Owlpen Manor is a private Cotswold estate that hires out its barns, manor house and cottages for company retreats, weekend gatherings and weddings. Meetings of up to 16 take place in the Great Hall of the Tudor manor, a dinner for 120 is served in the Pole Barn, and 40 guests sleep on site in nine cottages. The estate lies in its own valley near Dursley, Gloucestershire.
Seminars and company events
The official site describes the estate as a private setting for residential retreats, board meetings, presentations, lectures, symposia, strategic planning sessions, hospitality days and team building. It lists a conference facility and several sites for marquees and trade fairs. Past corporate clients named on the site include Kraft Foods, Land Rover UK, the CLA and B&Q.
For meetings, the Great Hall of the Manor House takes up to 16 people. Breakout sessions run in the adjoining room or in the 16th century gardens. Small groups can also work in the dining rooms of the cottages. The Pole Barn is the larger space: it seats 120 for a dinner and holds up to 150 for performances, workshops, presentations, lectures and displays. Up to 40 delegates can stay in the cottages.
Because the whole valley is privately owned, a booking is exclusive. Nobody else enters apart from your guests and the estate team. The team can add activities to an away weekend, such as a shooting class, a whisky or wine tasting and a country walk.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are held in the Cyder Barn and the estate gardens, and the site sells several formats: full packages, weekend packages, midweek and winter weddings, intimate weddings and elopements. A dry hire option gives exclusive use of the venue while the couple chooses their own suppliers, food, drink and styling. The estate can also supply a menu and a drinks package. A list of approved suppliers is on the site. The church of the Holy Cross stands on the estate. The pages consulted do not give a seated capacity for weddings.
Rooms and capacities
The Cyder Barn dates from 1446 according to recent studies cited on the site, and was the store house of the medieval estate. It seats 40 for dinner. The Pole Barn next door is a newer building made from larch trees felled in the valley, and it seats 120 for a meal. Both barns can be used together. The Great Hall in the manor suits a meeting of 16.
Accommodation
Nine self-catering cottages sleep 40 people in total, in houses, barns and woodland homes for between two and eight guests each. They are graded four stars by VisitEngland. The Grist Mill, an 18th century water mill, has four bedrooms. A glamping area, Squirrel Wood Camp, adds further beds, and the Manor House can also be booked. A weekend private hire offer covers accommodation for 40 guests from Friday 3 pm to Sunday 5 pm, with welcome drinks, a three course Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast.
Catering
The estate catering team writes bespoke menus around dietary needs, using produce from the vegetable garden, the orchard and the farm: beef, pork, lamb, venison, pheasant and free range eggs. Sample menus on the site show three courses with vegetarian choices. For weddings under the dry hire option, the couple can bring their own drinks, which the team receives, chills and serves.
History and setting
Owlpen has a Tudor manor house at its center and the site traces the estate back more than 1,000 years. Sir Nicholas and Lady Karin Mander began restoring the house as a family home in 1974 and rebuilt the traditional estate around it. The valley is also used as a film location.
