Our group of 4 (2 couples) spent a lovely week at the Coryton School House.  This rambling, spacious and comfortable house is truly charming and unique, filled with art, pottery and books.  One feels that one is in someone’s private home and the hostess has just stepped out. There are two wings to the house, connected by a large, bright, cozy (it has an Aga!), beautifully-appointed kitchen -- so privacy was never an issue.  All of the bathrooms are great, but we especially enjoyed the sunken bathroom in the original part of the house, which has lovely views of the church and picturesque graveyard.  Everything was very clean and functioned well, including Wifi.  The outside is just as nice -- there is a large outdoor eating area, (complete with pergola and grill) that we used for almost all of our meals.  There are 3 garden areas -- we moved our lounge chairs around depending on the time of day and enjoyed cocktails every night in the "secret garden" which has amazing views of the countryside. The gardens are filled with wild flowers, lavender and rosemary and the place is so quiet and tranquil that we could have been happy just puttering around the house every day. Nevertheless, we did venture out, to Travistock for groceries and the Pannier Market, to Cornwall for a nice long hike along the southwest coast path, to Brentor for the climb up to evensong at St. Micheal, to Dartmoor National park, of course, to Wydcombe on the Moor, Postbridge and Chagford and to Bat Tor and Wind Tor. We also enjoyed just walking along the back lanes, where we only very occasionally saw a car.  Joanna very kindly facilitated a visit to the nearby Kigbeare Studios and Gallery where we were given a fascinating tour of the workshop by the potter Svend Bayer and got to see some beautiful pottery.  Finally, we enjoyed a very nice dinner at the Castle Inn in Lydford. Americans considering this place might be a bit nervous about the Aga but it we pretty quickly figured out how to make simple dinners, and in any case there is a regular stove and oven as well and a grill and microwave.  Joanna was unfailingly helpful and very easy to reach and the caretaker lives just down the lane.  We would recommend this home without reservation and we all hope to return.

The Old School House is an amazing, quiet and spacious home in a wonderful part of Devon. It has everything that a visitor would want. A caring owner who wants you to enjoy every part of your vacations in a perfect setting.all we can say is thank you.

This is a beautiful much loved house in a stunning position right next to the village church. The only sounds at night are lambs bleating and owls hooting and in the daytime you just get the lambs. The accommodation is luxurious and having two sitting rooms allows your party to split into two - TV watchers and readers! The house is spotlessly clean and very well equipped and the Aga keeps it cosy. There is a large garden full of bluebells at this time of year and plenty of outside seating. Lots to do locally - Lydford Gorge, Endsleigh Nurseries, swimming on Dartmoor all hugely recommended. Joe

My family had a fantastic time at the Old School House. It is like a home away from home. It's much more spacious than we expected, with wonderful views. The Aga makes the kitchen the heart of the home and we had great fun using it to cook and dry our clothes. Both sitting rooms have a fireplace and we had a fire burning each night. We played croquet in the garden and explored the church next door. Joanna is a great host, quick to answer any questions we had. Would love to go back next year.

This is a very beautifully furnished house , with many works of art in every nook and cranny .The old school house is charming and melds into a light , airy and well designed contemporary extension . The beds are extremely comfortable , and the location is very peaceful . We enjoyed the many daffodils in the garden . We spent the days walking , and the evenings by the open fire . Highlights were the kitchen range , the piano and the music books , and the stylish decor . We found the open fire rather smoky, especially in the master bedroom so maybe the chimney was due to be swept ? Would be lovely to stay here in the Summer , as the garden is quite a feature .

My daughter, aged 10, wrote this in the visitors book and I think it is a nice summary of all that was good about this house: We had such a wonderful stay in this beautiful house. My brother and I loved the big garden where we played football. I also loved playing the piano, I learnt so much on it. My Dad and I picked loads of apples, they were absolutely delicious. My Grandma found this house very peaceful, and she enjoyed relaxing in it. Also, my parents loved using the Aga for cooking. Overall we had a wonderful, enjoyable weekend in this fabulous house. :) I would add, the house was perfectly set out for us as my mum, who can't really manage stairs very well, was on the ground floor with her own bathroom. She only had to negotiate a couple of steps as the kitchen was on a slightly different level. There are two beautiful sitting rooms, the larger one with the piano which was a lovely place to sit and relax and the other with the TV. The kitchen was very well equipped and we managed to cook everything using the AGA despite not having used one before (and there is a conventional oven, induction hob and microwave also available if required). The garden is amazing. We were there at the wrong time of the year to make the best use of it but the children still enjoyed playing outside and picking apples. Joanna was very helpful before, during and after our stay (returning left behind items!) I just wish we had stayed slightly longer as we were only there 3 nights and didn't do as much exploring as I would have liked to!

