Monday 31 July 2023

The Collective at Woolsery, North Devon

The Farmers Arm gardens
The Collective at Woolsery brings together a pub, traditional corner shop and post office, a gourmet fish and chip shop and a farm in the rural village of Woolsery near Bideford, North Devon. 

It offers three cottages, two suites and two rooms within the village that have recently opened after a complete renovation. 

Each room exploits its own unique character by drawing on the history and heritage of the village and with an aesthetic carefully designed by Hannah Lohan Interiors. 

A boutique hotel called Wulfheard Manor is in development and will be added to The Collective in 2025.


Woolsery is a steeped in history having been first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. 

Centered around a Norman church, the village grew in the 18th and 19th centuries and, unusually, has the two of Woolsery and Wolfardisworthy, which are shown on the signs as one arrives in the village. Woolsery is the ancestral home of Michael Birch, cofounder of the social networking site Bebo with his wife Xochi. 

His great, great grandparents built the village shop, his grandmother was born above it, and his family still live in the village today. 

Michael and Xochi bought a number of properties here and have ‘breathed new life’ into in the village.

The local pub, The Farmers Arms, has become an award-winning place to eat and the J.Andrew Shop & Post Office and Woolsery Fish and Chips have been reopened. 

A new farm, Birch Farm, uses traditional and organic farming principles and services the restaurant and shop. 

The Farmers Arms Hotel
Ian Webber, executive chef at The Farmers Arms, works closely with head gardener Josh Sparkes and livestock manager Chris Jenn at Birch Farm on sourcing most of the meats, fruits, vegetables and herbs for the kitchen. 

The ongoing renovation of the Wulfheard Manor will offer further accommodation when it opens in 2025. 

Woolsery is surrounded by open countryside with tracks, footpaths and lanes and is also a short drive to the rugged South West Coast Path at Clovelly (4 miles) and beaches at Bucksmill Mill and Westward Ho! (7miles). Pete Canning Pete Canning Adam Lynk Adam Lynk 

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