The booking process

Confirming a Booking:

We ask for a 50% deposit which is non-returnable, to secure your date.

A damage deposit of 10% (£300 / £500) is taken at the beginning of your booking, to be returned to you when you leave.

Refundable Security Deposit:

We ask for a £200 security deposit that will be returned to you as soon as we have the venue handed back over to us, given that everything is in order.

 Cancellation Policy:

• From the date the deposit is paid, there is a 7-day cooling-off period. After this, the deposit paid is non-refundable under any circumstances. There can be no exceptions.
• Any request to cancel shall be notified immediately by email to OxenParkFarmBookings@gmail.com
• All bookings are subject to review. If we feel the booking would risk any licence we hold or the terms of our own insurance, we reserve the right to cancel the booking and refund your money immediately.

When do I pay the balance?

• 10 weeks prior to your booking, your balance is due.
• We will ask for your commitment to catering numbers and event extras. 
• You can then increase your booking numbers but not decrease (we will be securing staff and planning our stock of food, drinks and other direct costs). 
• All food must be paid for by the couple up-front at time of booking.

Parking & Access

Parking: We have parking on hardstanding for around 50 cars, and plenty more on grass/soft ground unless the ground is absolutely soddened from recent rain. We do strongly encourage carsharing as part of our ethos here at the farm. Parking is around 200metres from the main yard and Cob Barn area. If you have access needs you will be directed to park on the farm track, closest to the Cob Barn and yard. 

As part of your venue hire we will provide parking attendant for a 1-hour slot each day at a time you decide. This attendant can direct guests where to set up tents etc.

Accessibility: Oxen Park Farm is by its very nature, a farm, and the access & tracks are farm tracks - in very wet conditions they can become muddy and therefore very difficult for wheelchair users. The farm is on a hill, and access down to the wildlife ponds, up to the Circle Garden and the Hot Tub, orchards and beyond are steep, and do not have proper tracks.  The access to the Cob Barn and Dining Barns is relatively flat and accessible, although stoney. We will have staff on-hand to assist if you make us aware of your needs ahead of your visit.

There is an accessible toilet onsite, but it is further away from the venue than is ideal. We are in the process of fundraising for a new accessible toilet closer to our Cob Barn & Dining Barn.

Insurance: If you are inviting members of the public to your event, you will need your own Public Liability Insurance, Risk Assessments and policies to cover your event. We will ask you to provide copies of these at the time of booking. If you are holding a private party, you do not need Public Liability insurance, but it is recommended that you have it.

Guest Information

For guests with children: Bodies of water are the most dangerous thing we have on-site. It is your responsibility to ensure everyone is aware of where these are and to keep your children away from them.
The big rope swing is tied up when we hire out our venue. This is for everyone’s safety. Please do not untie the rope swing. The play structure is for your enjoyment. All children must be supervised at all times.


Dogs: Please note that as we are a working farm, we do not allow dogs on site other than assistance dogs.

Taxis: If you are ordering taxis for your event, please give them this what3words:  so that they do not arrive at the farmhouse entrance.

 

The Cob Barn

(18m x 8m) – maximum capacity of 180 people.
Located at the heart our biodynamically farmed land, the Cob Barn has transformed from a cow shed to the beautiful oak-floored space it is today. Cosy and warmed by a huge wood burner on colder days and spacious and light with large doors to open on a beautiful day, the Cob Barn reflects our values of beautiful, functional and sustainable. Curtains can be open to the beautiful views or closed for privacy.

Our Cob Barn is a bare foot space - strictly no outdoor shoes. There is a generous hallway with hooks and benches for shoes & coats - in the colder months it's advisable to bring slippers or thicker socks for comfort.  

Under no circumstances may anyone sleep in the Cob Barn. This would nullify our insurance and put us all at risk.

There is a mezzanine in the Cob Barn accessible via stairs – these are off-limits to everyone other than farm staff.

 Lighting: 

There are dimmer wall lights and overhead lights provided. There are overhead poles and beams for bunting & extra lights at irregular intervals all the way across the barn.  All electrical equipment bought into the barn must be PAT tested.

 Projector: This is available to hire for £50 +VAT.

Sound System: a speaker system is included in the cost (this links to the projector)

WiFi: We do not yet have WiFi at the farm; however, most phone providers are now getting strong 4G / 5G signal in the Cob Barn.

Music in the Cob Barn: We must respect our neighbours and the community who live here. Strictly no music outdoors past 23.00, and no amplified music indoors after 23.00. The Cob Barn has a piano.

