Up? Down? Updown Cottage on an Up-Down Street

Our first foray into cottages was a few years ago when another couple travelled with us to England. We decided that it would be better for us to have a two bedroom cottage than to have to pay for two hotel rooms. So with that in mind, Marsha went on a search.

She found Updown Cottage and we knew by the information provided that it was going to be special.  Updown Cottage is situated on the iconic Gold Hill in Shaftesbury.  Gold Hill is the most photographed street in all of England, and this image will tell you why: 

When our friends arrived at Heathrow, we picked them up and we set out for Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury is in Dorset, a county about 95 miles west of Heathrow, a pleasant 1.5-hour drive. (Along the way you pass Stonehenge, an added benefit that is visible from the road.) Upon arrival we drove up to the cottage, unloaded the car and then parked at the bottom of the hill as no parking is allowed on the hill itself.  The walk up to the cottage was manageable.

View from the music room, Updown Cottage.

The cottage itself is modernized and fitted us very well. The kitchen is fully equipped, and the dining room has a lovely view of the garden behind the house. The bedrooms are nicely appointed, albeit small and with low doorways. The bathrooms are modernized and very comfortable. The stairs are steep and narrow, so you might want to take that into consideration if anybody in your party struggles with mobility. The lounge on the main floor is in the front of the house, with a music room (complete with grand piano) just behind. The views from the music room over the Dorset countryside are simply stunning.  In the morning you can open the window and listen to the birdsong while sipping that first cup of tea. Ah, heaven.

The street is steep, as you might expect. Look at this picture I took of a red bench across the street from Updown. Yes, it’s level. Yes, it’s steep. Yes, it’s cobbled. When the cobbles are wet, it can be a bit slippery, so be careful.

There are pubs close by, one at the top of the hill and one at the bottom. So the question every evening was, “Do we want to walk down the hill from the pub, or up the hill from the pub?” Shaftesbury is a fun village, with a museum, a pretty good high street for shopping and good pubs. And it is central to Dorset, which was key for us.

From Updown, we took day driving trips to see the countryside. Bath is one hour away; Wells is just a bit closer at a 55-minute drive; Clovelly, a lovely seaside village and historical site is a just over two-hour drive with Taunton along the way at the one hour point. Portsmouth, with HMS Victory and the D-Day Tapestry museum, is 90 minutes away, and Winchester is just over an hour drive. Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) is 1:15 hrs. away and Salisbury, with the Salisbury Cathedral, is only 40 minutes.  So basically, you can get up, have a nice breakfast in the cottage, get underway about 9 a.m., be just about anywhere before 11, visit all day, have dinner and drive back to be in the cottage well before 9 p.m. Or get back to the cottage by 6 p.m. and go to one of the local pubs for dinner. We did both.

The cottage is currently for sale, but the owners are still taking bookings (as of 2018). When it sells, it may remain in business as a cottage for rent, or it may be converted back to a private home. But if you are going there in 2018 or early 2019, it’s worth considering. Use the website to book. And perhaps the new owner will keep it going as a holiday cottage for all of us to enjoy!

UPDATE, 2021. The cottage has been sold, and the new owner has converted it back to a private home. We will leave this post up as a reminder of our wonderful times at UpDown Cottage.

One last thing. Gold Hill was used as a setting for a famous TV advertisement for Hovis bread in 1973. Here is a link to that ad on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mq59ykPnAE