Poultry Cottage

Leighton, Welshpool, Powys

Overview

A charming model estate cottage with barley twist chimneys, once lived in by the keeper of the various poultry who were housed in even greater splendour next door.

  • Dogs AllowedDogs Allowed
  • CotCot
  • Fire or StoveFire or Stove
  • Open SpaceOpen Space
  • Parking AvailableParking Available
  • Bath with ShowerBath with Shower
  • RemoteRemote

Beds 2 Single, 1 Double

Sleeps
4
4 nights from
£304 equivalent to £19.00 per person, per night

Part of a Victorian model estate

Leighton is a model estate on a stupendous scale, laid out in the 1850s by John Naylor, a wealthy Liverpool banker. Besides magnificent housing for all kinds of livestock, the estate had its own aqueduct and cable railway to take water, manure and feed to outlying farms.

The spectacular ornamental Fowl House next door to our cottage, and under our care, is just one of the fascinating features of the Leighton Estate, also renowned for its arboretum, which surrounds these two poultry-themed buildings.

Meticulously designed quarters

The Poultry Yard was added in 1861, complete with fowl house, storm shed, pond and scratching yard, and the poultry-keeper’s cottage in which you can stay, set in the large and secluded grounds from which the chickens have long gone. Each species, whether large or small, ornamental, water or humble hen, had its own meticulously designed quarters in the Fowl House: a thorough attention to detail, which is typical of the whole estate.

The everyday care of the birds was under the supervision of a Poultry-keeper, whose quarters were the cottage just beside the yard, today’s Landmark. It is in fact an earlier building, dating from about 1800, but was smartened up in 1861 to match its neighbours.

The surrounding woodland offers walks to suit all seasons. It is a peaceful setting (the chickens have long gone) with views across the Severn Valley to Montgomeryshire.  In addition to Leighton, one can visit the gardens at Powis Castle, Glansevern Hall and Vaynor.

Floor Plans

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Map & local info

Poultry Cottage (and its adjacent, grand Fowl House) sit nestled on the edge of the forest on the Leighton estate, accessible only by forestry track. Nearby is a grove of giant redwoods, and across the Severn Valley are the green hills of Montgomeryshire.

Visit the Powis Castle and Gardens, and find a  beautiful, medieval castle surrounded by world-famous gardens, overhung with clipped yews sheltering rare and tender plants.

The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway provides a welcome change to the rush of everyday life, and is a great trip to take with children. 

Montgomery Canal and Llyn Coed Y Dinas Nature Reserve are great ways to enjoy the peace and tranquility of this rural area. 

Close by is Powysland Museum (3.1 miles) and Powis Castle and Garden (3.6 miles).

Take a look at our Pinterest Map for things to see and do during your stay at Poultry Cottage. Discover local walks for dogs with our friends at Walkiees.co.uk, the dog walks community.

Please Note: The Landmark Trust does not take any responsibility and makes no warranties, representations or undertakings about the content of any website accessed by hypertext link. Links should not be taken as an endorsement of any kind. The Landmark Trust has no control over the availability of the linked pages.

Clear directions
Essential info
What you need to know about this building
  • Yes. You are welcome to bring up to two dogs. A charge of £20 per stay is made for each dog.

