Staying In A Shepherd’s Hut In Devon, Near Totnes

*We were gifted this experience for the purpose of this review. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

We love visiting new places when it comes to family breaks in the UK. There are so many beautiful places to explore in our country with Devon certainly being one of them.
We’ve been to East Devon before where we stayed in a stunning self-catering cottage. This time we looked into glamping holidays and booked a Sheperd’s hut near Totnes to celebrate Craigs birthday. What a brilliant time we all had!

How Do You Book The Shepherd’s Hut?

Booking our stay could not have been easier. We chose our break via Buyagift which was part of Craig’s recent birthday gifting.
Buyagift has a huge selection of the most amazing gifts and experiences for the whole family.

• Driving experiences
• Flying experiences
• Dining
• Days out
• Shorts breaks
• Spa & beauty
• Online experiences
• And many more fab gift ideas!

You have most probably used them yourself at one point if you are in the UK.

We headed to the Buyagift website to redeem our code. The process is super-easy. There is a button that prompts you to redeem a voucher. Here you will fill in your voucher code, pin and address. If it’s a break away that you have chosen, you will be provided with a contact after you have filled in the relevant details, so that you can arrange the next best available slot.

Liz was our first port of call. She along with her husband Jeff are the lovely owners of Hemsford Yurts. She got us booked in straight away and then all we had left to do was pack!

Is Hemsford Yurt Camp Easy To Find?

Devon is easy to get to from most of the country using the M5 motorway. There are many express routes that run from the motorway to most of the tourist destinations. We were sent a link to the welcome guide a couple of days before our booking. On this guide was a geo-pin that you could export to google maps. The coordinates of the pin took us directly to the entrance of the camp. The rural lanes in Devon can be quite narrow in places so be prepared to reverse when you meet another car!

Checking In To Hemsford Yurt Camp

On arrival, we were met with a very warm welcome from Liz. We were shown to the car parking area and with two very excited kids, we set off to explore our new home for the rest of our stay. Although we were staying in the Shepherd’s Hut, there are also 4 yurts on the field to the side. These are very popular and snapped up quite quickly throughout the year.
Back to our host, I can’t praise Liz enough for her kind hospitality. She showed us around, explained everything that we needed to know in terms of facilities, nearby shops, pubs and activities. We were even gifted a lovely breakfast bundle of bread, bacon, butter, milk and fresh eggs from Liz’s very own chickens!

As most of my readers already know, my youngest boy is autistic, so preparing to go away for us is done with military precision. Liz totally got us as soon as we arrived and was absolutely brilliant with Joben. I just thought this was worth an extra special mention, as other autistic families will know the challenges you have to face when on holiday, and having someone that totally understands makes such a difference.

What Facilities Are There?

You are pretty much off-grid at Hemsford Yurt Camp, it is in the middle of the beautiful countryside. With that in mind, there is no power supply to the site.
The glamping site has all of the basic amenities that you will need whilst there. There are two well-kept showers and toilets, a large kitchen area with washing facilities for your cooking utensils and a further field kitchen. Both kitchens have a number of gas-powered camping stoves and there are more than enough pots and cutlery to cook a basic meal. There is even a traditional wood-fired pizza oven for the guests to use if they would like. The site has lots of solar lighting on the main walkways, in the toilets and in the kitchen areas so it is easy to navigate even after dark.

What Do I Need To Take?

Aside from the regular items that we all take on holiday, clothes and toiletries and the kitchen sink if you’re like me. It is advisable to take a torch, walking boots or wellies, tea towels and board games. You could also take power banks to charge phones, however, there is a landline phone on-site that you can call local numbers for free, including Liz should you need her for anything.

Looking for more places in Devon? Why not check out our day at The Donkey Sanctuary or our visit to Seaton Hole Beach.

The Shepherd’s Hut

As soon as we opened the door we were wowed! It has to be one of the most cosy little spaces I have ever seen. Liz has done a fantastic job of kitting out the interior. With super-soft sheep patterned fleeces, comfy beds and beautiful vintage chairs, it’s just amazing.

Inside there is also a log burner, but it wasn’t needed on our stay as it was so warm. I can imagine come winter it would be absolutely wonderful to stay over.
It is so nice to sit back, have a drink and enjoy the view that surrounds the camp. We went off to explore the area multiple times but we always enjoyed coming back to the camp and getting all cosy in the Shepherd’s hut.

We had a lovely time at Hemsford Yurt Camp and would definitely do it all over again!

Have you stayed in a Shepherd’s hut or yurt before?

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