📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Grayhill Historical Farm was bought by the Historical Land Group Trust and renovation of the entire 15.5-acre site to its late 16th early 17th-century condition began in 1987. There are 30 fields in the 15 acres which have been returned to their historical land uses, hay meadows, pasture, woodland, arable, gardens and orchards.
Ten collapsed period buildings have been restored so far, from Longhouses to pig sties. Much of the 3 miles of field boundaries have been reinstated along with ponds and wells. The site provides the ideal background for film shoots and educational courses as well as the production of period foodstuffs. The BBC historical documentary TV series 'Tales from the Green Valley' was set here.
See more at http://www.stuart-hmaltd.com/green_valley_farm.php
💼 What the programme involves
The Grayhill project is an historical restoration and re-enactment project based in a re-created 16th century landscape near Chepstow in Monmouthshire, they have been hosting international volunteers since the project began in 1987. The camp covers two weeks and involves restoration including re-building roofs in oak timbers and stone slate and constructing walls and carpentry. Volunteers will have a chance to work alongside other volunteers and develop their skills and knowledge of historic and sustainable building and farming techniques.
🏠 Accommodation on site
This is an authentic historical experience, and as such facilities are very basic; you will be living in a barn and cooking will be done over open fires. There are no modern facilities on site, so no electricity or piped water, and hot water is limited. There are modern sustainable compost toilets but showers will be taken off site at the local swimming pool, and there is also a river which you can bathe in and when the weather is nice we may have improvised showers on site.
We realize that these conditions can seem intimidating to many people, but we will assure you that it is not as scary as it seems. The art of living simply is often lost but we strive to create a humble, peaceful place full of natures wonders in which you can have a complete break from reality. Who knows... you might never want to leave!
There is no clothes washing facility at the accommodation so we encourage you to bring a suitable amount of clothing with you, but the host can arrange for you to wash your clothes if you require it. There will be a chance to use wifi during the free time of the project but volunteers should not expect it to be able to use the internet on the project site.
The group will work together to organise the cooking and other domestic responsibilities so volunteers should bring some recipes from home to share
📍 About the location
The Green Valley Farm is in an area of natural beauty and there is plenty to do and see in the surrounding areas. There will be a diverse range of people involved in the project and they enjoy to spend evenings sharing nice meals and enjoying stories and music around the campfire. Trips to the nearby town for showers and use of wifi etc will be arranged regularly and the host will try to accommodate the interests of the volunteers. The project is close to train and bus terminals and you can easily access nearby small towns and villages, and the larger cities of Newport, Cardiff, Bath and Bristol are also within 1 hr by train.