B&B · Castle Combe
Fosse Farmhouse
A farmhouse bed and breakfast full of vintage finds on the Fosse Way at Nettleton Shrub, a mile or so from Castle Combe, with three dog-friendly holiday cottages in its old farm buildings.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
A quirky, personal place, crammed with the owner's collection of vintage kitchenware and French brocante, which takes dogs in its B&B rooms as well as its cottages. The cottages suit families and groups who want space around a shared courtyard.
- Good: Dogs welcome in the B&B rooms and all three cottages, £10 a dog a night
- Good: Family B&B room with a cast-iron bath, cots on request
- Good: Cottages sleep two to six, or up to 16 together
- Worth knowing: No female dogs in season
- Worth knowing: Self-catering balance due 60 days ahead, with no refund after that
- Worth knowing: Its website shows few dated updates; confirm prices when you book
About
Fosse Farmhouse stands on the Fosse Way at Nettleton Shrub, a five-minute drive or a 25-minute walk from Castle Combe. Caron, who found the farmhouse four decades ago and still lives there, fills it with the vintage kitchenware and French brocante she has collected since she was 16, and bakes Wiltshire lardy cake and cream teas for guests.
Bed and breakfast is in the farmhouse. The Pine Room is a family room with a queen and a single bed and a big bathroom with a cast-iron bath; the Pink Room has two singles that join into a king. Both cost £145 a night for two and £160 for three, and one dog can stay for £10 a night. The farmhouse inspired the Japanese anime and manga Kiniro Mosaic (Kinmosa), and fans come to see both rooms and the dining room, which appear in it.
Around a courtyard behind are three self-catering cottages: the Dovecote, a loft flat for two to four from £130 a night; the Garden House, an eighteenth-century dairy rebuilt in 2004, sleeping six in two triple bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, with a log fire and its own garden; and the Stables, with cobbled floors and a Victorian cast-iron range, sleeping six in three en-suite bedrooms. All take dogs, which must be house-trained, not left unattended and kept off furniture and beds unless covered with your own throws. They can be booked together for groups of up to 16. The walk from Ford to Castle Combe is close by, and Castle Combe Circuit is about seven minutes' drive.
The details
- Serving
- Breakfast
- Rooms
- 5
- Check-in
- B&B from 2pm; cottages from 4pm
- Check-out
- By 10am
- Features
- Garden or terrace · Family rooms · Dogs in rooms · Parking · Wi-Fi
- Parking
- Free parking at the farmhouse and by the cottages.
Photos
The breakfast room 
The Pine Room 
Inside the Stables 
The converted stables
Location
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Castle Inn 1.4 km away
- The White Hart, Castle Combe 1.5 km away
- The Manor House 1.5 km away
- Castle Combe Circuit 2.1 km away
Sights nearby
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St Andrew's Church, Castle Combe
Sight · Church · Castle Combe
Castle Combe's Grade I parish church, open every day in daylight: a fifteenth-century tower begun in 1434 with help from Sir John Fastolf's will, a medieval clock with no face, and the crossed-legged effigy of Sir Walter de Dunstanville.
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Market Cross, Castle Combe
Sight · Monument · Castle Combe
Castle Combe's medieval market cross, a stone-tiled roof on four corner posts over a central pedestal, stands where the village street begins, beside St Andrew's church. It is a scheduled monument, free to see at any time.
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By Brook
Sight · River · Castle Combe
The By Brook is the wooded valley stream that runs through Castle Combe and south by Long Dean, Ford and Slaughterford, in north-west Wiltshire. It once had some twenty watermill sites, for corn, cloth and paper, and public footpaths follow much of it.
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Castle Combe bridge
Sight · Bridge · Castle Combe
Castle Combe bridge carries the village street over the By Brook at the bottom of the hill: three low skew arches rebuilt for the Scropes in the early nineteenth century, with grooves in its buttresses for the iron screens that kept livestock in. Grade II.