We've been covering shepherds' huts regularly in some detail over the last few months and like all great things it's time to call it a day for this slot (though we'll still continue to write about them in the general run of things). As a final flourish, here is Clive Edwards' lovely painting of a shepherd's hut, watercolour on paper, painted at Shillingstone in Dorset which you can also buy to adorn your own shedworking atmosphere.
Family-run business Ashwood Timber manufacture timber garden buildings and mobile homes. And shepherds' huts.
There's a nice blow by blow account of Plankbridge's restoration of an original Baker and Sons, Berkshire shepherd's hut for a client, pictured above before, and after below. Here's how they describe the project:
"The brief was to retain it's 'faded glory', add two new windows and remake the original window. We also repaired and installed the antique woodburner. New roof sheets were added, over a new curved timber roof lining, with insulation placed in the roof cavity. Once the mountain of cattle cake and rat remains had been removed work could begin. It is a fine hut, built in 1895 using oak, elm, pitch pine and some particularly interesting castings and ironwork. It illustrates how highly regarded and significant shepherds' huts were in the rural community."
Along similar lines to the shepherd's hut is the gypsy caravan, also known (more accurately) as a vardo. There are many examples and sites around but one of the best bringing them all together is Wagons Online. Among the dozens of links there is Nick Dow, signwriter, wagon builder, and trained narrowboat painter whose wife is a Romany Gypsy and who built the lovely wagon pictured above and below. All his wagons are sold complete with shafts, steps, pan box, and artillery wheels, and made from pine, ash, and mahogany. Size approx. 10ft by 5ft, and about 10ft high (excluding chimney). More images here and here. As with a shepherd's hut, they would make a lovely home office, although access to your garden might be a challenge.
Wiltshire-based The Shepherd's Hut Restoration Company has been producing huts since 2002. They make customised, authentically restored huts on wheels using original materials such as cast iron wheels and corrugated iron, sourced and salvaged locally in Wiltshire. There are plenty of inspiring images on the site to browse around.
Pictures: Matthew Davison
There's a nice series of photos showing how Plankbridge converted a 'Reeves of Bratton' elevator into a bespoke shepherd's hut here. Well worth a look.
The Thurgarton Iron Works hut team have been hard at work moving their latest find, Harry the Hut. Pictured above are Ian McDonald and Scott Bunting (not pictured is Thurgarton's Richard King) who helped to move the shepherd's hut, and below is Harry mounting his Ifor-Williams wheels.
Lots more pictures of the move are at the site where Richard says:
"I may be biased but Harry the Hut is quite remarkable. There is no way you would build such a Hut and expect it to be so strong after all these years. With so much wood missing or nibbled by cows and sheep, plus unattached wood, you would expect him to collapse – especially after the attentions of all those beefy bovines using him as an itching post and occasional bovine toilet! But even with a fully strained ratchet strap at each end he did not give a 1/4 inch. He does flex a bit but he’s holding his shape ...more than I will at his age."
Not all shepherds' huts have wheels. John Chapman from Inverary Station in New Zealand has very kindly sent in these lovely pictures of the hut on his property. He writes:
"These huts (known as musterers' huts) are common throughout the mountainous area of the South Island and many of them are still in use. Most of them are in remote places, some up to 20 or 30 miles from any other houses. Some, like the predecessor of ours, were built as boundary keepers' huts, up to 150 years ago, when there were few fences. These men were required to live in such lonely surroundingss and prevent their sheep from straying to the neighbouring property.
"Our hut was rebuilt about 15 years ago and is in the middle of our 10,000 acre property about eight miles from the homestead. We use it mainly in the autumn when we spend time bringing the sheep down from the high tops prior to the winter snows. It can sleep around ten people and all cooking is done over the open fire."
A shepherd's hut converted into a home office was recently sold by Savills in rural Plas Onn Llanfechain, Powys (asking price for the five bed house with barn annexe and four acres plus of course the hut was £450,000). Sadly there are no interior images available, but I think this is the kind of romantic image which really encourages people to work from home.
Timber Tradesmen produce a wide range of wooden buildings including this shepherd's hut pictured which comes with cast iron wheels and axles salvaged from an original 19th century hay elevator, 125mm T&G, fully insulated walls and roof, double glazed windows with cast iron fittings and, naturally, a traditional stable door. Interestingly, it has a fibre glass roof which requires very little maintenance. It measures 3.75m long x 2.1m wide x 3.2m high. And pictured below is a possible shedworking setup.
I also rather like the Victorian bathing machine pictured below.
Hitchin-based Traditional Shepherds Hut are fully aware of the shedworking possibilities of their models: pictured above is a home office set-up in one of their huts. The model below is an authentic copy of a traditional 19th Century mobile hut. They come with double glazing and insulation (to the wall and roof) and the corrugated steel cladding is polyester coated for long life and low maintenance. Huts come with pine removable steps for easy access and stable door with latch and lock. There is also a draw bar for towing (adaptable to suit car-type ball hitch if required).
