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6 Guests
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3 Bedrooms
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1 Bathroom
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Pets: Yes
Features
- Open fire
- Garden / Patio
- Cot available
- Highchair available
- Pub/shop < 1 mile
- Washing machine
- Dishwasher
- Broadband / WiFi
Reviews & Ratings
34 Customer Reviews
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"Lovely cottage great potential great situation but cottage clearly needs some work."
We were overwhelmed by air fresheners. The garden is not dog secure..there is a hole in the fence at the bottom of the garden leading to a watercourse. The garden is overlooked by every aspect and all hedges are only 1metre- ish tall.
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"The cottage was absolutely beautiful and more, the weather certainly helped."
We sat in the garden relaxing for the first few days. Just wow and thank you for sharing your home xx
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"We enjoyed our stay at Darwen House, very homely and comfortable."
A beautiful place. Everything at hand that you would need, the freezer a bonus for us. Beautiful garden that would be lovely to see and enjoy in the Summer. On road parking directly in front of the property, we never had any problems with. Plenty of things to see & do within the area, in fact way more than a week could cope with. Abbots Bromley a lovely village.
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"Lovely, cosy, well equipped cottage which was ideal for our family Christmas break."
Beds were comfortable, 2nd double bed a bit tight but ok for a few nights. Garden was safe for the dogs. Located in a nice little village with walks from the cottage and several pubs. Thoroughly enjoyed our stay.
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"Great cottage, much bigger than it looks."
The bedrooms are beautiful and very comfortable. It was decorated for Christmas so looked very festive! Very homely.
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"Lovely cosy cottage comfortable with plenty of space, we loved the village with 4 pubs great for eating out."
although Indian restaurant mentioned is now closed. Not sure about the thermo mix looks complicated so didn’t use. Had to put bin behind gate to stop it banging in storm, had a lovely stay thank you.
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"Lovely, comfortable and cosy cottage."
Very well equipped and clean. Our dog loved the garden and we found parking very easy.
Thank you for such lovely feedback. I’m glad you had a nice stay Property Owner
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"Our overall stay was comfortable."
We booked as the garden was advertised as "fully enclosed" but the fencing is only 3ft, shorter in placed and at the very end of the garden is a piece of trellis with big holes which opens to a drop to a brook that runs at the bottom. Our little dog could of easily fitted so they couldn't be left to roam without supervision. Also it wasn't stated it had a shared access, so to our surprise 2 nights on the trot a man was walking past the patio doors with bins. One evening he was moving bins his at 10.15pm which actually scared me. (I'd already sorted ours) He also put our garden light on and to do this the light switch was at our back door. Again very off putting! So every time we went to let the dogs out we had to check gates. If we'd known this activity would be happening we'd of been less scared.
Thank you for your feedback and I’m really pleased you enjoyed your stay in Abbots Bromley and found the cottage comfortable. I take on board your concerns with the garden and will look into the areas at the bottom. In the three years the property has been with Sykes, we have never had any dogs escaping from the garden and I regularly take my West Highland cross (who is renown for escaping) and our Labrador when I do the changeovers and have never had a problem. Due to the period nature of the cottages, we do allow passage across the rear only on bin days. I have updated welcome info to reflect this and will ask my neighbour to be respectful of timings. Property Owner
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"Lovely cottage, well presented."
The garden is bright and peaceful. The village is nice and quiet but with several great pubs selling food. One word of warning, it’s a period house so all the door frames are very low. My 6’2” son kept cracking his head. If it weren’t for that, we would definitely be rebooking.
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"Lovely cottage with nice garden in a pretty village."
Handy for visiting local area. Good food available at the Crown, Bagot Arms and Infiniti Indian Restaurant.
Thank you for your lovely feedback- I am so glad you enjoyed your stay Property Owner
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"Lovely cottage and a beautiful garden, thank you we really enjoyed our short stay."
