🌳 Forest Lodge🌲 Family Friendly Woodland Cottage 🐔

The Old Game Keepers cottages at Forest Lodge is a hidden gem in beautiful rural woodland near Glastonbury. With amazing wildlife, fabulous countryside walks and views from the doorstep, it’s truly a special place to relax and unwind around nature. There’s plenty to keep everyone entertained with private woods, zip wire, trampoline, play house, football net and Wii. Everything you would need is provided along with delicious fresh eggs from our hens, coffee pods and wood for the wood burner. The cottage was built in 1882 from Blue Lias stone and adjoins our family home. It has been recently refurbished throughout and is fully furnished and styled to feel like a real home away from home. The private entrance leads into a large open plan lounge with dining area. Central to the room is a fireplace with wood burner making it really cosy on those chilly nights. Wood is provided free of charge. The separate fitted kitchen with connecting French doors has a small table and chairs and is fully equipped with all the kitchenware you might need including a selection of children’s tableware. There's a Nespresso capsule coffee maker with complimentary coffee pods. Tea, milk and other condiments are provided as well as fresh eggs from our hens. Guests are welcome to collect eggs each morning from the chicken coop in front of the cottage. Upstairs is a double bedroom and the other has 2 single beds; one being a trundle bed which slides out from under the other with comfortable mattress and mattress topper suitable for both adults and children. The bathroom has an over bath shower. For entertainment there is WIFI, a large TV (freeview) with Netflix, DVD player, Wii games console and a Bluetooth speaker. In the bookcase there are numerous books, a large collection of current DVDs, Wii and board games. There's also a huge chest full of toys and books in the landing upstairs to keep the little ones busy. We provide various childcare items – upstairs stairgate, fire guard, baby bath, large travel cot (bedding not provided) high chairs and a bumbo. Guests are encouraged to explore and use all outside areas of which there is 14 acres in total! A huge fenced in shared garden is to the rear with a bench table and sun parasol solely for your use as well as a bbq. The trampoline, swing, and playhouse can also be found here. There’s a large zip wire (for children only) and a football net located in the open field area to the left of the driveway. Exploring further in the woodland there’s various ponds (only full in winter to spring), dens, rope swings and a vast amount of wildlife. If you are lucky you may even see some deer. The cottage is accessed via a long driveway off the main ridge road and has parking for several cars in the driveway outside. The woodland leads directly onto both Great Breach Wood and CombeHill Wood which is included as part of the Polden Way and the Mendip Ring. The woods themselves combine to include over 200 acres of diverse woodland and include extensive signposted family and nature trails, beautiful walks and some breath taking views. Since COVID-19 the key is now left in the lockbox for self check in. We are a very welcoming family and will usually be around during your stay next door to help with any needs you may have, whilst also respecting your privacy. The cottage is located in a wooded ridge just outside the pretty village of Butleigh near Glastonbury, with its quirky shops and iconic Tor with amazing views. Street is also a few minutes away where Millfield school is. Butleigh village has a shop with post office, a church, a primary school, a Tea Room serving delicious cake and sandwiches and a village pub - The Rose and Portcullis which serves traditional ales and ciders and great food. The pub is a wonderful 20 minute walk away with far stretching views of the countryside down the lane or a 2 minute drive. The woodland leads directly onto both Great Breach Wood and Combe Hill Wood which is included as part of the Polden Way and the Mendip Ring. The woods themselves combine to include over 200 acres of diverse woodland and include extensive signposted family and nature trails, beautiful walks and some breath taking views. It is also possible to walk to a pub (30 mins) in the neighbouring village of Compton Dundon (The Castlebrook Inn), down a hilly bridle path through the woods at the rear of the property, although very muddy in wet weather, so bring your wellies! Through November to February the famous Somerset Starling Murmerations can be seen over the nearby levels and moors around Avalon Marshes. Wells the smallest city in England where Hot Fuzz was filmed is only 20 minutes away and is definitley worth a visit. For shopping there’s Clarks Village outlet in Street, offering a wealth of discounted retail shopping as well as high street shops restaurants and a retail park with large supermarkets. There’s also Kilver Court Designer Village in nearby Shepton Mallet which houses many designer brands including the Mulberry factory outlet store. We are a great location for a stopover if heading to Devon or Cornwall but are also ideally placed to access the many excursions and attractions on offer within easy reach to entertain the kids. Many families stay with us when visiting Longleat Safari Park and attractions in nearby Wiltshire. . A car is pretty much essential for exploring the area. Castle Cary train station is a 20 minute drive away with a direct line to London Paddington taking around 1 hour and 45 minutes. It’s a 10 minute drive from the A303 at Podimore roundabout with links to London and the South West. From the M5 it's around 20 minutes. Bath, Bristol, Taunton and Exeter are all within an hours drive. We are adhering to strict cleaning protocols for COVID 19 and where possible are also trying to leave a period of at least 2 days between guests. Our chickens are currently located indoors in a garage due to national DEFRA guidelines regarding Bird Flu. Although the house is not as isolated as some, it seems that its location on a wooded ridge has meant it has escaped being connected to any mains electric services and is completely “off grid". We are quite proud of our self-sufficiency and produce all our own electricity using solar panels and store this energy in batteries. We also have a generator to help in the winter months which is located away from the house. Water is provided via rainwater harvesting and topped up with a borehole and thoroughly filtered and cleaned. At present we do not allow dogs - sorry!