We moved to North Norfolk from London in 2009, taking on a sizeable redundant farm barn conversion project, consisting of a pile of forgotten barns, out-buildings and a shabby farmhouse.
We continued to work in design businesses in London as the project took shape and whilst our daughter was small. Alongside the conversion of the Victorian red brick barns have also re-shaped the landscape around us. Once an open prairie we have planted over 6,000 trees and hedges – this was to be the start of our eco journey.
Over the years we have developed friendships with some of our regular guests who are keen to know what is next on the agenda for Cranmer Country Cottages. We never seek to impose ourselves on our visitors but we are available to offer first-hand experience of discovering the best places to visit and experience. We are hands-on and are supported by a great local team of employees contractors and craftsmen, some of whom have been working for us for over 20 years and really know how to pull out the stops in an emergency. We aim to deliver discreet and friendly service and someone is usually on hand or at the end of the phone to deal with life’s little emergencies.
We are a business that never stands still. We focus on high quality with a strong green ethos as part of our sustainable lifestyle strategy. We aim to deliver a memorable Norfolk holiday experience for all who visit and offer somewhere great to stay.
Cranmer Country Cottages
Our luxury Norfolk holiday barns and cottages are situated in the grounds of our home at Home Farm. The holiday barns and cottages are located in beautiful countryside close to the North Norfolk coast just a few miles away from Holkham, Wells-next-the Sea, Burnham Market and Brancaster.
The former dairy-barns have been sensitively restored to provide spacious single story holiday barns with a luxury indoor heated pool in the original magnificent threshing barn, and a guest laundry in the former bull barn.
Our 5-star luxury holiday barns were designed by a young local architect and added to the original holiday cottage cluster in 2019.
Eco Holiday Barns
Our luxury Norfolk holiday barns have great eco- credentials and are largely powered by sustainable energy sources earth wind & sun. The bright interiors offer spacious open plan living with a private walled terrace leading to gardens for alfresco dining. The eco-barns can be booked together to sleep up to 15 for corporate groups or family get-togethers.
What We Love About Norfolk….
We have a passion for boating, so Norfolk really comes alive for us from April once the sailing season begins. Wild-swimming through the creeks with the tide is great for the soul and sense of wellbeing. We also love to explore the wide-open sandy beaches, tidal creeks and sultry marshland walks in the winter months. We were not birdwatchers before we settled here but with all of our hedgerow and tree planting, we are continuing to notice a myriad of new visitors to the fields and gardens.
Other favourites include the wonderful autumnal tree walks around Blickling Hall and Sheringham Park. A picnic on Holkham beach is pretty hard to beat but the excitement of horse racing at Fakenham has also provided a number of memorable days out with friends. Pensthorpe Natural Park and Sculthorpe Moor are also great favourites I could go on and on, best to come and see for yourself by staying with us in our luxury Norfolk holiday barns and cottages.
Located in rural Farmland in working countryside
At home Farm Cranmer we offer the opportunity for a luxury farm stay in an unspoilt tranquil rural location close to North Norfolk’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Our well appointed self-catering farm holiday accommodation at Cranmer Country Cottages offers spacious interiors for parents to unwind and outdoor space for children to explore. Nature can be observed from the doorstep and Home Farm is within close proximity to some outstanding UK bird sanctuaries, internationally important nature reserves and National Trust sites. We hope to inspire the bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts of tomorrow through our links with our local community Hawk and Owl Trust reserve at Sculthorpe and information that we provide to all of our visitors. We live in an area abundant with regional produce, scattered with small food producers and near by fishing harbours. We supply hampers of produce from farm to fork supplied to us directly from our local Walsingham Farms shop and home cooked meals from a fab local caterer. Through our active sustainable business ethos we aim to encourage our visitors to learn about responsible living, experience the UK countryside and discover the provenance of the food we eat as part of an authentic countryside holiday experience.
Our green tourism status means that we make the effort to respect our location. We are doing our bit to preserve our planet, its natural resources and protect the natural environment. We contribute responsibly to the local economy by ensuring that we have something to offer our guests year round. The benefit for our visitors is that we offer a UK holiday with a real sense of local distinctiveness and culture delivered with enthusiasm by the people who live here year round and really care. For further information see our links page
Home Farm
Home Farm Cranmer was originally a dairy farm. Built in 1852 the Victorian buildings were designed as a model farm during Norfolk’s high farming period. We purchased the decaying outbuildings in 1998 with 7 acres of the original farmland. Today we are custodians of a further 168 acres of the arable farmland. We are keen to work alongside nature in preserving our rural landscape and are passionate about safeguarding the countryside for the benefit of future generations.
Natural England Higher Level Stewardship Scheme
As part of our green commitment and dedication to ongoing conservation work at Home Farm our farmland has been entered into a HLS scheme managed by Natural England: primarily with preservation of the countryside and its inhabitants in mind.
“Natural England’s purpose is to conserve and enhance England’s natural environment – including its landscapes, biodiversity, geology and soils, natural resources, cultural heritage and other features of the built and natural environment.” naturalengland.org.uk
Lovely cottage and fantastic facilities for the children (aged 3 + 5)
We very much enjoyed our stay in the lovely warm surroundings of Woodpecker Cottage. Heated pool absolute bliss for early morning swims with the added bonus of splendid views of extensive countryside through those huge windows. Thanks for a wonderful stay, we will be back soon.
Just wanted to say thanks for the Easter egg - what a lovely welcome surprise! We have had a wonderful stay and Coot cottage worked so well for us with Harry - you really do think of everything!
Came across this hidden gem by accident and would like to keep it our secret ! However so pleased they are doing well. A lot of care and detail has gone into the renovation of these barns including a fab swimming pool and an essential games room for kids.
If you're looking for a luxury, family stay in North Norfolk, this is it. If you're looking for a luxury, ecologically aware family stay, this is it too.
A wonderful week with plenty of memories - and amazingly enough, no rain, even some sunshine. Completely sold on Norfolk and this place - have no doubts we will be back.
We had a wonderful family time in this perfect hideaway
The two cottages were booked as a surprise for my 60th birthday, and what a surprise. I could not have hoped for a more fantastic celebration. We all enjoyed a brisk walk in Wells-next-the Sea, lunch in a local pub followed by a swim in the great pool here. The cottages are so well equipped, everything has been well thought out. I would recommend the cottages to any group wanting something special! Very relaxing time had by all.
Another excellent stay at Cranmer that even Covid could not spoil!
