Gold Award Winner North Devon Journal ‘Best Country House and/or Garden in North Devon’

Hartland Abbey and Gardens open for the season on Mothering Sunday, 30th March, Sundays to Thursdays, until October 2nd. Please see foot of page. We look forward to welcoming our visitors again. Very many thanks to all who have visited in the past. We hope to welcome you back!

We welcome all the wonderful Malory Towers fans and their families.  Series 6 will be out very soon! Enjoy finding the filming locations in the house and grounds where Darrell and Gwen and friends had so many adventures!  We have many more M T images and props on display.  Hartland Abbey IS Malory Towers! 

*Anyone who saw Channel 5’s – ‘Stonehenge – The Discovery’  with Dan Snow  will be aware of William Stukeley who, in the 18thC, discovered much of what we know today. Our exhibition ‘William Stukeley – Saviour of Stonehenge’ is an in depth insight into this extraordinary ancestor.

Welcome to our Hartland Abbey website. We hope you will find all the information you need before your visit or just generally see what is going on! Every penny spent by visitors, after the dreaded VAT,  goes into the maintenance of the house and gardens and to employing the wonderful people so vital to its upkeep and who look after our visitors. We hope to welcome you to this special, remote corner of North Devon on the wild Atlantic coast.  Don’t miss a visit to stunning Hartland Quay too, just a mile away.

Hartland Abbey is the cherished home of the Stucley family with treasures and memorabilia collected over many generations. Visitors can wander through the house at will or, for groups, conducted tours are available by prior booking.

Built in the 12thC, Hartland Abbey survived as a monastery longer than any other in the country. In 1539 Henry VIII gifted the Abbey to the Keeper of his Wine Cellar whose descendants still live here today. Hartland Abbey is probably the most historically important ancestral home in North Devon containing much of national interest, including architecture and decoration from the Mediaeval, Queen Anne, Georgian, Regency and Victorian periods, paintings, furniture, Chinese artefacts and porcelain collected over many generations.

The beautiful 18thC Walled and Woodland gardens, the walks and the parkland provide visitors with extensive grounds through which to wander and enjoy the stunning valley leading down to the rugged Atlantic cove and cottage at Blackpool Mill, the location for many notable films.  Wildflowers proliferate – from primroses and violets, wild garlic, bluebells and foxgloves in spring. Dogs are welcome on leads in the gardens and walks.

The Old Kitchens Tea Room provide a delicious, home made and varied menu of light lunches and cream teas, scrumptious cakes, baguettes, sandwiches, speciality teas and coffees. The Tea Rooms, open from 11am, are accessible only with a valid entry ticket to the gardens and grounds.

We welcome coach parties, preferably with prior booking.

The BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’, ZDF’s production of Rosamund Pilcher’s, ‘The Shell Seekers’ (Die Muschelsucher), John Le Carre’s ‘The Night Manager’ with Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman, ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'(2017) with Lily James, BBC’s ‘Gold Digger'(2018), The Game of Thrones – House of The Dragon (2021) and ITV’s The Long Call  were all filmed on the estate.  In 2023 scenes from ‘The Salt Path’ by Raynor Wynn were filmed at Blackpool Mill, starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.  An external scene from ‘Speak No Evil’ was filmed in Oct 2023.  BBC Antiques Roadshow was held here in 2012. In 2019 ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier starring Lily James and Kristen Scott Thomas was filmed on the estate at Hartland Quay and in September WildBrain and King Bert Productions filmed Series 1 of Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’ for CBBC inside and around Hartland Abbey. In 2020 scenes for ‘Brittania’ and ITV’s ‘The Long Call’ were filmed near Hartland Quay.

Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’ was first filmed here in autumn 2019, inside and outside the Abbey. We have so enjoyed seeing all the children on screen who we have come to know so well.  In spring 2021, after a break during the pandemic, production, cast and crew came back under very challenging covid restrictions to film Series 2 and 3 for CBBC and iPlayer, followed by Series 4 (2022) Series 5 (2023) and Series 6 (2024). We thank King Bert and Wild Brain productions for bringing wonderful Malory Towers to Hartland Abbey.  Behind the scenes images are on display in our Film Exhibition, open from 11am with a Gardens ticket.

Children love the freedom to explore the open spaces and winding paths and enjoy meeting our donkeys Becky and Snowdrop, the wandering peacocks and our flock of black Welsh Mountain sheep. The Quiz, the Nature Trail and the ‘Malory Towers’ trail are great ways to keep children amused!

We have some lovely events for 2025. Daffodil Day, Easter Bunny Hunts, Bluebell days and a variety of outdoor theatre productions are on the summer menu (see Events pages). Our present exhibitions, ‘William Stukeley – Saviour of Stonehenge’, ‘Filming on the Hartland Abbey Estate since 1934’ and ‘History of the Hartland Abbey Estate’ continue to entertain visitors. We have two new displays – Falconry by The Hon Gerald Lascelles (Sir Hugh’s great-grandfather) and ‘A Victorian Honeymoon’, a charming record, with watercolours, of Sir Hugh’s great uncle and aunt’s honeymoon of 6,000 miles around Europe in 110 days!

We thank The Culture Recovery Fund for enabling us to partially reroof Hartland Abbey in 2020/21; the fund ensured local scaffolders, builders and craftsmen were employed during lockdown whose expertise kept our roof safe during recent horrendous storms.

Hartland Abbey is also a unique venue for weddings and special events, with the combination of a stunning house and gardens in a beautiful setting and private access to the coast. We have two lovely cottages to rent for holidays. If you have an enquiry on visiting Hartland Abbey please complete our enquiry form or telephone the Administrator on 01237 441496. We do hope you will visit us. It makes a perfect day out in this area of outstanding natural beauty. Hugh and Angela Stucley.