. The ground-floor bathroom has a bath with a shower over, with 3 steps up into it, and there is a separate shower room.

The kitchen has an electric oven and hob, a microwave, a dishwasher and a fridge and freezer, and the utility room holds a washing machine and a tumble dryer. There is a TV, a DVD player and WiFi, with oil central heating. Fuel, power, a starter pack, bed linen and towels are included. A travel cot and a highchair are available on request.

The enclosed garden area has seating, and there is off-road parking for 2 cars. Two well-behaved dogs are welcome; smoking is not allowed. From May to the end of September only 7-day bookings are accepted, and other arrival days need a call to the reservations team. The shop is 0.9 miles away and the pub 1.6 miles.

It suits two couples or a family who are fine with stairs between the bedrooms and are bringing their dogs.