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"Property location good & just as advertised, excellent facilities for doggy holidays-side entrance,tap outside & enclosed garden."
Property inside very comfortable however a deep clean required ie-oven & hob not clean,shower tray contained mold. Bedding & bed linen immaculate, Issue with central heating & hot water resolved within the hour, Thank you Hannah. Overall very enjoyable stay will be back.
Hi Elaine, it was a pleasure to meet you and your pooches and I take on board feedback. We have recently moved to a new firm of cleaners and it’s still early days. I have alerted them to your comments and personally checked their work this week and can report a very clean oven! We hope to welcome you back at some point in the future! Property Owner
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"Lights in dining room did not work."
Electrical power failure on first day (did manage to find “trip” switch eventually) but no guidance as to where or how to find it. Owner did get back to us after 3 days. Kitchen equipment poor and not particularly clean, no teapot, broken glasses in cupboard.
Thank you for your feedback. Whilst I appreciate I did not come back to you immediately with reference to the electric, I did explain that I was out of the country and unable to pick up messages. There is a second contact number for such eventualities. The down lighters in the dining room had to be disconnected when we rented the property as an Airbnb as they did not conform to electrical regulations but there are plenty of other ceiling lights and lamps to illuminate the room. With reference to the cooker, thank you for alerting us to this. We have recently employed some new cleaners and it is still early days- I will alert them to your feedback and ensure the cooker is fully cleaned. There is also a Thermomix in the kitchen which offers a superb cooking experience and is versatile and able to create restaurant style food. This is an expensive and sophisticated addition to any kitchen and is there for our guests to enjoy. I hope you otherwise enjoyed the quaint and charming nature of both the cottage and the village. Property Owner
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"Lovely little cottage in a great area."
Would recommend!
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"Lovely property would definitely recommend again."
Only problem we encountered was a power outage one of the days for several hours due to works we were not made aware of until we had arrived.
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"Well-equipped and cosy cottage, which was a good size for two adults and three teenagers."
Had a great week, lovely village with some great local walks and a very reasonably priced meal at the Crown. Local cheese shop was also fab (we came out very much wiser about sheep's cheese!). Really good location for local attractions - we did Alton Towers, Cannock Chase, the National Arboretum and the Tissington Trail (the bike hire place was brilliant). Good comms from Hannah before we arrived.
Thank you Jacqueline for the feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed your stay. Abbots Bromley and surrounding area does offer lots to do. A little further a field but a memorable day out is Chatsworth House- especially at this time with the festive season approaching. Property Owner
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"Beautiful period country cottage set in an idyllic pretty village."
Cottage itself was well equipped & snug but profusion of cobwebs in some corners could be addressed. The cottage garden is secure & huge but sadly rather overgrown towards the end. A patio area with furniture was very relaxing. Although forewarned a gardener may attend, we were not made aware that the neighbour accesses the garden to take his bins through Darwin’s ginnel to the road. This was was worrying as: a) The possibility of the dogs being alarmed & biting the neighbour. b) accidentally letting the dogs out onto the busy main road. Traffic noise could be a problem to some, but did not bother us. We both slept extremely well there & enjoyed our stay.
Thank you for your feedback, as a host it is always useful to receive comments on how we can improve the experience for future guests. When myself or my cleaner change over the property, it is always during daylight hours, so we don't always see the less obvious cobwebs - we will endeavour to ensure all corners are thoroughly cleaned! The garden is lovely and an ideal place for dogs as it is large and secure with lots of elements of it to explore and an area given over to attracting the bees and butterflies. At this time of year, it has benefitted from a warm summer and some of the bushes down towards the fenced off brook at the far end of the garden are indeed getting a little overgrown. We are very aware of this and as we do every year, in the less busy months, myself and my gardener will get to work trimming back the bushes -it is quite a job and clearly we don't want to disturb guests during their stay. This does not in any way detract from the beauty and peaceful nature of the top areas of the garden. This is a period, listed property and as such does have some quirks - the shared access being one. The only time entry is allowed is on bin day and the disruption to guests is kept to a minimum. I do of course take on board your point and will inform future guests. I'm glad you enjoyed the tranquillity and idyllic nature of the village and surrounding countryside and found the cottage cosy and comfortable. Property Owner
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"Back garden safe for my 2 cocker spaniels, but a bit overgrown."
