The Stables, relax in 5 star style and comfort with lovely walks all around, Great Maplestead

Essex. Sleeps up to 2

A Rural, Romantic Retreat

This lovely cottage is in a particularly pretty rural setting close to Castle Hedingham, with great walks right from your doorstep via local nearby pubs.


The Experience

The Stables is a 1600s Grade II listed farm building and has been very sympathetically restored with many original features and exposed oak beams, to offer a couple a chance to get away from it all and enjoy beautiful countryside in the comfort and luxury of a beautiful little cottage.

Please note that this cottage cannot accomodate children and accepts only accept one infant that fits into our supplied Travel Cot – please do not book in more infants as we will have to decline the booking – sorry.

We supply a highchair and travel cot but ask you to bring bedding for the cot.

Pets: We can accept up to 2 well behaved doggies in this cottage, the price is £25 pw per dog or £15 for less than a week – this payment can be taken after booking.

The owners in this lovely cottage welcome guests with a generous Breakfast Basket.


Cottage Walk Through

The Cottage has a large gravel courtyard you can park in and a pretty garden to relax in.

You enter this cottage into a bright and airy open plan living area with a high vaulted ceiling, and a large comfy sofa and armchair encircle a cosy wood burning stove.

Up a couple of steps is the split level kitchen and dining area.

The kitchen is very well equipped and laid out. There are views to one of the finest remaining examples of a Grade II listed brick and flint barn in Essex - it's impressive and really quite beautiful.

Along the corridor is the shower room and a charming bedroom with a king size bed, French wardrobe and plenty of storage space.

The lane outside is tiny and very quiet and the property is surrounded by fields and open farmland.

This is a really cosy and comfortable place to relax, unwind and enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside. It's close to some great visitor attractions,  interesting towns and villages and offers a perfect mix of countryside and culture.

Please note that only babies in arms, no children, are accepted in this cottage.

Well behaved doggies are welcome in this cottage.



The Gardens

This self catering cottage has an enclosed garden with fruit trees where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside, there are tables, chairs, and loungers supplied and a BBQ if you are in the mood.


Outside

The Stables is situated near the little village of Great Maplestead in some delightful countryside on the Essex/Suffolk border.
Bikes are provided for you to enjoy exploring the tiny lanes that meander round the countryside and inevitably bring you to a pub. (maps are supplied if you need any extra help with that!).

Step out of the cottage and you are in lovely rolling countryside with miles of footpaths, ancient woodlands and pretty hamlets to explore. 

On your walks through the bluebell woods, you might come across herds of fallow deer and other wildlife and there is even a protected badger set nearby.

Close to Great Maplestead is the famous round Crusader Church. The round design was based on the fourth century rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the roof is pyramidical in shape – very beautiful and unusual.

Castle Hedingham is just a few miles away with its Norman keep, which was built in 1140. It's now a visitor attraction and wedding venue and they have a great programme of events throughout the year, from jousting events to music festivals; from theatre and falconry displays to film screenings and classic car shows.

It’s quite funny to be visiting the ancient village pub at these times and have a lot of serf’s, men-at-arms and knights jostling around you for a pint.

The village itself has some lovely medieval architecture, a tearoom, post office, a couple of good village pubs and a village shop, selling artisan breads and other local produce.

Sudbury, a nearby Market Town, has all the shops you could want including the lovely Gainsborough's House Museum dedicated to Thomas Gainsborough the famous portrait and landscape artist of the 1700s, The Quay Theatre and walks along the old railway line or along the river and the water meadows.

You can walk or cycle to the pleasant village of Castle Hedingham and there is also a farm shop nearby with a tea room and lots of delicious local produce.


