Award : 4 Star GOLD VisitEngland
The Honeymooners’ Favourite; The Bakery is an extremely cosy and romantic cottage. The Bakery has been given a Gold Award by the Tourist Board for exceptional quality of accommodation and customer service since 2009.
Superfast Broadband is supplied to this cottage
Cottage Walk Through
The Bakery retains many characterful and original features of its past as the Bake House for the old 17th century Grove Farm providing bread and meals for the owner and farm workers.
You will see its ancient ‘Suffolk White’ brick floor, lots of beams and massive built in ‘kettle’ which was State of the Art in 1700 for doing the laundry and making beer. The high vaulted wooden bedroom ceiling, old reclaimed wood floors, lime washed hand plaster walls and cosy antique furniture all combining to provide a relaxed but stylish cosy atmosphere.
There is a pretty Georgian open coal fire built into the ancient baking oven, which you can light and gaze into as you sink into the comfy sofa and enjoy the sunset over the orchard garden.
You enter the main room with its lovely brick floor and large, handmade French windows at the far end leading into the sunny orchard. There is a hand built ash wood kitchen with Belfast sink and gas hob, grill and oven to your right. The cottage has a TV with built in DVD player.
Upstairs there is a large bedroom with a king-sized bed and a wonderful memory foam enhanced mattress. The floor is made of ancient reclaimed wood and the high arched ceiling has all the beams exposed with more wood placed behind the beams giving a very cosy but expansive feel to the room. The end of the room is partially divided off with a heavy brocade wall drape which accentuates the character of the room and provides a cosy armchair reading area beside the far window.
There is an en-suite bathroom with a large shower and antique sink and lovely Kilims and rugs throughout the cottage.
The Bakery is tucked away at the corner of the front orchard garden, giving honeymoon guests an even more private nook to view the world from.
Dog owners please note there is an acre of dog exercise Orchard and meadow at The Bakery along with a pretty Dog washing station for muddy doggies including white fluffy towels ! – plus there are footpaths directly from the cottage into open countryside with a lovely dog friendly pub with its own micro brewery just a 15 minute walk across the fields away. We love having doggies here but obviously not on furniture or left alone in the cottage to fret.
Up to 2 well behaved doggies are Welcome, Charges apply at £20 per dog for up to 7 nights.
The Bakery is a lovely romantic Character Cottages and has a very special atmosphere about it.
The Gardens
You enter the cottage from the second courtyard and there is also an entrance from the front Orchard garden.
Outside the French doors is a special patio which is semi enclosed by hedges and vine covered planters giving you a pretty little private snug to enjoy a glass of wine while you wait for the sun to set, in private.
There is plenty of space in the front garden to laze around under the apple and pear trees and have a BBQ in Summer and you can walk straight out of the garden into the fields where a footpath with take you into the countryside or to the local pub.
We have a large central courtyard where you can unload your car when you arrive, in the courtyard there is a big open sided historic ‘Cart Lodge’ barn were guests can pull out a BBQ or sit in the barn which is lit with fairy lights and candles and watch the night skies.
There is also a barn with bikes for guests to use, a big coal bunker guests to purchase fuel at cost (don’t worry the cottage is warm and cosy with its own central heating alone).
Behind the ‘Cart Lodge’ Barn here is also an acre of Orchard and lawn with a pond at the back of the property where I have established some peaceful private areas with tables and chairs or benches and where I have planted some very rare apple trees. This is an ideal dog exercise area. Next to it is a large off road car park.
You can walk directly from the gardens onto footpaths leading to the Church, Pub or circular countryside walks.
The South Suffolk Cycle route runs past the cottage and I provide bikes for free.
Although this cottage is near London you feel a million miles away, tucked into the countryside.
Outside
The Old Grove Farm, is set in open countryside and made up of brick buildings in a E shape which were a farm workers cottage, winnowing barns, dairy’s and bakeries.
It has a large central courtyard with a long barn creating a double quadrangle, the buildings are now converted into 6 lovely holiday cottages with individual entrances from different areas and surrounded by gardens and Orchards, it is where our business started and where we are based.
While being right in the countryside, we are not cut off from civilisation and a 5 – 10 minute car drive will get you to shops and supermarkets, café’s, swimming pools. Museums, the Quay Theatre and the river Stour.
