Cotswolds Manor House

Help to maintain a beautiful, historic manor house in the Cotswolds

Key info:

• 3-4hrs per day, 2 days off per week
• Self catering
• Historic restoration, DIY and gardening
• Cotswolds, UK

Accomodation:

Our 16th-century manor house with a large garden almost borders the Cotswolds and is just 10 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Country walks, nearby historic houses and villages of outstanding beauty abound and there is a particularly strong sense of history with the site of the Battle of Edgehill just a couple or so miles away and being in the heart of Shakespeare's county of Warwickshire.

Volunteer accommodation: Private double bedroom and private bathroom.

What we need help with:

We are looking for renovation help with repairing some dry stone walls and garden assistance year-round. Also helping our elderly, but still active and independent, mother with odd jobs/maintenance and especially during the winter months such as fetching wood from the wood shed and making up fires. Any conversational companionship for her too would be most welcome.

Help with maintaining the garden and odd jobs - e.g a bit of touching up painting - that need doing around the house. Having some experience in building and who could turn their hand to repairing a few small sections of dry stone walls that have collapsed would be a real benefit!

Otherwise just being around and by being so providing some companionship to our elderly but independently minded mother who lives in the house year round and is on her own other than when family members quite frequently come to stay.

Who we're looking for:

Ideally, we are looking for a couple, or pair of friends, who are experienced outdoors people / gardeners who can, for example, use a chainsaw or strimmer, to stay for a week or more.

Ideal skills/experience:

Property and maintenance, Garden and outdoors, firewood collecting/ chopping

Your schedule:

Flexible hours, around 3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week Free time to explore the local area

Extra perks

Board games and books and possible use of a car, subject to satisfactory driving record.

This stay would suit someone looking for a longer-term base in a beautiful old manor house; a calm, characterful place from which to explore the surrounding area or settle into remote work, study, reading, or even quiet writing. In return, the arrangement involves light gardening and basic maintenance (excluding specialist stone wall repairs), alongside offering occasional, and by no means constant, companionship to the elderly resident.

Pets

Dogs and horses are onsite here. And plenty of wildlife!

Local area

We are very close to Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Shipston and the Cotswolds, as well as to Banbury, which is the closest railway station other than Stratford's. Oxford, Coventry and Birmingham are also within less than an hour's driving distance. There are numerous National Trust, Historic England and privately owned but open to the public stately homes, castles, museums, centres and place of interest and of outstanding beauty nearby. There are also local arts and crafts and the village the Manor house is in has a vibrant music society which regularly puts on outstanding concerts in the church with acclaimed national and international professional musicians, one of whom lives in the village. There are monthly village "meet-ups"/pop-up pub in the church and also talks. There are a number of great and scenic pubs nearby, the Castle on Edgehill being a good example, which has a view that has to be one of the most striking of any pub's in the country, and exceptional beer from the nearby Hook Norton Brewery, one of the few remaining independent breweries in England.

Interested?

Send us a message and tell us:

• A little about yourself
• Why you'd love to join us and help us out with our various projects
• Any experience you have with gardening or DIY projects