PA: If you are using your own PA, or hiring a band who is bringing their own, we will need to see that it is PAT tested.  We have a PA available to hire, with mics.

Our PA system:

Mixing Desk – Behringer x2
Europower PMP 6000 1600-Watt 20-Channel
Powered mixer with dual multi-FX Processor and FBQ Feedback Detection System

8 x mics – mix of SHURE PG58 & Sennheiser e825 S

Speakers:

Behringer Eurolive F1220A x2
High-performance active 125-watt monitor speaker system with 12” woofer 1” compression driver and feedback filter 

Behringer Eurolive B215D x2
Active 550-watt 2-way PA speaker system with 15” woofer and 1.35” compression drive

Laney CXP-112 x2

Taking care of the Cob Barn:
No naked flames permitted. Nothing can be fixed or taped to the walls, ceilings or floors, or pierced in any way. Equipment tripods, C-stands, and dolly tracks must have felt or rubber feet to prevent floor damage.  No plastic / foil confetti or glitter is to be used inside or outside. Undyed dried flower confetti and undyed rice is permitted outdoors. We cannot permit the use of smoke machines, power tools or machinery in the Cob Barn. We cannot put chairs and tables into the Cob Barn for meals. Sleeping is not permitted in the Cob Barn. The Cob Barn is a strictly no smoking space, which includes e-cigarettes or vapes.

Food & Drink in the Cob Barn:

No food is to be eaten in the Cob Barn. Drinks can be taken in there with care. No glass is allowed in the Cob Barn.

 Music & Noise: We must respect our neighbours and the community who live here. Strictly no music outdoors past 23.00, and no amplified music indoors after 23.00. The Cob barn is fitted with a remote noise monitor. Fireworks are not allowed. 

Dining Barn

Our open-fronted dining Barn (8m50 x 5m40) – Seats 75 comfortably, 90 if they’re friendly. This is on benches, with a handful of chairs with backs. The Dining Barn has festoon lighting, and overhead lighting provided. No naked flames permitted. Overhead beams for hanging bunting & lights. All electrical lights must be PAT tested. A stepladder can be borrowed from the farm and returned after use.

 Decorating the tables: You might like to think about how you want to decorate the tables. Our tables are all slightly different shapes & sizes, and we have a mixture of benches and chairs.
Tables in the Dining Barn: 3 x 264x72cm | 1 x 373x70cm | 1 x 515x74cm | 1 x 465x60cm wide | 1 x double picnic bench.

 

Outdoor Tables in the yard:

There is space for 36 more guests to sit and eat on picnic benches, but this is out in the yard and not under cover.  Tables in the yard: 6 x single picnic benches

Mongolian Yurt

Our beautiful 19' Mongolian Yurt is included in your wedding celebration booking price. It has a beautiful wooden floor, a large woodburner (wood is included in the booking price), fairy lights, electricity with three outlets. The yurt is a no-shoe zone - benches and coat hooks are provided in the porch. The yurt comes with mattresses (up to 6 singles, or one double and three singles) - all you need to do is bring bedding.

Gardens & Surrounding spaces

Please note that this is a working farm, with livestock in the fields and vegetables growing. There are clear signs indicating where you are free to explore and where you aren’t.  Not included is access to the wildlife ponds, growing fields, the orchards, poly tunnels or the homestead. We will show you on arrival and clearly mark with signs where it is safe for you and your guests to roam.

Circle Garden:
A beautiful space to gather, with a fire pit in the centre of abundant flower beds radiating out into the orchard and farmland.

 

Wildlife Ponds:
Created only a few years ago these are now established ponds thriving with life and an integral part of the farm. Please be aware of the risk of these ponds and take care around them, especially with children.

Dock & Thistle Bar

Our Dock & Thistle bar is included in your hiring fee. Our staff will serve your drinks - farm cider, a local ale, red & white wine, apple juice fizz and one cocktail/mixer. This includes our plastic pint & half-pint glasses, which must be washed & dried and returned at the end of your booking. The Dock & Thistle has electricity – lights and plugs. There is one under-counter freezer & one under-counter fridge in the Dock & Thistle for your use.

Glasses: As a working farm we have to be very careful about glass in the farmyard. If you would like to hire-in glass for wine with your meal, we ask that they be packed away by around 8.30pm to avoid breakages. Please deal with any breakages immediately.

Smoking: The Cob Barn & Dining Barn are non-smoking buildings, this includes e-cigarettes. The only smoking area is outside the Dock & Thistle Bar. Please dispose of cigarette ends responsibly in the containers provided.

