You can use our barn and farm as a base to do your own thing or we can provide guidance, support, tutors and help design activities or local itineraries that suit your particular needs. 

Our family run farm at Milden Hall can accommodate up to 30 students and staff (plus more camping) for midweek

• Day only
• Accommodation only or
• Activity breaks with accommodation, tailor-made to suit curriculum topics or just fun confidence- & team-building days away from school 

We’re keen on history, the environment and the big outdoors – any time of year! 

Our 500-acre environmentally friendly farm grows arable crops, grassland, happy pigs and wild game, ancient hedges, woodland, ponds and houses the earthworks of a Norman castle – and lots of wildlife!  Twice the national winner – and three times regional winner - of the Wildlife Trusts’ Wildlife Watch Award in the last five years, and with ten years of hosting school visits, we are experienced in looking after and teaching groups of children and using our farm as an exciting outdoor classroom and activity centre. 

Accommodation
This is not bunkhouse barn accommodation.  Our 16th century Tudor barn provides very comfortable but highly unusual accommodation in which groups can, if they wish, step back into the 16th century.  Sleep in oak four-poster beds, truckle beds and box beds and feast at oak banquet tables.  And if you want, dress up and go Tudor for an evening - eat off wooden platters with Tudor tableware, learn to dance – and play games -Tudor style! 

Self-cater or half/full board:
You can self-cater or we can provide you with half or full board with seasonal food sourced on farm or locally wherever possible and practical. 

Minimise your carbon and water footprint

We are proud of our award-winning environmental policy – the barn is heated by hedge-coppice firewood, we avoid packaging wherever possible, we recycle and compost as much as we can, and encourage you to use your feet and our fleet of bicycles!  And we try to pass on an environmental message to all students staying.   

Risk-assessment

All our activities are risk-assessed and an assessment is provided for each school to amend the risks according to their pupils’ special needs.

Activities

The following are the types of activity days that can be organised on the farm with little need to organise transport elsewhere.  However, as we are in the heart of an incredibly rich historic rural area full of beautiful villages which grew wealthy on wool and cloth in medieval and Tudor times, we recommend that you do explore the local area as part of your itinerary – be it via history, art, PE or some other curricular excuse! 

Most themed activities can be adapted to suit KS2, KS3 or even GCSE level students.  And we are always open to designing specific days around a particular theme.  Just discuss your needs with us.  Farm accommodation and activities are all risk-assessed.

Click on linked activities for more photos and details.

Eco-adventure activities

Cross-curricular activities – science, geography, PHSE, PE, English, art – are used to explore certain themes and develop an understanding and respect for the environment, and what we can do to minimise our impact on the environment

• Trees & woodland – understand sustainable woodland management through study and games – tree hugging, tree interviewing, & end with garland making before the celebratory tree feast in the barn, or round the camp fire.
• Water – understand man’s impact on our precious water resource at a farm level through pond ecology, art in nature, cookery
• Adaptation to habitat – science study through observation and games the natural history of plant, fungi, insect, bird and mammal species in different woodland, wetland, grassland, hedge and other habitat - click here for information
• Habitat orienteering – from woodland to ancient pond to hedge to veteran tree following clues and answering questions
• Country crafts & skills – a day of practical challenges from tree planting to designing a living willow sculpture and brain-teasing dilemmas to solve in teams - click here for details.

History adventure activities

We have a small farm museum with farm finds from prehistoric axe heads to Roman coins, medieval pottery, Victorian buttons and World War II bullets.  Our farm buildings date from the 1580s and we’ve had WWII evacuees, prisoners of war and army officers all stay at Milden.  We can offer a flavour of different eras - in costume re-enacting if you like!

• Tudor farm life – re-enact a day in the life of a Tudor peasant – wear the clothes, forage for food, poach a rabbit, make & eat a potage, whittle hazel, feed the pigs, bring in the harvest, celebrate a festival in the farming calendar, visit nearby Lavenham guildhall (National Trust)
• WWII evacuation – re-enact a day in the life of an evacuee – wear the clothes, make your rations go further, check out Land Army girl skills, test your knowledge with a war artefact quiz
• Archaeology on the farm – take part in a dig, learn to fieldwalk, metal detect, process finds responsibly
• History orienteering – work out your route with compass, map & clues – hedge dating, pond origins, Norman castle
• Bicycle treasure hunt around medieval villages following clues

Art, craft & the environment - click here for full details

Usually art and craft activities are included within other days as part of the programme but we can arrange tutors for whole days on art and craft themes such as:

• Drawing & painting wildlife
• Working with willow & rush
• Dying with natural dyes, spinning & felt-making
• Hedgerow basket making
• Art-in-nature creations and installations (Goldsworthy style)
  

Milden team challenges

Take a day to complete all the following as a team challenge:

• Sports challenge - tennis, table tennis, table football, badminton, croquet, football, boules, orienteering
• Eco-challenge - practical challenges from tree planting to designing a living willow sculpture and brain-teasing dilemmas to solve in teams.

Availability and booking
Contact Juliet and Christopher Hawkins
The Hall, Milden,
Lavenham, Sudbury,
Suffolk CO10 9NY   
Tel: 01787 247235
Email: hawkins@thehall-milden.co.uk

Layout of Barn - click here
To see or download a drawing of the layout of the barn and surrounding area in a larger size (A3), please click the thumbnail image on the left to see a larger version. This is a pdf file for which Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer it can be downloaded free - click here