Green Credentials

The Coach House was renovated to comply with strong historical restoration building regulations and local and reclaimed materials were used were possible.
The logs for the wood burner come for locally sourced responsibly harvested suppliers.
Al waste water is managed on the property.
We have bicycles available and maps of all the local footpaths in the cottage to encourage guests to explore car free.
We have a badger set at the bottom of our land and the entrances can be seen from the footpath.
There is also a herd of fallow deer that live in the hedgerows around us - we had a baby Muntjac sleeping under the apple tree in the cottage garden last spring.
We have a vast array of birds in the gardens such as pheasants, partridge, moorhens, woodpeckers, and hawks can be seen regularly hovering to catch mice.
We have spotted a large variety of butterflies on our lavender hedges over the last year. 


Local Area

This is particularly beautiful countryside area, very rural with rolling fields dipping down into the nearby river tributaries of The Stour, along which you will find tiny historic villages with names like Foxearth, Cavendish, Clare, the three Belchamps ‘Otten’, ‘St Paul’ and ‘Belchamp Walter’.
Long Melford, which was the most inland Navigable part of the River Stour - made famous by John Constables English Landscape masterpieces, lies just 20 minutes away by car and is a bustle of pubs, restaurants, antique shops and beautiful buildings – it is the longest Medieval High Street in England and one of the famous unspoilt Medieval Villages of Suffolk, like Lavenham, Kersey and Clare.
There are very many wonderful churches to visit like the unique round Crusader church at Maplestead and the majestic Wool Churches that dot the area.
There are wonderful stately homes to visit like, Kentwell Hall with their World famous Tudor re-enactments and Halloween Screamsville events – the impressive Melford Hall with its ornate onion towers. The Italianate Palace of Ickworth, the marvellous Helmingham Hall with it fabulous gardens and many more.
There are very interesting museums like the amazing Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket, the museum is set in 75 acres of Suffolk countryside, with 17 historic buildings and almost 40,000 objects to view.
Moyses Hall, one of the oldest Medieval buildings in Bury St Edmunds, which houses a variety of collections on art, local and social history, the Suffolk Regiment, the Red Barn Murder, crime and punishment, death and witchcraft, and of course medieval life.
West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, which is what it says, plus a museum and restaurant.
Gainsborough House in Sudbury, which explores the life and art of Thomas Gainsborough - one of the greatest artists of his age.
Flatford Mill where John Constable was born and where he painted many of his masterpieces like ‘The Haywain’. There is an interesting exhibition to his work there, and you can stand by marker posts where he stood to paint his masterpieces. There are also lovely riverside walks from here and you can hire rowing boats in Summer to take a picnic on the shores of the Stour.

The area has much to offer with its rural charm and unspoilt villages and just pottering around by bike or car to discover another little gem or pub is just a delight.
Further afield you will find castles and the best of the unspoilt Suffolk Coast – about 70 minutes by car.


Standard Inclusive Features

The cottage is a complete little home and facilities include modern central heating, refrigerator, hobs, oven and microwave, toaster, crockery and serving dishes, cutlery, many utensils, fire-extinguisher, lots of pots and pans, glasses and mugs, kettle, coffee maker, teapot, kitchen towels, oven gloves, olive oil and vinegar, salt and 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.
The Stables has a cosy woodburning stove and a basket with firewood and a bucket with coal will be provided free and more will be available at cost and there will be firelighters provided, TV, please note there is no DVD player in this cottage, 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 that these are available before you arrive to avoid disappointment if they are in for maintenance.  

Baby: A Cot and high chair are available (please bring baby's bedding).

Late departures: We may be able to arrange a late departure on a Sunday up until 5pm, if the cottage is available or blocked by the owners that day – if you want a late departure please talk to us about it and we will see if it is available, there will be a charge which is approximately 60% of the difference between a 2 and 3 night booking.
Pets - allowed

Located in Halstead, this cottage is in a rural area. Gainsborough's House and Long Melford Heritage Centre are cultural highlights, and some of the area's landmarks include Hedingham Castle and Melford Hall. Looking to enjoy an event or a game while in town? See what's happening at Milbank Stadium or Chelmsford City Racecourse.

More details, photos & booking info