From Stables to Stay
The Farm at Avebury sits on land the Hues family has worked since 1922. Rob Hues and his wife Alice represent the fourth generation to grow crops and raise livestock on Galtee More, as locals have known the property since the 1890s. Facing the pressures common to small family farms, the couple chose diversification. Six unused stables became holiday lodgings in 2021, arranged in two red-brick buildings around a courtyard planted with verbena and strung with lights.
The six units, named after nearby landmarks like Silbury Hill and Long Barrow, range from one to three bedrooms. Each interior follows its own design thread rather than a uniform aesthetic. One features a plaster-pink bathroom; another includes a climbing wall leading to a mezzanine bunk. The 1737 farmhouse anchors the property, while Aberdeen Angus, Highland cattle, goats, and pigs occupy the surrounding fields and woods.
Built Around What Kids Actually Want
Alice, mother to three daughters, has stocked the property with diversions that align with farm rhythms rather than manufactured entertainment. A play barn holds ride-on diggers, bikes in multiple sizes, a bouncy castle, table football, and ping pong. Craft supplies come from the Wiltshire Scrap Store, a reuse initiative that redirects offcuts and surplus materials from landfill. A wooden playground sits in the orchard, often guarded by Samuel, a sheep guests are instructed to simply nudge aside.
The Granary serves as an on-site cinema room filled with beanbags. During school holidays, Alice and Rob's children frequently join visiting families there. Beyond fixed amenities, Alice tailors activities to the farm calendar. A lamb living temporarily in the farmhouse kitchen during one visit was available for bottle-feeding. Piglets in the barn required morning attention from small volunteers. On a Saturday afternoon, Alice arrived in the courtyard with ponies for grooming.
She also arranges tractor rides to West Kennet Long Barrow, a chambered tomb built 5,000 years ago that visitors can enter. The same tractor ferries families to a nearby pumpkin farm for picking. For groups seeking structured outdoor time, Mud and Guts, a local provider, runs den-building sessions at the farm starting at £25 per person with a six-person minimum.
Avebury Without the Rope Line
The farm's website offers downloadable walking maps calibrated for both stamina levels and toddler legs. Avebury henge, the stone circle a short distance away, draws fewer crowds than Stonehenge but holds similar age and scale. Crucially, no barriers separate visitors from the stones, allowing direct contact. The site also attracts people in wizard robes, adding an unpredictable human element to the prehistoric setting.
Two pubs serve the area: The Waggon & Horses at the end of the farm drive and Red Lion inside the stone circle itself. For families with early bedtimes to navigate, self-catering proves simpler. The farm sells its own beef, lamb, pork, and rapeseed oil, with options to pre-order items like prepared lasagnes and sausages that wait in the fridge upon arrival. Staples including bread, milk, coffee, and tea are available on-site.
When Roaming Free Becomes Possible Again
Groups can book the entire property for events. The Granary seats ten; The Barn accommodates 42. Private caterers can be arranged. The layout suits multiple families traveling together, each with separate sleeping quarters but shared outdoor space for meals and conversation.
The setup alleviates the constant mental work of sequencing the next activity to keep children occupied. Kids run between lodgings and the play barn within earshot while adults remain seated. That shift, small on paper, recalibrates a family trip. Parents get hours of uninterrupted conversation. Children experience the less common freedom of moving through space without adult choreography, within the boundaries of a working farm that continues its daily operations around them.
Alice has simply made visible what a farm already contains: animals that need feeding, fields that reward exploration, and the satisfaction children find in tasks adults consider chores. The commercial layer sits lightly. This remains a family operation where diversification means opening the gate rather than changing what happens behind it.