Comfortable and clean, we slept in the bedroom with 2 single beds due to street traffic which we previously read about. Overall, very good.
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"We enjoyed our stay in this very charming period cottage."
The accommodation worked really well for us (4 adults and 2 children). The children enjoyed playing in the garden. The location Abbots Bromley is a lovely place and there is a good choice of pubs to eat at. We would be very happy to stay here again.
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"Lovely cottage."
Layout very good . Lovely garden. Would have given it 5 but one or two things in cottage need attending to. Also after a 300 mile drive some milk in fridge or dried milk even would have been nice so we could have had a cuppa. In other cottages we have rented this is usually the case. Abbots Bromley lovely village. Would recommend.
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"Stayed with my ageing, active, parents."
Darwen is a delight. Mid-summer and it was beautifully cool indoors. Well appointed, to the point I made a cake. Kitchen well appointed. Beds very comfortable and good quality bedding. Garden is an absolute treat, good table and chairs for outdoor meals. If you are a bit older/taking older relatives stairs are fine. Plenty of space to spread out in. Road isn't intrusive and can't be heard in the garden. Invinity restaurant, is excellent and worth a visit. Village is interesting and people are friendly. Excellent Farm shop at Hoar Cross and an interesting Church. We three thoroughly recommend the cottage. Hope to re-visit in future. Area has lots to see including an excellent tour of Wedgwood, well worth a trip.
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"Lovely cottage in a beautiful village."
My family really enjoyed our mini break. Thank you!
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"Lovely comfortable cottage ."
Close to lots of places to visit. 4 pubs in the village and Indian serving food. Good sized pretty garden.
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"We all enjoyed our stay, and loved your garden."
There were just a few things missing in the kitchen like a vegetable peeler and cafeteria. Even though you had a coffee machine. We had some great dinners cooked , but a disappointing curry one night but great times visiting local areas
Hello Helen I’m glad you enjoyed the garden- it is a bit of a jewel which keeps on giving and is looking very beautiful with all the bulbs and shrubs coming to life . Thank you for your feedback on items missing and I’m sorry they weren’t there for your stay. Sadly sometimes things do go missing but I have replaced everything now. Property Owner
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"Darwen really is a lovely cottage and we had a great week."
We are keen walkers and are currently walking the Cross Britain Way which goes through Abbots Bromley so it was a perfect location. Well equipped and cosy it was a perfect base and we can imagine how lovely the garden is in warmer weather too. We also appreciated the owner’s email message on arrival and the information left regarding the TV / the heating system etc - always reassuring whether it’s needed or not. Sent from my iPhone
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"We had a lovely break here for my Sons 30th Birthday."
Lovely to be with the family and our two beautiful grandchildren. Everything was perfect thank you. Great spot, house had everything we needed. Some fabulous walks, pubs and a very chilled place to stay. Would definitely recommend to family and friends. Thank you
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"We had a lovely stay at Darwen with our Labrador."
The cottage is pretty in tact, warm and welcoming with many of the original features, the size works really well and the main sitting area works really well with comfy furniture. The garden is decoratively large. Would recommend and stay again. The area is also lovely and great if your looking for that village field, with great walks for pets.
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"Just what we needed, a total drop out of life."
Darwen was warm and inviting from the moment we opened the door. Garden was large and we loved exploring the different areas. Welcome pack was very appreciated, as were the local amenities recommendations. We hope to visit again in the future.
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"Property was very cosy."
Beautiful location with pubs and Indian restaurant a stone’s throw away. Thanks for lovely experience.
