Petersfield luxury cottage, South Downs, England

Being farmers the natural environment is of particular importance to us. We recognize that some agri-practices are not sustainable and can ultimately have a detrimental effect on the natural world. As a result we have endeavoured to revolutionize our environmental initiatives (in-line with the changes we have had to make with our type of farming). Fortunately, our efforts have been rewarded as our funding applications have been accepted. Initially we were awarded ELS (Entry Level Stewardship) so we could fulfill the authority’s basic criteria. These included hedgerow management, creating buffer strips and providing wild bird cover. We were later awarded Higher Level Stewardship funding so we could plan more complex environment adjustments. Our efforts have seen the farm become visitation sites for various birds, and a recent RSPB Survey found Yellow Hammers and the endangered Lapwing, Starling, Cuckoo,Song Thrush and Red Kite. The latter can be seen circling our ancient Barrow Hill looking for prey. The name Ramsdean means Valley of Wild Garlic in old English and we do a lot of work to protect the ancient woodland on the Farm where Wild Garlic thrives and is also the home of stunning Bluebells in late Spring.

With the environment and sustainability in mind, we have installed a ground source heat pump to heat and provide hot water and under floor heating for our Cottages. This means pipes are underground sourcing natural heat to use in the cottages. For each unit of electricity we use to power the house, the heat pump generates this to three units. We also provide wood sourced from the farm for the woodburners in the living rooms and we have a tank which collects rainwater from the roofs and then the water is used on the garden.