The Experience
Mill Cottage is a Romantic Treasure in its own Private Hidden Valley.
This is a special place for those who want to get right away from it all and enjoy nature … in complete comfort, peace and tranquillity.
Mill Cottage nestles beside its lovely Mill Pond in a beautiful secluded valley ¼ mile off the road. The valley is now a private 70 acre Nature Reserve including an Owl Tower and Badger watching sites.
It has lots of lovely walks.
How peaceful, how idyllic!
This cottage accepts dogs.
Cottage Walk Through
VisitEngland Gold award, 4 Star Award, Cyclists Welcome Award, Walkers Welcome Award
You enter the Cottage into a farmhouse Kitchen which has direct access onto the grassy bank of the Mill pond, with tables and chairs for a pond side al fresco meal or drinkies.
Also on the ground floor is a good sized wet room shower room.
If you are interested in ground source heat pumps, you can go into the pump room, to inspect the eco-heating system.
There is a lovely oak staircase winding up to the double Bedroom and the large Sitting Room, which has a wood-burning stove and gorgeous views over the mill pond.
Please note that being a very old building there is a beam in this room at about 5ft – so mind your head [Emoji Removed]
Lying at the end of the lane, Mill Cottage is the perfect place for finding peace and tranquillity.
There is no traffic noise and the farmyard complex where the owner also lives, is a remote ex-smallholding.
The low level of light pollution makes star-gazing at night a real treat.
Please note that on account of the open stairs only a babe in arms an be accepted not a toddler.
The Gardens
Mill Cottage has a private garden where the lawn slopes down to the spring-fed Mill Pond, perfect for wild swimming, rowing (boat provided) and sunbathing.
You have the whole of the surrounding 70 acre Nature Reserve to enjoy, including a fenced off 11 acre woodland perfect for doggies to race around.
Outside
There is a thatched Story Telling Hut looking out into the pretty valley that you are welcome to use.
The owner has created footpaths around the Mill Pond and down the valley to the Owl Tower.
You have 70 acres of Nature Reserve to enjoy with wildflower meadows, wooded glades and ancient hedgerows.
The owner is passionate about ecology and wildlife so you will find many areas where the natural ancient flora has been encouraged to return and which is why he also built The Owl Tower and other special nesting places.
Local wildlife includes Roe and Muntjac deer, badgers, hares and rabbits, water voles, kingfishers, barn owls, herons and egrets, greater spotted woodpeckers, little grebes and all the usual garden birds, bats, dragonflies and butterflies; a paradise for wildlife watching and photography.
Country walks start right outside the Cottage door with the 70-acre Private Nature Reserve plus 300 acres of adjacent Suffolk Wildlife Trust land to explore.
You may be lucky and see otters that come to fish in the Mill Pond and many guests enjoy badger watching in a nearby wood.
Green Credentials
Mill Cottage is cosy and very, very ecologically designed and built.
Most of the materials used in the restoration and conversion of the Mill were reclaimed or locally sourced in keeping with a historic building. Lime plaster and washes were used and local specialist builders and artisans carried out the work to the highest standards of historic renovation and ecological build practices.
Sheep’s wool was used for insulation in the walls and roof. Locally sourced oak floorboards were used in the sitting room and handmade floor and wall tiles in the kitchen and wet room.
The Mill Wheel generates electricity and the Cottage is warm all year round thanks to underfloor heating via a ground-source heat pump.
All waste water is treated on the owners own land.
The Cottage adjoins an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covering the Stour Valley. Part of the farm has been planted with an 11 acre wood specifically for Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius). The Owl Tower has had 28 barn owl chicks ringed and reared in its first 10 years.
Also on the farm are four straw bale walled buildings including the pretty Story Telling Hut.
Notable plants are false and edible watercress, bluebells and several species of orchid. Bee orchids flower on the bank behind the Cottage each year.
Local wildlife includes roe and muntjac deer, badgers, hares and rabbits, water voles, kingfishers, barn owls, herons and egrets, greater spotted woodpeckers, little grebe and all the usual garden birds, bats, dragonflies and butterflies; a paradise for wildlife photography.
Country Walks start from the cottage door with the 70-acre Private Nature Reserve plus 300 acres of adjacent Suffolk Wildlife Trust land to explore.
Up to 2 well-behaved dogs are always welcome – there is also a fully fenced 11-acre woodland on the farm where your pet can run without getting lost!
There is a dog charge which is £20 per pet for up to 7 nights.
Local Area
The tiny Village of Assington, lies at the end of the cart track to Mill Cottage.
It has a very good farm shop with hairdressers, café restaurant, florist, interiors shop and a dog groomers.
The village hosts a popular pub The Shoulder of Mutton.
Supermarkets and high street shops are within a 15 minute drive at Hadleigh, Sudbury or Lavenham.
The famous village of Lavenham ‘England’s best preserved Medieval Village’ is just 20 minutes away, and the area immortalised by England’s renowned landscape artist John Constable, and known as ‘Constable Country’ is about 25 minutes away. One of his forebears was probably a previous miller at Mill Farm.
There are many great country pubs nearby, some special like The Crown Inn and The Angel at Stoke-by-Nayland or The Bildeston Crown, The Kings Head in Hadleigh and The Kersey Bell, There are also some high quality restaurants like The Hidden Garden in Sudbury, Scutchers in Long Melford and and The Swan in Lavenham.
One of our favourites is the lovely wine bar in Lavenham call Number 10 Lavenham, it does delicious food and accepts doggies in the restaurant, courtyard and garden.
This area is amazingly rural and untouched by city life, with tiny single track lanes leading nowhere or to a pub, footpaths galore and tiny Medieval Villages where time seems to have stood still.
If you are staying for more than a weekend, a day at the unspoilt Suffolk Coast is always a lovely trip.
The coast starts just 30 minutes away near Colchester or Ipswich and our favourite beaches and places on the coast are between 50 – 70 minutes away, places like Pin Mill, Nacton, Levington, Orford, Aldeburgh, Dunwich, Southwold and Mersey Island.
The nearby Medieval Villages of Long Melford, famed for its setting for the Lovejoys TV series, Nayland, sitting prettily on the river Stour, Polstead, with its bluebells woods and impressive views over the Box river valley are all close by and there are many more tiny villages with lovely walks and Pubs to explore.
This is an area where you feel a million miles away from city life and can just enjoy the beautiful peaceful surroundings.
Standard Inclusive Features
Kitchen: All cottages are complete little homes and facilities include modern central heating, refrigerator, hobs, oven and / or microwave, toaster, crockery and serving dishes, cutlery, many utensils, fire-extinguisher, lots of pots and pans, glasses and mugs, kettle, coffee maker, teapot, kitchen towels, oven gloves, olive oil, salt and pepper, sugar, herbs, tea, fresh and instant coffee, washing up liquid, cloths, general cleaning materials, etc.
Bathroom: Soap, fluffy cotton towels, bath mats, shaver point, toilet brush, toilet roll.
Bedroom: Cotton bed linen, wardrobe with coat hangers / chest of drawers, iron, ironing board, hairdryer.
Living room: If your cottage has an open fire or stove then a basket with firewood and a bucket with coal will be provided free and more will be available at cost and there will be firelighters provided, TV, DVD player and a library of DVDs, books, games, magazines, local brochures, OS and other maps, folder with our special ‘What To Do’ insiders’ guide to the local area.
Bikes: Please check with the owner that these are available before you arrive to avoid disappointment if they are in for maintenance.
Baby: Cot and high chair provided on request (please bring baby’s bedding).
Up to 2 Dogs are welcome, there is a dog charge of £20 per pet for up to 7 nights.
