Meet your hosts
Swallowtail Hill Farm is sandwiched between the medieval market town of Tenterden in Kent and the ancient fortified hill-top seaport of Rye in this picturesque corner of East Sussex.
It is the feeling of being far removed from city life that brought the owners, Christopher and Sarah, here in the first place. Their search for a rural lifestyle coupled with a passion for nature and all things sustainable found them here at Swallowtail Hill’s 40 acres of land. Their land is actively managed for biodiversity and has qualified for the Higher Level Environmental Stewardship Scheme. It is now a patchwork of flower meadows, traditionally managed woodland, ponds and reedbeds, and hedge-lined green lanes to stroll along. This wildlife haven is a carbon neutral operation and Christopher and Sarah are constantly on the lookout for new ideas to reduce their carbon footprint even further.
An important part of the conservation work done on the farm is its education programme. Schools and special interest groups regularly visit to discover how a landscape managed in this way encourages flora and fauna. Swallowtail Hill is a Forest School site and is part of the Countryside and Education Visits Accreditation Scheme.
East Sussex is a much visited but surprisingly uncrowded tourist destination and there is tons of stuff to do in the surrounding area if chilling out in farmland heaven is not quite enough for you. To keep the family entertained there is a steam railway ride, horse riding, great country pub lunches and strolls around the old town of ‘Foyle’s war’- Hastings or medieval Rye.
Guests can choose to stay in one of two cabins, Wood or Penfold, the Meadowkeeper's Cottage or the Woodcutter's Cottage. Comfortable double beds mean that you can have a relaxed lie-in whilst listening to the birds singing in the surrounding fields.