Unser Aufenthalt in dem alten Schulhaus war hervorragend. Es ist ein sehr gemütliches Ferienhaus, sehr gepflegt und großzügig mit weitläufigem Garten. Eine sehr geschmackvolle und vollausgestattete Küche mit einem AGA-Herd,der für eine wohlig warme Atmosphäre sorgt. Das Ferienhaus liegt sehr ruhig, obwohl eine Straße vorbei führt,die aber kaum befahren ist. Joanna Bird ist eine sehr zuvorkommende und freundliche Gastgeberin. Wir sind gut erholt und würden jederzeit wieder unseren Urlaub dort verbringen.

We had a brilliant stay at this house. We were 2 couples with a baby each and Joanna was excellent in keeping in touch and accommodating our needs for the babies. Cots were included which was appreciated. We were able to use 2 separate wings of the house in order to prevent the kids from waking each other up! Beds comfy. Kitchen was awesome - the Aga was great to use (as was the regular oven!). Loved the bath in the master bedroom, and the outside spaces and the lounge were perfect. Jill was nearby and really helpful, and Joanna the owner was always available and on hand for queries. Peaceful, relaxing, cosy and comfortable. A great stay. Great recommendations of places to visit nearby, and even when it was raining it was great to just relax in the house. Thoroughly recommend

This is a very nice escape, great way to get away from it all, while still being a little connected. This School House has every amenity you could need and with 4 adults and 1 child, there was plenty of room for all, probably more than we needed. The owner and housekeeper were readily available for the few questions we had. We miss waking up and falling asleep to the sheep....highly recommend if you are really looking to get away from it all.

Lovely stay in old school house with annexe separate for children. Gardens and views lovely and peaceful. Owner Joanna very helpful. Only a few issues though. Could not use the Aga to cook various meals at once but good for heating food. Couldn't get the separate oven hob to work either. Could have done with a microwave as a fall back but not provided. We had the master bedroom with beautiful sunken en suite but only twin beds provided we pushed them together but unfortunately come apart easily as I found to my cost when falling through the middle during the night. Also please note the cottage is attached to a grave yard so bear in mind if children are spooked by this. Overall a lovely peaceful place to come back to after exploring Devon.

The Old School house is a lovely, spacious and interesting home, equipped with more than you can imagine! Inside, the house is one continuous house but in two halves (the original stone school house and the newer wooden 'Ark' ) joined by a wonderful family kitchen warmed by the Aga. There are lots of places to find your own space and read or relax or listen to music and there's a piano too if you want to make some music! There's a feeling of generosity in the property, whether its the ample supply of dishwasher tablets or the size of the towels (in some rentals the towels are like postage stamps! not here!). The bedrooms and bathrooms were spacious and comfortable, finished to a very high standard. The garden is as you can see on the photos - we particularly enjoyed playing croquet on the three tier terrace and sunbathing on the comfortable reclining chairs overlooking the uninterrupted view of the rolling Devon hills. The house is really away from it all, next to a church and between a couple of farms either end of the road and pretty much nothing else. So if you are looking for peace and quiet and a house where 6 of you can choose to be close or find your own space, it's ideal. We are an active family of 5 with three lads two in late teens and one in his 20's who enjoy walking, running and cycling. We spent half of most of the days out on the Moor being energetic and then chilled at the house the rest of the time. We chose to go to the Dartmoor NP via Tavistock as the road was quick and easy. Shopping in the Tesco superstore was simple and en route home. It took us about 25 minutes to get to the heart of the Moor and there are lots of places to walk and run and cycle. We enjoyed a cream tea at the Two Bridges Hotel - but be prepared, they are delicious but large portions! We also enjoyed cycling around the hamlets around Coryton but its easy to get lost on the narrow lanes which all look the same! At the wend of our week on our way home we went via Haytor on the east of the Moor and that was a great place to park up and climb up both of the Tors before a long journey. We ate outside some of the time when the sun was out and as the Rio Olympics was on TV, we spent several late evenings relaxing together in the living room cheering on team GB. Joanna is a helpful, friendly and thoughtful owner and we'd thoroughly recommend staying here and enjoying the home, garden and surrounding area!

A wonderful house, full of personality and inspiring with a wealth of interesting features and artwork. A very quiet and charming valley, yet close to Dartmoor, Cornwall and some lovely towns and castles.