    Please contact booking enquiries if you have an assistance dog, for which there is no charge. Pheasants are reared in the surrounding area and shooting takes place occasionally on the land around the Cottage during the season (September to March).
    We suggest you keep your dog on a lead to avoid disturbing game birds and for your dog's safety.
  • Via a long forestry track.
  • Welshpool – 3 miles.
  • There are two / three parking spaces adjacent to the property.
  • There are Rointe electric panel heaters and a coal burning stove.
  • Coal may be purchased and delivered under a private arrangement. Further details will be provided with your booking confirmation.
  • To check up-to-date mobile network coverage in the area, visit signalchecker.co.uk. Due to the location and structure of many of our buildings, signal strength may differ to those indicated.
  • The majority of properties do not offer WiFi but many now have mobile coverage. Facilities in some properties rely on WiFi to function and we are currently piloting guest use of WiFi at a few of our buildings. We are going to extend the pilot across more properties and review customer feedback in 2025.
  • The kitchen is fully equipped with all plates, cutlery, fridge etc. There is also an electric cooker.
  • There is one bathroom with a shower over the bath.
  • The stairs are not particularly steep.
  • There is a garden (not enclosed). There is unfenced water near to the fowl house.
  • Pheasants are reared in the surrounding area and shooting takes place occasionally on the land around the Cottage during the season (September to March).
Booking and Payment
  • If the weather is bad, please contact our booking office who will be able to tell you whether the Landmark is accessible. If the housekeeper can safely get to the building to prepare it then we consider that it is open and available for guests. However if we cannot undertake a changeover then we will do our utmost to transfer your stay to another Landmark, depending on what we have available. It may not be of a similar size or in the same part of the country as your original booking. If the building is accessible but the customer cannot travel due to poor weather in his/her local area then please be aware that Landmark will not provide a refund. However the customer may be able to claim on his/her own travel insurance. We recommend that all guests take out travel insurance when they first secure a booking.
  • We accept Maestro (if issued in the UK), Visa, MasterCard, direct transfer and sterling cheques drawn on a UK bank. Cheques should be made payable to the Landmark Trust except for Lundy stays and boat/helicopter tickets which should be payable to The Lundy Company Ltd. All payments must be in sterling.
  • The key arrangements will be included in the Further Infomation document which will be sent to you prior to your stay.
  • If your stay starts more than two months from the date you make the booking, you are required to pay a deposit of one third of the cost of your stay (or £100 per booking, if greater) at the time of booking. Camping on Lundy and The Bunk House at Llwyn Celyn must be paid for in full at the time of booking.
  • If you wish to cancel or change your booking, please contact our Booking Office on 01628 825925
  • At the moment we only accept payment in sterling.
  • Our housekeeper will leave the key in a suitable place, the details of which will be sent to you prior to your stay.
  • It depends. Some of our most popular Landmarks are booked up a long time in advance, but many can be booked at short notice. We will always have Landmarks free for the coming weekend so it’s always worth checking our availability list.
  • No, Landmarks are available to be booked for anyone.
  • No, all the information you need can be found on our website, although we’d like you to buy one anyway as it will be a pleasure to own!
Staying at a Landmark
  • Some of our Landmarks are suitable for people with disabilities or limited mobility. However, many Landmarks have steep or narrow staircases, uneven floors and thresholds, changes of level, low ceilings or beams, as well as indistinct colours on steps and in corridors. We recommend that you call Booking Enquiries on 01628 825925 if you would like to find out the suitability of a particular Landmark for anyone with a specific disability.  Further information on access when visiting Lundy can also be found here.
  • Yes, Landmarks are only available as self-catering accommodation. We do not offer bed and breakfast.
  • Landmark does not provide catering, but we can recommend Greycoat Lumleys who can arrange for expert and well-trained staff to cater for one evening or for your entire holiday. Their cooks and chefs are able to work with you to meet your specific requirements
  • You may bring up to two dogs to properties where dogs are allowed (please see specific property details for exemptions however dogs are not permitted on Lundy except assistance dogs). They must be kept off the furniture and under proper control. A charge of £20 per stay is made for each dog. Please contact booking enquiries if a registered assistance dog is supporting one of the guests, for which there is no charge.
  • Apart from two dogs (see above) no other pets are permitted.
  • Arrival is from 4pm and departure is by 10am.
  • We do not carry insurance for breakages. However we appreciate that accidents do sometimes happen. If you have a breakage during your stay, please let the housekeeper know and if appropriate we reserve the right to invoice you accordingly.
  • Yes, most of our Landmarks are perfect for children, with gardens to play in and secret places to discover. Our furniture is surprisingly robust and we positively encourage families to stay. However, some of our buildings may not be suitable for small children; for example, some of them have steep or uneven spiral staircases. We recommend that you call the Booking Enquiries team if you would like to find out the suitability of any of our Landmarks for young children.
  • Unfortunately, most of our Landmarks are not licensed for weddings. However, you may get married on Lundy.
  • All our larger Landmarks are perfect for gatherings of family or friends. You may invite an additional two guests to visit you during your stay, however they must not stay overnight. This is very important because our fire regulations specifically note the maximum number of people in any one building. In addition our properties are prepared, furnished and equipped for the number of people specified and greater numbers cause damage and excessive wear and tear to vulnerable buildings. Should this condition be ignored we shall make a retrospective charge per person per day (whether or not they stay overnight) for each guest over the permitted limit, the charge being pro-rated on the total cost of your booking.
  • We deliberately do not provide televisions and find that most people appreciate this.
  • One of the challenges of restoring unloved buildings is gaining access to them. We frequently have to negotiate rights with our neighbours and share tracks with them. In many cases tracks do not belong to us and we have no right to maintain them. Wherever possible we work with our neighbours to provide you with a good quality surface, but where this is a problem then you will be warned at the time of booking.
  • Yes, we have standard electricity sockets for UK appliances. If you are coming from outside the UK, you will need to bring your own adaptor plug(s). If you are visiting one of our European properties we have standard European electricity sockets. If you are visiting from the UK, you will need to bring your own adapter plug (s).
  • Landmark’s electrical systems have not been designed to provide continuous power from one socket over several hours.  If an ordinary socket is used to charge an electric vehicle, there is significant risk of an electrical fire and consequent danger to life.  Therefore, we are unable to allow electric vehicle charging from most of our Landmarks at present.

