Layer Marney Tower

Excellent site, super friendly & helpful hosts and set in a beautiful location. My kids loved feeding the animals and the regular visits from the owners dogs. Hot tub was a winner with us all. The honesty shop had the basic essentials and there are larger supermarkets approx. 10 mins away in Tiptree.

As a family we had a great time forgetting modern technology and back to basics spending quality time together. The children enjoyed having the chickens and caring for them.We visited so many lovely places around Layer Marney. Lovely relaxed place with stunning surroundings. Thank you, The Kellys.

Having been a guest at featherdown farm 3 times previously (all different locations), I had a pretty good idea what to expect. And in many respects Layer Marney Farm didn't disappoint! The location of our tent was perfect, with beautiful views and tucked into the woods just enough so that we had the sun at the front throughout the day. The hot tub was a real bonus and we enjoyed it throughout the stay. The only downside being that the water/plastic inside became rather smelly as no chlorine is used to keep the stagnant water fresh. If there is a natural way to keep the water fresh throughout, it would improve the experience a great deal! The honesty shop was very basic and I felt didn't offer the variety that other farms have offered. It would have been nice to have been greeted by the hosts as I've found that a very personal touch in the past! In fact, we never met them throughout the stay. Overall a great experience up until the day of departure when the manager Chris demanded that we leave by 9.30am (our welcome pack stated checkout by 10.30am), and complained to us that it wasn’t fair on staff to be expected to get everything ready for the next guest. This ended our stay on a really negative note and it would help if there were better communication between owners and staff at Layer Marney Tower. We do appreciate its harder with Covid regulations. Many thanks once again. This is a brilliant concept.

We did not know what to expect as this was our first clamping experience. We were so pleased with what we found and we had a wonderful experience. We had two little ones with us (3 years and 1 year) and they found so much to enjoy, some of it for the first time in their young lives. The facilities were really good and provided everything we needed in every way. Our daughter and her husband and the granddaughters are all very keen to go clamping again - they really enjoyed the experience. We would all like to give our thanks to Christine who checked us in, showed us how to work everything, was there if we had questions and helped us if we had special needs. She was brilliant and a credit to the support team at Layer Marney Tower

I booked the entire campsite for my family and we all enjoyed a very relaxing and social weekend. The hot tubs were a huge hit, as were the rental chickens, and everyone remarked on how comfortable they found the tents. We really didn't have to think about anything which made our stay that much easier.

The site was absolutely beautiful. Being so close to Layer Marney tower, watching the deer in the morning & allowing the children the freedom to explore the woods was wonderful. The tent is very well equipped. Trying to boil water on the stove quickly is not something you should attempt (we may take a little camp stove next time!) but it’s all charming & the beds were clean, firm & comfy. We’ll definitely be back.

What a lovely place. It rained pretty much non stop but even in the rain there was so much fun to have. We fed deer. Sheep and goats, collected eggs, explored a Tudor tower and cooked sausages over a wood stove. What a magical weekend.

A lovely, and very convenient, break away from London. It's an excellent site. Great to have a lodge amongst the trees, to offer some shade from the hot sun. The hot tub was a great addition - even though it was often used unheated due to the heat wave. Very friendly staff.

A lot of little and often unexpected luxuries made this glamping experience magical for us and our grown up children- The Stone sink, the novelty of building a fire to heat at least one of the stoves for The giant kettle, the plump warm beds, the constant hot water in the outdoor shower with its view across the fields, access to Layer Marney Tower itself- I could go on! This has been a wonderful staycation and we will be coming back. Thank you.

A disappointing Featherdown Farm experience.This is our eighth stay at a Featherdown Farm franchise. Our second stay during the COVID pandemic, the two experiences couldn’t have been more different. See Featherdown Farm at Shilvingham Farm, Weymouth for our other review.This site offers no pizza night or farm tour. There is no contact with the owners unless you need them for a specific reason. It lacked the normal farmer, host / camper relationship. It isn’t really a farm, more of a country house with a few token animals.The honesty shop has the bare minimum, if you’ve been to other FD Farms, don’t expect to be able to get anything beyond marshmallows and chopped tomatoes! No milk, eggs, butter, meat, ice cream, bread, etc. We bought nothing!Thankfully, because of Covid, weddings are not on at the tower this summer, so we weren’t disturbed by the loud music that others have described in their reviews.Layer Marney Tower was a pleasant site. The gravel access road that runs between the tents was a shame, as it was quite noisy. The facilities to entertain the children were limited. There was a room in the barn with activities. But actually it was a bit disappointing a table tennis table with a lot of squashed balls and tatty bats, one badminton racket, no shuttlecocks, and some tired looking books.The owner feeds the animals each day at 8am, which we only made on the first day. 8am seems very early to be up, ready and up at the tower to join the rounds. I understand animals like to be fed early, but being on holiday, and with children going to bed later than normal, means it was difficult to get there for 8am. If you missed this round, there is no further access to the animals. No egg collecting, no petting animals. There are three goats in a pen at the courtyard you can pet over the fence.The chicken coup is right next to the children’s small play area. We didn’t stay long at the play area as the smell from the chickens was over whelming. I am completely used to the smell of animals and I keep chickens, so I am not exaggerating- the coup was pretty grim, and the chickens looked in poor condition. I thought they might be ex-battery hens? The whole place needed a good deep clean!The small wooden play area for the children at the tower kept the children occupied for 10mins, not very interesting, but better than nothing.The tents were clean and tidy, but the worktop and table were made of bits of gnarly wood which food and spills got into all the nooks and cracks, totally impossible to clean, a breeding ground for bacteria, not great in these COVID times! Normally the worktop is a smooth metal or plastic covered top, easy to keep clean, and the table just normal smooth wood.The tents were missing the curtains to both bedrooms, which when you are with friends or extended family, offer no privacy, slightly hill awkward trying to get dry after the shower or get dressed.The folder in the tent, was very sparse of useful information. No information on local attractions, or places to eat, see and do. The telephone number for the owner was wrong.My overall opinion would be, it was a pleasant stay, but not what I have come to expect from the Featherdown experience. Read less

We enjoyed every minute, from start to finish. Christine, who greeted us and the owner, Nick, were very helpful and pleasant. A well run holiday experience with out any haste. Our chicken coup was the highlight for the children, with eggs to collect every day. The out side shower was great fun, everyone enjoyed the experience. .........A family picnic type bench outside would have been an added bonus....we had great weather and would have eaten all meals out side.......... Can’t wait to visit again, thank you team