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"Lovely cottage and well maintained."
Comfortable beds. Garden not very big and could be more done with it. Only issue was cottage sits on a main road and from 6am onwards you can here the traffic. Village is in a great location and has a basketball court/ football pitch/ park, also dog walks. The local pubs and Indian restaurant was great.
Thank you so much for your comments and advice and we’re so glad you enjoyed your stay! The garden is an enclosed cottage garden and actually extends a long way back. We will be doing a lot of ‘cutting back’ and maintenance work on it during the remainder of the Autumn and early Spring. The cottage is in the countryside but also in the heart of the village, and even in rural areas there is some traffic. Property Owner
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"Maybe a welcome information pack would be useful."
Just things like the heating, a copy of the cooker instructions and other useful information etc.
Thank you for your feedback. Further to this, I have ensured there is now a comprehensive welcome pack in the property. Kind Regards, Hannah Property Owner
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"Lovely place to stay and a very welcoming host."
We will be back
Thank you for this lovely feedback. You would be very welcome. Property Owner
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"We had a lovely week at Darwen, Abbots Bromley."
The property was rustic, as expected, with original beams. The furniture and beds were very comfortable. The large back garden was an added extra as it was south facing. We had reason to contact the owner over a small problem and she got in touch with us promptly and resolved the problem. We thoroughly recommend a stay at this cottage.
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"The cottage is beautifully decorated with a lovely secure garden in a very nice village."
The early morning noise from traffic is disturbing but we knew it was situated right on main road through village before we came so no complaint. The one thing I would mention, and again this is not a complaint but advice having stayed in many holiday cottages, is that the second double bedroom does not really work. The bed us up against a wall one side the other is only 1 foot away from wardrobes. There is no where to sit as there is a footboard on end of bed. The room needs a bed you can sit on bottom of a mirror over the little chest and wall lights over top of bed so you can read in bed if you want. Having said that the bed was very comfortable with lovely bed linen. We enjoyed our stay very much. Valerie Barbara and Jane
Thank you both for your feedback and I'm really glad you enjoyed your stay in the cottage and the village. Your comments are very useful and we are really grateful for these suggestions. We will attach a light above the bed in the double room and address the lack of seating with a chair in there. Thank you once again. Kind Regards Hannah Property Owner
Summary
- Three bedrooms: 1 x king-size, 1 x double, 1 x twin
- Bathroom with bath, walk-in shower, double basin and WC
- Kitchen
- Dining room with gas stove
- Sitting room with woodburning stove
- Gas central heating with gas fire and wood-burning stove
- Electric oven, gas hob, microwave, undercounter fridge, freezer, washing machine and dishwasher
- Travel cot, highchair and stair-gate available upon request
- Smart TV, WiFi
- Fuel, power and starter pack for wood-burning stove inc. in rent
- Bed linen & towels inc in rent
- On-street parking outside property
- Rear enclosed garden with lawn, patio, furniture & secure shed for storage of up to 6 bikes
- Well behaved dog’s welcome
- Sorry, no smoking
- Shop 0.4 miles, pub 0.1 miles.
The property
Darwen is a pretty three-bedroom cottage which boasts charming character features.
Recently redecorated for Spring 2024, it is a cosy and comfortable bolthole located in Abbots Bromley, a historic, quintessentially English village in the heart of rural Staffordshire and at the gateway to the Peak District.. Abbots Bromley has many local amenities all within walking distance of the cottage.
There are four traditional local pubs which serve excellent ale and food, a local shop, an award winning Indian restaurant and two coffee shops locally renowned for their delicious homemade cakes!
Darwen House is the perfect place to come if you're looking to spend some quality, peaceful time with the ones you love.
Step into the beamed dining room with a traditional quarry tiled floor, inglenook fireplace and gas fired stove.
A large farmhouse style table can comfortably accommodate six dinners.
The well-equipped galley kitchen has views onto the beautifully mature and secluded south facing garden.