Steve Hobbs' Cotswold Shepherd Huts can source original huts from the 19th century, restore them or build you a new one. Above is a restored model, 11ft long by 6ft wide, stable type door (with bolt & padlock), two opening windows, which comes with bunk bed and mattress plus a drop leaf table fitted on the wall. They describe them on the site, quite rightly, as "inspiring office space". You can also hire these huts out and you would have seen one if you managed to get to this year's Hampton Court Palace Show and enjoyed the Orchard Garden.
This Shepherd's Hut is the latest design from Norfolk-based The Classic Shed Company. The spec includes cast iron wheels with solid steel axles, inspired by an original found in a Norfolk barn. Inside is a long bench that pulls out to form a day bed and a folding table for some shedworking. Classic Sheds have various other interesting designs including the dovecote below.
"Specialising in the manufacturing and repair of interesting things, both ancient and modern in all materials" is the memorable way in which Thurgarton Iron Works - run by Richard King since 1978 - describe themselves. Among the many projects are two of particular interest, the restoration of two shepherds' huts, Miss Bottifont (pictured above) and Miss Kimberley (pictured below). These are major restoration works. As Richard says: "Miss Bottifont has sat in a field which has become a house and garden for at least 80 years. The soil had almost come up to the floor and one wheel had a tree growing through the spokes." Miss Kimberly is also something of a famous shepherd's hut according to the site:
"She is said to have been the meeting point during the last war for the Home Guard so she could have been the last thing between the Kimberly Estate and world domination by the invading Germans had they got that far. I am sure that with one look at Miss Kimberly bulging with the finest and fittest of the local lads and Grandads, the invading forces would have turned to jelly and surrendered on the spot!"
If you'd like to combine a holiday in a shepherd's hut with a couple of days of fishing, try Three Island Lake.
Run by David and Dorothy Body, it has been offering angling breaks on a B&B, touring caravan, tent and one-man shepherd's hut basis for four years on the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire border, west of Leighton Buzzard. The spring-fed Three Island Lake is part of a 50-acre grassland farm in the middle of open countryside. The huts are with their own bed space, electricity, sink, cooker and fridge and are supplied with some basic foodstuffs. Each hut costs £45 a night which also includes two days' fishing.
If you're hankering after a shepherd's hut, one of the accessories you're probably also going to want is a woodburning stove. Windy Smithy, whose products are used by Plankbridge describes them as a cost effective means of warming your working spaces with the use of firewood, a renewable fuel, encouraging the sustainable management and appreciation of woodlands. This is how they describe them:
"Our efficient and lightweight burners have been developed for use in living vehicles, boats and tents, and will function equally well in workshops, houses and mobile homes, where an attractive heat source is required to keep going all night in total safety.The revolutionary vent system allows instant control of the air flow, and combined with the airtight door and dual airflow, permits the logs to be burnt with remarkable efficiency."The Windy Smithy is owned and operated by Jon Snow, who has been working with metal since 1996, and operates on a semi-mobile basis from the Blackdown Hills in Devon.
If you're looking for a shedlike atmosphere for your next holiday, try this fully restored traditional shepherd's hut which provides unusual accommodation for two people in conjunction with any of the cottages run by Ian and Diana Ventham at Shitterton Farmhouse Cottages in Dorset. It has electrics and a heater, small twin beds (which can be turned into a double), but no lavatory. Available from £20 per day (minimum 2 days).
Artisan Shepherd’s Huts is run by expert joiner Paulus Smith from his West Sussex medieval threshing barn base. Although all huts are bespoke (up to around 12ft by 8ft), there are two main designs, a traditional one with steps and stable door (with bed inside), or a more shedlike model with double doors and optional decking. Wheels are cast to orginal patterns from molten iron and the pine used for the construction comes from managed sustained plantations and is pressure treated. The walls and roof are fully insulated and each hut is fitted with a solid oak floor.
Wood burning stove, electrics and plumbing are extra.Artisan also run one day art and craft courses from their workshop.
Daphne's Caravans ('Magical retreats to bring your dreams to life') are not all shepherds' huts but they are all certainly lovely. The business has been running since 1996 when Daphne started work on an old farm wagon - in a floor space of just 11' by 3 1/2', she has a bed, cushioned bench, flip-up table, shelves and a tall cupboard, as well as storage space under the bed and bench. As well as providing bespoke caravans she also runs a DIY Caravan School in which she teaches pupils how to build their own over a couple of weeks in the summer. Pictured above is her Sherwood Forest caravan, designed as both living space and studio.
A lovely set of photos on Flickr by 'feersumendjinn' capturing a different kind of shepherd's hut - known as a looker's hut - on Romney Marsh. There are very few lookers' huts left today but in the 18th century they were everywhere as 'lookers' looked-after absent landowners' sheep and cattle. These shepherds, and their families, needed a base and so many Lookers' Huts sprung up to cater for them - sadly a mixture of vandalism and neglect has reduced their numbers drastically. For more information on Lookers, try the community-run Lookers Heritage Project site here.
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