    We are working to provide Type 2 Electric Vehicle charge points at our properties where there is private parking.  Where this is available, please request this facility when booking the property to ensure the outlet is enabled on your arrival.  There is a small charge to cover the cost of electricity provided.  Please book this facility in advance.
  • No, we do not allow smoking in any Landmark.
Facilities
  • Sometimes our kitchens and bathrooms have to be imaginatively fitted into the available space in buildings where before there were none, but they are all planned and equipped to a high and modern standard.
  • Yes, Landmarks are fully equipped with sheets and towels. All the beds are fully made up for your arrival. Except for the Llwyn Celyn Bunkhouse.
  • Yes, our kitchens are well equipped with cookers and fridges. There are freezers and dishwashers (in larger buildings) and, where space allows, microwaves as well as a wide and standard range of utensils. A full equipment list is available at time of booking.
  • Logs are provided at many of our Landmarks for an additional cost.
  • Mobile coverage varies. Some Landmarks have an excellent signal, but others have none at all. You can find those with 4G and 5G signal on our Landmarks with mobile signal page and each building has a link to signal checker in the Essential Information so you can check individual service providers' coverage in the area.
  • The majority of properties do not offer WiFi but many now have mobile coverage. Facilities in some properties rely on WiFi to function and we are currently piloting guest use of WiFi at a few of our buildings. We are going to extend the pilot across more properties and review customer feedback in 2025.
  • A welcome tray with tea and sugar awaits your arrival and you will find a pint of milk in the fridge. We also provide toilet rolls and a bar of soap per basin, but no other toiletries. Hairdryers are provided.
History

A fashion for keeping ornamental fowl

The Fowl House, or Poultry House as it is often known, was built in 1861, the date is set above the door. It is said to have been a birthday present for Georgina, one of the daughters of John Naylor of Leighton Hall, and was probably designed by the Liverpool architect W.H. Gee, who also designed the Hall and the church. A fashion for keeping ornamental fowl had been set by Queen Victoria, who built an elaborate Poultry House at Windsor in the 1840s.

The arrival of new and exotic breeds from abroad, such as Cochins, and the growth of experience in breeding new varieties at home, led to its becoming a popular hobby among all classes of society. Few people went into poultry-keeping on such a grand scale as John Naylor, but everything he did is of similar magnificence. He came from a family of Liverpool bankers, the Leylands, and spent large sums on the development of Leighton as a model estate in the 1850s. The Fowl House must have gone some way towards fulfilling the ideal of making the country house self-sufficient in produce, even if the chief purpose of the birds kept here was for decoration and amusement.

The Fowl House was divided into compartments for the different breeds and types of birds. Several of the nesting boxes survive, showing that large birds such as turkeys and geese were kept here, as well as hens and ducks. Each was carefully segregated from the other, even when let out into the yard to scratch, or onto the pond to swim. A storm shed was provided for wet days, and the whole complex was surrounded by a fence.

The everyday care of the birds was under the supervision of a Poultry-keeper, who lived in the cottage just beside the yard, today’s Landmark. It is in fact an earlier building, dating from about 1800, but was smartened up in 1861 to match its neighbours.

The Leighton estate was sold in separate lots by John Naylor's grandson in 1931. The Fowl House was included with the Forestry plantations, and has remained in the same ownership until it was sold to the Landmark Trust in 1988, which now cares for both the Fowl House and the cottage, now let for holidays.

A short history of Poultry Cottage

The full history album for Poultry Cottage

Download the children's Explorer pack for Poultry Cottage

Restoration

The Fowl House had fallen into disrepair

It is unlikely that exotic fowl have pecked and scratched here since 1914, and the Fowl House had inevitably fallen into disrepair, its surroundings overgrown. The cottage had remained inhabited however and needed only minor repairs and alterations, including the reinstatement of the chimneypots and of the original lime render on the walls, to prevent damp.

Work was needed on the exterior of the Fowl House itself. Some areas of the timber framing had decayed, and new wood had to be pieced in, using Douglas fir to match the original. The finials on the gables had also to be renewed, and then the whole frame repainted with red lead paint. The roof was stripped and re-laid in sections, reusing the old slates. Damaged stained glass windows were repaired. Outside, the yard, the pond, the storm shed and the perimeter fence all look much as they did in the days of John Naylor, and Georgiana.

Availability & booking

Select a changeover day to start your booking...

What's a changeover day? and Why can't I select other dates?Explain MoreQuestion

A changeover day is a particular day of the week when holidays start and end at our properties. These tend to be on a Friday or a Monday but can sometimes vary. All stays run from one changeover day until another changeover day.