The Autumn Grounding retreat at ANRÁN Devon offers four days of seasonal food, kitchen garden experiences, Dartmoor walks and time to slow down.
There is something particularly appealing about a retreat that does not seem to require you to do very much. The Autumn Grounding at ANRÁN Devon, from 27 to 30 October, is built around that idea, combining the pleasures of a working kitchen garden with good food, nature and the chance simply to slow down.
Set at ANRÁN at Tidwell Farm in Devon, the four-day retreat is limited to just 15 guests. Rather than following a packed programme of activities, guests are encouraged to find their own rhythm. Join the organised experiences or spend an afternoon reading beside the fire. Take a walk, use the sauna or wood-fired hot tub, or simply enjoy the gardens and grounds.
The focus, however, is very much on the land and the people who care for it.
From Garden to Table
Head Kitchen Gardener Jenny Thompson and Camille van Hoegaerden will introduce guests to the ANRÁN kitchen garden, sharing something of the seasonal rhythms of growing and tending the land. Guests can help harvest what is ready before sitting down to a garden lunch inspired by the morning’s produce.
The garden-to-table philosophy continues throughout the retreat. Chef Hannah Thomas, who trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School and previously worked at The Ethicurean, creates the seasonal meals, using produce harvested from the estate alongside ingredients from local Devon suppliers.
There are fireside suppers and a final celebration feast, but the food is not simply something to be consumed. The idea is to understand a little more about where it comes from and the work involved in producing it.
Autumn on the Devon Landscape
The garden is only part of the experience. One morning takes guests onto Dartmoor for a moorland wander, while elsewhere there are guided walks, gentle movement and time to explore the ANRÁN estate, including its gardens, woodland, lakes and lily pond.
There is also a seasonal produce workshop and an autumn floral tablescape workshop, as well as an evening around the firepit beneath Devon’s dark skies. A sauna and wood-fired hot tub offer another way to spend the afternoon.
Importantly, none of it is compulsory.
That makes the Autumn Grounding feel less like a retreat with a timetable to complete and more like an opportunity to spend several days properly experiencing one place. There is time to meet the people who grow and cook the food, walk through the landscape, sit around a table with other guests and notice the changing season.
For travellers interested in responsible UK travel, there is something particularly attractive about this approach. Rather than rushing between attractions, the experience is rooted in one place and the people who make it what it is. It is a chance to see something of the work behind the food, understand the landscape and enjoy a slower form of travel without having to travel far.
Autumn Grounding, ANRÁN
The Autumn Grounding runs from 27 to 30 October 2026, with three nights’ accommodation at ANRÁN, private ensuite rooms, meals and the programme of seasonal experiences included. There are just 15 places, with the retreat priced at £1,595 per person.
For anyone looking for an autumn escape in Devon that combines food, nature and a genuine connection to place, Anran Devon offers a rather different kind of four-day break.
Main image: Jenny and Camille picking flowers in the Kitchen Garden at ANRÁN – CREDIT EDWIN HO