A private retreat
Book the Retreat for your own private retreats: meditation retreat, mindfulness, yoga, taichi, Pilates, art classes or photography workshops, self-help groups, residential meetings and conferences - just about any type of group which would enjoy staying a few days in an isolated secluded quiet location in beautiful countryside and nature!
Activity holidays
Book the Retreat for your family reunion, friendship group, or activity groups and clubs, for climbing, walking, cycling, exploring the wonderful Peak District countryside with its rural views and nature all around us.
Self-catering large group holiday accommodation
Secluded self-catering holiday accommodation for large groups up to 26 people. The group accommodation makes a good base for a Peak District holiday, not necessarily focused on our immediate location as it is easy to travel from here to various other Peak District attractions.
Self-catering facilities
The Retreat has 26 beds and a large well-equipped self-catering dining kitchen which can seat 26.
There are 6 bathrooms, including 6 toilets and 5 showers, ready to serve larger groups all wanting showers after a day out.
One of the downstairs bathrooms is an accessible wetroom, adjacent to the designated accessible bedroom.
Check inside and view the galleries for more details on the facilities and group accommodation.
Shawbottom Farm location
A secluded location in the Staffordshire Moorlands of the south-west “White Peak” area of the Peak District National Park, we are accessed via a private track which does not lead to any other properties. We have 23 acres (9 hectares) of farmland, and our nearest neighbour is over 600m away so we are in a very quiet location.
Most of the land around the Retreat is owned and managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust as a wildlife corridor connecting two large nature reserves (Roaches reserve and Black Brook reserve). No public footpaths cross our land so we rarely have any general public near us. We see a lot of wildlife, large and small.
Activities in the area
Though there are no public footpaths on our land, there are plenty of walks in the general area. Much of the land in the area is CRoW "access land" allowing you to wander at will. We have a large-scale wall map that you can look at to find public footpaths and check which land is private and which is CRoW. A well-known local walk is along the ridge of the Roaches and to a natural chasm known as Lud's Church.
This is a very popular area for climbing and bouldering, and we are within walking distance of the Roaches ridge (about 1 mile walk), also Newstones and Baldstones, and about 1.5 miles for Hen Cloud, Ramshaw Rocks, and Gib Torr.
Within 20-40 minutes drive you can reach key Peak District attractions such as Buxton, Edale and Castleton (for Kinder Scout and Mam Tor, Blue John Caverns, Speedwell Cavern, Winnats Pass), Matlock and Matlock Bath, Bakewell, Chatsworth House, and lots more.
For a change from nature and landscape out of the Peak District, and for a change of pace, Alton Towers theme park is only 30 minutes away, Jodrell Bank radio-telescope visitor centre is 40 minutes, and the Potteries museums in Stoke-on-Trent are also about 40 minutes away.
