House and Garden
The St Juliot Rectory is not only an interesting house situated in an entrancing part of Cornwall, it is the setting for one of the most important romances in literary history.
The House
The Old Rectory and large walled garden were both built in 1846. The house was converted to a Bed & Breakfast, with four en-suite rooms in 2000. The Old Stables was converted to Self Catering in Spring 2022.
We have carefully preserved the Victorian features that make this house so special, including the sash windows, fireplaces, picture rails and elegant staircase. We have also replaced the dilapidated Veranda and conservatory that were part of the original building.
We have put together an Access Statement for your stay at The Old Rectory
Booking conditions: We ask for a 30% deposit at time of booking. In the event of a cancellation we will refund your deposit in full providing we can re-let the room. Cancellations made within 7 days will incur the full charge of the total unless the room is re-let. If you leave early then full payment will be taken and refunded if we re-let the room.
The Garden
Explore and enjoy our beautiful south facing garden. Enjoy panoramic views from our wooden deck over the Valency Valley and out to sea.
We serve fruit and vegetables from the garden for breakfasts and evening meals throughout the year and our free range hens produce the freshest eggs.
The woodland garden has magnificent rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. A long herbaceous border leads to Hardy's Seat- a place as peaceful today as when Thomas and Emma sat here over 100 years ago.
Behind the high stone wall travel back in time to the Victorian walled kitchen garden and see where we tend our freshly grown produce. Here you can find all our fresh fruit, vegetables and hens.
In the fields we keep Jacob sheep which graze around our 80 solar panels which provide nearly all of our electricity. If you are interested in renewable technologies you are welcome to have an informative tour of our solar array and large biomass boiler, which powers all of our radiators and hot water.
Animals
Here at The Old Rectory we have many animals. That includes around 30 hens, honey bees, sheep and in the spring, lambs.
The walled garden is a fox-proof haven for hens and ducks. We currently have about 30 hens that lay us plenty of eggs for breakfast
We also have some honey bees in the walled garden that help pollinate all our fruit - we encourage anyone with an interest in bees to join us on a hive inspection - weather permitting...
Up in the fields we keep free-range spotty Jacob sheep, they are all great characters and we look forward to lambs every spring.
Also we cannot forget our golden retriever Pippa!
The History of The Old Rectory
The Old Rectory was the setting for one of the most important romances in literary history.
It was here that in March 1870 Thomas Hardy arrived as an architect and started his Cornish romance with the Rector's sister-in-law Emma. Later in life he became one of England's greatest poets and novelists.
On the death of Emma in 1912 after a fairly unhappy marriage, he returned to St Juliot and wrote some of his finest poetry, deeply moving in its memories of the past, of the Rectory, and of the 'wandering western sea'. Many of the places Hardy mentions can still be recognised 140 years later.