Projects · Unlocking rural potential

Jersey Farm

A place to get away.
A place to come together.

An old farmyard, reimagined for quiet escapes, shared meals and special family gatherings. The ambition is to give these buildings a lasting future, while supporting the farm and protecting the landscape that makes people want to come here.

Rural diversification · Building conservation · Design and planning · Habitat protection · Phased development

Planning permission secured · Preparing for development

Planning and permissions ↓

Hay bales across the farm’s rolling fields in warm evening light.
A working landscape, with room to slow down and spend time together.

The starting point

Find the future in what is already here

Brick walls, timber gables and the outline of the old yard still held the character of the farm. Poor later additions and years of changing uses had made that character harder to see.

We began by identifying what could be retained, what needed to change and how the buildings could work together again. Removing selected additions allows the older forms to emerge, giving the yard a clearer shape and a useful new purpose.

Sunlight on the brick farm buildings and timber gable, seen from the grass outside the old yard.
The older buildings from outside the yard. This shows one part of the wider development.
Existing brick farm buildings around a worn concrete courtyard, before the proposed conversion.
Inside part of the old yard: the starting point for the restoration and conversion.

The overall idea

One yard, with each building playing its part

The approved scheme brings together one dwelling, four holiday units and an ancillary communal building. Individual places to stay sit within a shared rural setting, with room for people to gather while keeping the working farm alongside.

The design uses the established buildings and hardstanding, with parking, gardens and access considered as one arrangement. Native planting and a protected buffer beside the woodland help separate everyday activity from the habitats around it.

The approved arrangement of the dwelling, four holiday units, communal facilities, parking and woodland buffer around the existing farmyard.
Approved farmyard arrangement. The buildings form a coherent group, with gardens, access and a wildlife buffer planned together. Enlarge the plan →

Developing the design

Let the farm buildings remain recognisable

The proposals retain sound structures, make use of existing openings and work with brick, timber, slate and clay tiles. Removing poor later additions reveals the earlier roof forms and gables.

The drawings show the east elevation before and after the proposed changes, at the same scale. The aim is a comfortable new use with the character of the farmyard still intact.

ExistingExisting east elevation, including later structures that obscure the older farm buildings.
East elevation before conversion. Enlarge →
ProposedProposed east elevation, with later additions removed and the earlier rural building forms retained.
East elevation within the approved scheme. Enlarge →

Planning and practical judgement

Make the case for a lasting rural use

The farm lies within the High Weald National Landscape, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Nearby Ashdown Forest is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation. The setting called for careful consideration of habitats, landscape character and the effects of a new use.

The case brought the buildings, business and environment together. The dwelling forms a smaller part of the wider holiday-business scheme, helping release the value needed to restore the buildings and move the project forward in stages.

Structural assessment, traffic analysis and ecological surveys supported the application. The design limits expansion into the surrounding grassland, while woodland buffers, planting and controls on lighting help protect the qualities that give the place its appeal.

Planning permission was secured in June 2025. Work to address the conditions and prepare for development has continued alongside the design.

Work with the setting

Protect the place people will come to enjoy

Bluebells, ponds, pasture and the changing woodland light are part of the experience we want to share. The intention is a place where you can slow down, hear the birds and let the landscape wash over you.

That opportunity comes with responsibility. Protecting and enhancing habitats is part of the project from the beginning, shaping how the buildings are restored and how the place will be looked after.

Bluebells beneath the woodland canopy in the farm’s wider landscape setting.
The farm’s wider woodland setting: part of its appeal, and part of the responsibility that comes with change.

The next chapters

The first steps towards something lasting

Progress update · October 2026

With planning secured, work to address the conditions is nearing its conclusion, targeted for November 2026. A hibernaculum—a shelter for amphibians—has been built, and careful newt checks have taken place as preparations continue.

These are the first small steps towards bringing the buildings back to life, with the remaining requirements to be resolved before the relevant development work begins.

  1. Begin the new chapterRemove selected later structures and create the dwelling and first holiday unit.
  2. Restore the older groupBring the former calf pens, dairy and cheese room into use as three further holiday units.
  3. Bring people togetherAdapt the communal building for the scheme’s shared social and training uses.

The opportunity is a rare one: to improve a valued group of rural buildings, support the farm and create experiences that people will carry with them.

It takes time, care and determination to make that happen. We are prepared to invest all three.