Some places have a sense of calm about them, and Northcote is one of those places.
Tucked into the edge of the quiet hamlet of Kentisbury, with Exmoor just two miles in one direction and the North Devon coast four miles in the other, Northcote Manor Farm sits in 33 acres of rolling pasture and ancient woodland. It is a place that has been part of this landscape for nearly a thousand years and when you arrive, somehow, you can feel it.
Our Family, Our Farm
Northcote Manor Farm is run by Alice and Liam, who moved to the farm at the end of 2025 with their baby daughter Poppy. Alice is a primary school teacher and Liam is a landscape gardener - between them they bring warmth, creativity and an enormous amount of care to everything they do here. This is not just a business to them. It is their home, their community and something they are deeply proud to be part of.
Alice's parents, Keith and Gaynore, also live on the farm and are very much part of the Northcote family. You will almost certainly spot them around the place - whether they are lending a hand, tending to the land or simply enjoying the views the farm has to offer. Their warmth and welcome are as much a part of the Northcote experience as the countryside itself.
This is a working farm and a family home, and we think that is exactly what makes it special. A genuine welcome, a real place and people who truly want you to have the most wonderful time.
A Place With History
The history of Northcote stretches back almost a thousand years. The farm appears in the Domesday Book in 1086, when Geoffrey de Montbray - Bishop of Coutances and close friend of William the Conqueror - was listed as Northcote's Tenant-in-Chief. By 1103, a Galfridus de Northcote was recorded as an English knight, and it was he who founded the Northcote family - an influential name in Devon and beyond for several centuries that followed.
The farmhouse itself dates from the mid-16th century, with parts possibly reaching back to the 15th, and is a Grade II listed building of real character. Inside, a fine Tudor fireplace with original built-in bread ovens speaks quietly of the lives lived here long before ours. The walled garden and a large, stream-fed manorial fish pond suggest that Northcote was always something more than a simple farm - a place of some standing, with a story still being uncovered.
An old ordnance survey map references the remains of a Manor House in the field above the farm, and the barns that now house our holiday cottages date from the 18th and 19th centuries, their foundations likely as old as the farmhouse itself. There is history in every stone here, and we find that rather wonderful.
The Farm Today
Today, Northcote Manor Farm is home to five beautifully appointed self-catering cottages, arranged around a courtyard and set within grounds that guests are warmly invited to explore. With 33 acres of pasture and woodland, footpaths that lead out across the surrounding countryside, a covered children's swimming pool, a games field and a games room for rainy Devon days — there is space, freedom and fresh air in abundance.
The sheep are very much still part of life here, and the farm follows the rhythm of the seasons in the way that only a working farm can. We think that is part of the magic of staying at Northcote — you are not just visiting the countryside, you are stepping into it.
Every Season is a Good Season
Northcote is a place for every season: spring welcomes the arrival of new lambs in the fields and the countryside slowly waking up; summer brings longer days, warmer evenings and the unrivalled smell of a BBQ; autumn turns the woodland golden and the walking is nothing short of spectacular; and winter settles in with a quiet kind of magic, adding a touch of frost to the already beautiful views.
No matter the weather or time of year, it is always a peaceful and beautiful place to explore and, on clear nights, the skies above the farm are extraordinary, making star-gazing here something you will never forget.
Looking After This Place
We are very aware of the privilege of being custodians of somewhere as special as Northcote Manor Farm. The buildings, the land, the environment - all of it matters enormously to us.
We kindly ask all our guests to treat the cottages with care during their stay. These spaces are full of history and character and we’d love to keep them just as special for everyone who visits.
We hope you love it here just as much as we do.
- Alice, Liam & Poppy