Shepherd's Huts

B & B in an original Dorset Shepherd’s Hut.

WELCOME

Nestled in the heart of Herefordshire at the foothills of Hergest Ridge you will find 'The Radnor' and 'The Ryeland', original Dorest Shepherd's Huts which have been lovingly restored. Your stay will be truly relaxing and will take you back in time.

For more information about each Hut please click on the images below:

Rescuing the Past

The Shepherd's Hut

The above are fully equipped original huts as used by the shepherds during the lambing season. The huts would have been towed onto the Downs for the shepherds to live in, surrounded by all the tools and equipment they required.

Huts such as there, were lived in by the shepherds during the lambing season, when they had to keep a constant watch on the ewes and could not go home each night. The huts might have been towed several miles from the farm to the sheep.

Though the huts looked spartan, it must have been welcoming after long cold nights and Spring weather.

In a copy of the 1894 Country Gentleman's Catalogue, there is an advertisement for similar huts costing £3.10.

Incidentally, a shepherd's wages in the 1890's were 35 shillings a week, and £1 at Michaelmas. He would also receive a cottage and a garden, rent free, hay, a ton of coal, 50 bauins (which are bundles of fire wood) £1 a year for the keep of a dog and six pence for every lamb raised. Shepherds were highly valued men.