The Old Cellar forms part of the Mathayes Estate - a beautiful 20 acre site set high up in the Blackdown Hills at the head of the River Otter.

WELCOME TO BEAUTIFUL EAST DEVON

Your well-equipped cottage is nestled high up in the beautiful Blackdown Hills – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The view out is of a wonderful bird filled garden with wildlife ponds and meadows as the unspoilt Luppitt valley stretches out below. Enjoy complimentary beer fresh from the on-site brewery and on summer evenings eat outside in the garden - the mallards may still be quacking on the pond. You can also drive the 15 minutes to Honiton where our sons Joe and Gus will look after you in their award winning pub - The Holt. Old Cellar guests receive a voucher towards a 3 course meal and there’s the entire Otter line up on the bar to enjoy! With a little planning you can also enrol on one of their bread-making courses too.

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Stay

Perfectly appointed and tremendously cosy with all the feeling of an old cottage, plus a number of hidden comforts like underfloor heating. Those views - the buzzards love it here too!

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Eat

Life here in the West Country is full of surprises; real characters with real stories to tell. Food and drink producers, chefs, farmers, butchers, growers, artisans…. the list goes on.

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Explore

You’re in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty so do explore! Taunton and Honiton are both nearby as is Dorset, the Jurassic Coast and the cathedral city of Exeter - Devon’s capital.

“Walk straight from the door onto the Blackdown Hills which is an AONB; paint, write, work if you must - there’s a little summer house at the top of the garden with gorgeous views and plenty of quiet.”
— Sawday's Recommended Places to Stay
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Autumn 2023

I thought now is the time for an update on our first year, and what a cracker it’s been! So many lovely people and dogs have been here, and bookings starting to roll in for next year.

The garden has been perfect and really enjoyed by many, as have the chickens and their eggs! The wild ducks have multiplied, perhaps pinching the chicken grain, as have the moorhens.

Our tree planting has done really well in its first year, with all the dry weather I was worried, but a very large number have survived - we put in 500 this year, and along with the brewery and our landlords purchases, we shall be planting a lot more trees this autumn and spring. Many of our customers want trees to plant, and if we can all get together and enjoy growing green, that can’t be bad!

Our latest bit of fun this summer has been a trial run for me, with great success! We have a lovely shed, which increases the capacity of the Old Cellar to six. Set up on a bank above a slightly formal planted area, it has electricity and is well insulated, faces the sunset so mornings are not blinded by sun, and has twin beds, tea and biscuits tray, outside chairs and a table and works very well with the Old Cellar. We’ve had two families this summer and grandparents have loved the peace and space of private time just a short distance from the grandchildren! There has also been two uni students who wanted to be away from parents and chose to go up to the shed. The general feeling is that it should be called the Lookout, but that will be up to folk staying in it next year.

The trips around the brewery are very popular, and our son, who has a holiday let, also uses that facility, so David is kept busy now with his trips!

It would be lovely to see some of our friends return this year, and it’s always nice to meet new ones as well so let’s hope the weather is as good as last year.

Mary Ann