A healing stay at Elmley Nature Reserve

I had heard people rave religiously about Elmley Nature Reserve – I’d seen the golden sunrises on Instagram and bookmarked their cosy cabins for a rainy day. But it wasn’t until I got there, a little frazzled and weary with the world, shoulders knotted with stress and tense from the tedium of everyday life, that I truly appreciated the power of escaping to nature and finding peace in the wilderness.

Elmley Nature Reserve is a family-owned farm and nature reserve set in over 3,000 acres of wild landscape on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. For the past 40 years, owners and pioneering farmers Philip and Corinne Merricks have worked tirelessly to restore nature to the estate and preserve biodiversity, creating a flourishing setting that’s home to wading birds, owls, hares, butterflies and bees. In fact, Elmley is the only family-run national nature reserve in the UK.

You can spend the day there, meandering around the waterways and wildflowers, stopping to gaze at the horizon or ponder the birds ducking and diving between the ponds. You can also come for a wellness retreat or hire the farm buildings for a wedding. But if you’re looking for a truly restorative break, you can also stay in one of Elmley’s famous huts or cabins and truly getaway from it all.

[Ad – this was a press stay, hosted by Elmley Nature Reserve]

Elmley is home to 10 custom-made shepherd’s huts and cabins, dotted across the low-lying landscape, hidden by grasses and meadows. They also have the old 17th century farmhouse, which hosts 12 guests, and Elmley Cottage, which holds 10 guests, if you’re looking for a group stay. There’s even luxurious bell tents with private fire pits in the summer months.

Some of the cabins open up completely to the landscape, fusing inside and out, so you can sip your morning coffee and take in the sunrise from the comforting folds of your bed. Each season has its own appeal at Elmley, whether it’s hunkering down by a wood burning stove in winter with a good book, toasting marshmallows on a fire in autumn skies or indulging in an outdoor bath to the sounds of Spring (or indeed any season!).

I had the pleasure of staying in Martha’s hut, a cosy cabin clad in rustic wood panels, with sliding doors that opened up onto a wooden deck with vast views across the grasslands. While storm Bert raged around me, wind whistling and howling across the horizon, I sheltered in quiet solitude, watching the birds bob back and forth with the breeze. It was heavenly to have a day with no plans at all, except maybe a walk and to read a book. We hardly ever allow ourselves the time to truly rest and daydream. And I couldn’t think of a more perfect setting to let time tick on by while you come back to nature and back to yourself.

You shouldn’t have much reason to go anywhere at all – at Martha’s Hut you have an outdoor kitchen with a hob, as well as a kettle and tea and coffee, but you can also have breakfast or supper hampers delivered to your door. For supper, Elmley has teamed up with Wasted Kitchen in nearby Faversham to offer homemade meals made using surplus and seasonal ingredients. I enjoyed a heartwarming vegetable chilli with a kale and hazelnut salad, followed by raspberry sorbet, but I also know they do a fruit crumble or a sticky maple pecan pie for a cosy winter treat.

Little luxuries also include my favourite VERDEN products, fluffy bathrobes and soft Romney Marsh Wools hand-knitted hot water bottles.

While I was there I also got to have a peek inside another one of their cabins called Vanellus, which I believe is one of their original huts, positioned slightly closer to the farmhouse. This one has a lighter, airier feel that I feel would be perfect for summer stays. It doesn’t have a wood burning stove, but it does have a better view and a charming feel, with a dresser created from an old railway wagon and reclaimed tree branches that frame the kingsize bed.

I couldn’t recommend a stay at Elmley more – go to hideaway, stay for a healing massage and come back restored and rejuvenated. I think I might prescribe myself a visit every year!