South Downs National Park ecolodge

Planet

Being in a very rural situation, Upper Barn is an off grid accommodation. There was a possibility to put on mains electricity , but we didn’t want to . We wanted to show what can be done with a little thought.
For our electricity we use a 3.6KW of solar PV panels hooked up to a 10KW lithium iron Battery storage system. All lighting is low wattage Led and appliances are A++ rated.Solar thermal panels supply hot water for most of the time and a ultra efficient 95% Biomass wood Pellet boiler is used to provide heat through underfloor heating and hot water in the winter. We have our own on site sewerage system with septic tank and a drainage field.
The barn itself was part of a”fold” cattle sanctuary ,built in 1850. We restored it leaving as much of the existing structure as possible by creating a new steel frame internally to support the roof to meet codes in order to leave the original oak frame construction that gives the character.
We have repaired and retained the old water harvesting system whereby the guttering from the barb
N roof runs onto gulley bricks along the top of the yard wall and Ito a trough, ( formally for the cattle.)

People

As a member of the Visitarundel.org tourist information Center we promote a lot of the local businesses in our area. Our website along with an information folder in the barn shows where they are . Ranging from pubs and tea rooms to river boot hire , bicycle hire. A working museum sits below our site and is an easy walk away.We have a local village shop that stocks locally grown produce throughout the year.
We support our local craft makers by suggesting our guests visit them , a pottery in Amberley and the museum has local craftsmen making products the old fashioned way that people can purchase. The chestnut posts and rails for our fencing came from a nearby coppice and were split using traditional methods and tools . The new oak frame for the bicycle store too has been constructed to match the original that had been destroyed many years ago. The stone walls on the site were built by a local stone mason using reclaimed stone from the hay barn that was lost in the great 1987 storm.