Deep in Thomas Hardy’s Dorset and a stone’s throw from the Jurassic Coast world heritage site is an idyllic country retreat and centre for sustainable living…
Monkton Wyld Court is so much more than an old country house and gardens in West Dorset. It is also a volunteer community and education centre for sustainable living, a B&B, a camp site and a rural retreat where you can stay, either as a guest or volunteer.
History of Monkton Wyld Court
The house itself has some fascinating history. This Grade II listed Neo-Gothic Court was built in 1848 as a Rectory, and local folklore says it was built by a jealous mother-in-law desperate to ensure her daughter and new husband (the rector) would stay in the UK rather than take a posting overseas. In many ways it is (ironically) a relic of extravagant living.
The building is also one of very few houses designed by Richard Cromwell Carpenter, who was considered the great hope of early Victorian Gothic architecture but died in 1855 aged 42. So this is a pretty special building.
In 1940, educational pioneers Carl and Eleanor Urban established a co-educational boarding school at Monkton Wyld to promote cooperative living and learning. Although the original school closed in 1982, the importance of sustainability, farming and land-based practical skills has remained central to the ethos of Monkton Wyld.
Volunteer at Monkton Wyld
Today Monkton Wyld is run and maintained by a resident community, with the help of volunteers, and works to develop and promote a lifestyle based on mutual respect for each other and the natural environment. All decisions are made by consensus, and new members join through a gradual process that begins with a volunteering visit.
Monkton Wyld offers many opportunities for travellers who are interested in sustainability. There are both short- and long-term volunteering opportunities, which will be of particular interest to anyone wanting to learn more about organic farming, gardening, running a guest house, living and working cooperatively, or any number of land-based skills.
There are usually six volunteers at Monkton Wyld at any one time, working in exchange for lodging, food, learning and a taste of community life. They usually rotate between various areas of work, ensuring a varied experience. Volunteering placements are usually for two weeks initially, although some stay longer.
Stay at Monkton Wyld
If volunteering is not for you, this is also a great base for a visit to the nearby Jurassic Coast world heritage site, with popular attractions like West Bay, Burton Bradstock, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Dor and fossil hunting at Charmouth all within a short distance from this centre for sustainable living.
Monkton Wyld has some lovely guest rooms, with fantastic countryside views, and you can choose to stay on a bed and breakfast basis in a single, double or twin room, or in one of the larger hostel-style rooms. It is even possible to camp on the ‘Old Tennis Lawn’ in summer or take a writers retreat here.
The food is amazing and the kitchen is completely vegetarian.
Organic vegetables and fruit are grown on site, there are fresh eggs from the resident chickens, and organic milk, cream, cheese and yoghurt from three Jersey cows.
The cheese is delicious and is home-made by tenant farmer and author Simon Fairlie, who wrote Meat: A Benign Extravagance.
Most of the cooking and heating is wood-fuelled and any produce that cannot be produced on site is bought locally. Monkton Wyld is also a member of the Green Traveller Scheme.
Education Centre for Sustainable Living
As an education centre for sustainable living, Monkton Wyld Court hosts a range of courses, conferences and gatherings, including yoga and meditation retreats, herbal first aid courses, scything and land management, micro and nano dairy courses, and cheese-making, to name just a few.
A wander around leaves you in no doubt of the sustainability of this place.
Everywhere you look there are clues to the sustainable ethos that is central to Monkton Wyld. There are solar panels on the roof, wood-fuelled boilers and stoves throughout, rainwater-saving for flushing toilets and a reed-bed system for filtering sewage.
Using food waste for compost, growing organic fruits and vegetables, running a micro-dairy, farming the land organically, using scythes to manage grassland, and recycling and reusing as much as possible, are all central tasks. Work is generally carried out without the aid of power tools.
Large projects are also offered as courses or volunteering opportunities so that you can come and learn new skills, such as building a straw bale building, timber barn or one of the award winning compost toilets on site.
Social space
There is no need to worry about feeling isolated here deep in Thomas Hardy’s Dorset, as Monkton Wyld is also home to what must be the smallest pub in the county, appropriately named The Reluctant Volunteer.
Community members and volunteers eat meals together and often arrange informal activities in the evenings, such as film showings, trips to the beach or music-making around the fire.
There is also an outdoor pizza and bread oven, lovely gardens and a wonderful library on site.
So if you’re looking for somewhere a little bit different to stay, with a strong green ethos and the opportunity to learn new skills, then why not consider a stay at Monkton Wyld Court.
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