There are good Pubs are all around us and our local which is ¾ mile walk across the fields from us has its own Macro Brewery and a selection of the best beers and ciders you can come across: The White Horse Edwardstone.
The Bakery is a very special place that is a joy just to be in. Perfect for a couples romantic getaway.
Green Credentials
This building dates back to 1700 and is renovated and repaired with traditional and reclaimed original material’s like the ancient reclaimed wood panelling, doors and beams, lime plaster and paints, original Suffolk White floor bricks, locally sourced timber and locally fired or reclaimed bricks.
We operate our own Clear Water Treatment plant which biologically cleans all our waste water to such a pure degree that it can be discharged back into the environment.
We use many ecover products when possible.
We encourage guests to explore the local area by bicycle or foot.
We offer guests an occasional egg from our own chickens when possible (they are very temperamental), fresh herbs from our herb garden and fruit from our own Apple, Pear, Plum and Quince Trees – some of these tree’s were thought to be extinct but we have them [Emoji Removed]
We sometimes keep Bees and have many flowering plants to encourage bees to our gardens.
We share our grounds with bats, badgers, fox, hare, rabbits, deer and an amazing array of birds – from Buzzards and Owls to blue-tits, goldfinches and woodpeckers: all these animals and more find food here and shelter in our many hedges and various gardens.
Local Area
The tiny Village of Kersey, which is widely regarded as Suffolk’s prettiest Medieval Village, is just a leisurely 10 minute bike ride down the lane from us, and luckily has an excellent Pub right by the ford for thirsty cyclists.
Supermarkets and shops are within a 10 minute drive.
The famous village of Lavenham ‘England’s best preserved Medieval Village’ is just 4 miles away and the area immortalised by England’s renowned Landscape Painter ; John Constable and known as ‘Constable Country’ is right beside us.
There are many great country pubs, some special Gastro pubs like The Crown Inn at Stoke-by-Nayland and some high quality restaurants like The Great House or The Swann in Lavenham.
This area is amazingly rural and untouched by city life, with tiny single track lanes leading nowhere or to a pub, footpaths galore and tiny Medieval Villages where time seems to have stood still.
If you are staying for more than a weekend then a day out at the unspoilt Suffolk Coast is always a lovely trip.
The coast starts just 30 minutes away near Colchester or Ipswich and our favourite beaches and places on the coast are between 50 – 70 minutes away, places like Pin Mill, Nacton, Levington, Orford, Aldeburgh, Dunwich, Southwold and Mersey Island.
The nearby Medieval Villages of Long Melford, famed for its setting for the Lovejoys TV series, Nayland, sitting prettily on the river Stour, Polstead, with its bluebells woods and impressive views over the Box river valley are all close by and there are many more tiny villages with lovely walks and Pubs to explore.
This is an area you can feel a million miles away from City life and really relax and enjoy just being part of.
Standard Inclusive Features
All prices include vat and everything written below.
Kitchen: All cottages are complete little homes and facilities include modern central heating, refrigerator, hobs, oven and / or microwave, toaster, crockery & serving dishes, cutlery, many utensils, fire-extinguisher, lots of pots & pans, glasses & mugs, kettle, coffee maker, teapot, kitchen towels, oven gloves, olive oil, salt & pepper, sugar, herbs, tea, fresh and instant coffee, washing up liquid, cloths, general cleaning materials, etc.
Bathroom: Soap, fluffy cotton towels, bath mats, shaver point, toilet brush, toilet roll.
Bedroom: Cotton bed linen, wardrobe with coat hangers / chest of drawers, iron, ironing board, hairdryer.
Living room: Logs and coal are available at cost – a packet of firelighters will be provided. TV, books, games, magazines, local brochures, OS and other maps, folder with our special ‘What To Do’ insiders-guide to the local area.
Bikes: Please check with the owner that these are available before you arrive to avoid disappointment if they are in for maintenance
Washing: There is a washing machine and dryer in the walk-thru which is for the use of the 6 cottages on the old Grove Farm. There are also deck chairs and carpets for the garden.
Baby: Cot and high chair provided on request (please bring babies bedding).
