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Martins Farm oast cowl markMartins Farm EstateFrant · Est. 1830

October half term · High Weald

October half term at Martins Farm

Seven days. You do not need seven plans.

The Oast is a historic single-kiln oast house in Frant, just south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. It sleeps four in two upstairs bedrooms, has an AGA kitchen and a private, fully enclosed garden, and comes with the run of the wider fifteen-acre estate. One well-behaved dog is included.

Half term needs a warm house, a few good ideas nearby and permission not to do most of them.

Check your datesPlan the week
The front of The Oast at Martins Farm, seen across the courtyard.

Go out

One outing is plenty

Two Halloween events run nearby over half term. Pick one, go early, and come back while everyone still likes one another.

Around Martins Farm: the full local guideDays out from Martins Farm: HalloweenDays out: autumn

Stay here

The days you do not go out

The kitchen in the round kiln at The Oast, with red brick walls, blue-grey cabinets, wooden worktops, a white farmhouse sink and a black AGA range

  • Breakfast at the AGA

    Nobody needs to be anywhere by nine. The AGA is warm before anyone else is up, which is more than can be said for most of the household.

  • A walk round the estate

    Fifteen acres of meadow, orchard and old trees, open to guests from the door. Deer move through at first and last light, so dogs go on a lead beyond the garden.

  • The enclosed garden

    The Oast’s own garden is private and fully enclosed: somewhere to send people outside without organising them.

  • The dog

    One well-behaved dog is included with the stay; a second only by prior agreement. Dogs stay downstairs and off the furniture.

  • Boots and mud

    October mud is not a failure of planning. The boot room has a washing machine, tumble dryer, drying rack and towel rail for what comes back in.

  • A quiet afternoon, then supper

    Read, sleep, stare at the fire of your choice. Then cook something slow in the AGA kitchen and eat it without looking at a timetable.

A boot room with grey cabinets, dark worktops, a double sink, a washing machine, a tumble dryer and a wooden drying rack on the wall

If it rains

It will, at least once

We have written a whole guide to wet days near Tunbridge Wells: a museum that is free to enter, a historic house to do backwards, a heritage railway, and the case for coming home early.

Read the rainy-day guide

Half term without a timetable

Two things, done well

Nobody is owed an attraction every day. A good half term here tends to be one proper outing, one long walk, and several mornings that start late and go nowhere in particular.

Winston’s own half-term programme contains considerably fewer attractions. It is mostly the meadow, the boot room and a strong view on who gets the towel first.

Book direct

Check your dates

The live calendar shows what is open, with rates and the full total before you pay. If your first choice has gone, try nearby autumn dates or another stay.

Open the live calendar

Useful for families

Before you book

Sleeping
Sleeps 4. Infants are recorded separately and do not take one of the four places.
Upstairs
Both bedrooms and the main bathroom are upstairs.
Downstairs
A separate WC on the ground floor.
Stairs and beams
Stairs have a handrail, but there is no step-free access. The kiln brings low beams and sloping ceilings in places.
Not provided
No cot, no high chair.
Dogs
One well-behaved dog included; a second only by prior agreement. Kept downstairs and never left alone in the house.
Garden
The Oast garden is private and fully enclosed; beyond it, dogs on a lead.

Everything about The Oast

From the Journal

Further reading