Farm Produce

You can buy seasonal vegetables and other farm produce for your event. This includes

• Windfall Cider, made from organic apples here at the farm, @ £5 Litre
• Eve’s Press Apple Fizz, made from organic apples here at the farm, @ £5 Litre

Flowers:

We encourage people to celebrate what is from the land, and sunflowers are one of our signature crops.  During our sunflower season (usually June-October, but this varies year to year), you can buy sunflowers to adorn the venue. Other flowers may be available at other times of the year – please do talk to us, or. we can put you in touch with a local flower grower.

£100 for 250 stems of sunflowers. Please consider buying your flowers from us rather than bringing flowers grown in heated glass houses.

The Fortunes - our local ceilidh band 

The Fortunes are a ceilidh band from the Teign valley who play dance music, old and new as well as some of their own tunes. They've played a number of ceilidh's at On the Hill accompanied by the band's caller 'Lady Luck'. Our cob barn is the perfect space for a ceilidh and with the support of Lady Luck and the Fortunes you're very likely to have a wild night of dancing!

Kitchen Hire

The kitchen will be handed over to your named person, who must be there to hand back over to us at the end of your hire.

There is a small community who are staying on the farm, and this is our only kitchen. When you hire the kitchen, you can decide whether to feed the people here, or to allow access to the kitchen to prepare a meal for the community, and then again afterwards to wash-up. We can be discreet and eat elsewhere – we understand that you will probably want the space to yourselves during your event.

Kitchen Equipment & Handover:

You will be given a handover document with a checklist at the beginning and end of your hire. As an outdoor kitchen, we work really hard to keep the kitchen spotless overnight and ask you to do the same – we are very proud of our 5* hygiene rating considering we only have 3 walls!

 

Item	Quantity	Capacity
Crockery
Plates - dinner	170
Steel bowls Total	85
Pasta bowls	11
Cutlery
Forks	130
Knives	99
Spoons	90
Kitchen Equipment
Gas Hob Oven - 6 rings	1
Rayburn - wood fuelled - 2 hob tops	1
Stainless steel pans	2	15L
Stainless steel pans	2	20L
Stainless steel pans	1	40L
Saucepans	multiple	smaller
Frying pans	multiple	large
Frying pans	multiple	smaller
Colanders	multiple	large
Gastronorms	10	large
Gastronorms	4	half-sized
Loaf tins	5	small
Stainless steel bowls	multiple	various
Graters	4	small
Rolling pins	5	various
Chopping Boards	?	various
Sieves	3	small
Peelers	3	small
Knives	multiple	various
Serving spoons	7	various
Spatulas	3	medium
Fish Slices	3	medium
Ladles	4	medium
Stick blender	1	domestic
Hob-top kettle	1	large
Electric kettle	2	medium
Electric Urn	1	large
Cafetieres	3	medium
Teapots	2	large
Tea Trays	3
Stainless steel platters	4
Fridges
Tall Larder Fridge in the Kitchen
Tall Larder Fridge in the Yard Barn	1	domestic

If you require another refrigerator, freezer, or specific equipment please bring them along, ensuring that they are either brand new or have been P.A.T tested.

Rubbish: We ask that you take all of your rubbish and recycling home with you. We do not have the capacity to process this for you; one of the ways we keep costs as low as we can.

The BBQ: (44cm x 90cm). You can hire our BBQ for £40. To be returned in the same condition as it is found. Charcoal made here at the farm can be bought @£10 for 5 kg.

Staying with us – Weekend Celebrations

Campsite: You are welcome to bring any size tent, small camper van or caravan (the site is not suitable for larger vans or motorhomes).

Facilities are simple. We do not have electric hook-ups on site, or chemical toilet facilities.

Our campsite does not allow camping stoves to be used for fire risk reasons.

Toilets: We have 4 compost toilets (2 by the Cob Barn, and 2 by the campsite), and 2 straw-bale urinals for those standing up to pee. One of our toilets is an accessible toilet, and is located by the campsite/parking). For bigger camping events we will dig 2 toilet tents with holes dug – no toilet seat provided. You are welcome to hire more toilets if you think you need them.

Showers: We have 2 outdoor gas-powered showers. You are welcome to hire more showers if you think you need them. Our drainage is very sensitive to the wildlife – please only use products without SLS, and as non-damaging as you can find. In the drier months we often have droughts. Please consider your water usage wisely – we are a working farm and watering our crops must be our priority.