A serene setting in which to create homemade culinary delights and experiment with the Good Housekeeping’s product of the year: the Thermomix – “a revolutionary multi- cooker, the ultimate do-it all kitchen gadget.” Newly acquired for the 2024 season; short of pouring your dinner party drinks or doing the dishes afterwards, there isn’t a whole lot the Thermomix can’t do.
It can chop, blend, peel, steam, cook, stir, whisk, mill, weigh, ferment, mince, sauté and more.
You can create cocktails, canapes, soups, delicious main courses, sorbets and sumptuous sweets.
A must have for all serious chefs, or indeed interested amateurs -the options are quite literally endless!
You will be supplied with the Cookidoo recipe app login details prior to your visit with which you can plan your culinary delights.
Rest assured any four legged friends will also enjoy discovering the large lawned gardens which extend a significant way back and are fully enclosed.
In the summer months, the large patio area is the perfect place to dine al-fresco or simply enjoy a glass or something cold and refreshing!
The secure shed can also house up to six bikes should you wish to explore the many cycle routes in this area. After a day sightseeing or walking, relax and unwind in the comfortable sitting room.
On a sunny day, open the French windows onto the patio or on more Autumnal days, curl up in front of the cosy log burning stove. Retire upstairs to discover three well-appointed bedrooms each with ample clothes storage facilities, A cot bed is available on request.
A large, family bathroom with separate shower, large corner bath and double sinks overlooks the garden to the rear of the property. Abbots Bromley is famous for hosting the annual ‘Horn Dance’.
A quirky pagan festival, reportedly dating back over 800 years – a sublime mixture of Morris dancing, antlers and a pub crawl around the many traditional eateries in the area.
Being located on the Staffordshire Way and the Heart of England Way, there are many scenic walking routes to take advantage of around the village.
Also nearby is Blithfield reservoir and nature reserve where you can enjoy a peaceful stroll, fishing or sailing.
Explore the Cannock Chase AONB, rich in wildlife and enjoying remarkable scenery for avid walkers and dogs!
Also located here are purpose built mountain bike trails for all abilities. Also within easy reach are the friendly market towns of Stafford, Ashbourne Uttoxeter and Rugeley home to a flurry of independent shops.
A short drive away is the historic city of Lichfield, Darwen’s birthplace.
For an action packed day filled with fun, use Darwen House as a base and head over to Alton Towers, Drayton Manor Park, Twycross zoo, St George’s Park, National Forest Adventure Farm or Go Ape.
For those seeking a more peaceful way to spend a day, head to the National Arboretum or the National Trust site of Shugborough Estate to wander around the Georgian mansion.
A short journey away you'll also arrive at Uttoxeter Racecourse, hosting race days and hospitality packages, or perhaps unwind on your getaway, by visiting Hoar Cross Hall for a spa day or full use of leisure facilities.
For a character cottage located in a beautiful setting with much to see and do for everyone, visit Darwen House.
Note: This property has a Good Housekeeping bond of £200.
Where you’ll be staying
ABBOTS BROMLEY
Rugeley 6.3 miles; Stafford 13.5 miles
This charming village and civil parish is located in Staffordshire, just a few miles from Rugeley, and is well-placed for discovering the Cannock Chase AONB and the town of Stafford. Abbots Bromley has a good selection of shops, pubs and restaurants, as well as a village hall, cricket field and children's playground. Close to the Blithfield Reservoir, you can enjoy scenic walks by the water, as well as at Brankley Pastures nature reserve, Fradley Pool and the ancient woodland of Needwood Forest, all within easy reach. Venture into the market town of Rugeley, your gateway to the Channock Chase AONB, to discover the National Trust's Shugborough Estate, the treetop adventures at Go Ape Channock and a multitude of stunning walking and cycling trails through forest parkland and elevated heaths.
This property offers the following short breaks:
- Winter
- Off-season
- Last minute
- Christmas