4-star holiday cottage near Malvern, Worcestershire
Recent visitors to the barn brought their tandem bicycle.
Cyclists can store their precious machines in our converted pigsty which is secure and dry. We have a bucket-full of useful items for cyclists such as cleaning materials and a puncture repair kit.
Our guests said: ‘We had another lovely week at the barn and I don’t think we have exhausted the pleasures of the area. We attach a photo you might want to place in your pictures for any cyclists.’
After the sad demise of our resident pheasant last year we spied a new pheasant proudly perched on our field gate. We hope that it becomes a regular visitor!
“A wonderful rural location for exploring the Malvern Hills and surrounding area.”
—VisitEngland Assessment Services
We are very proud to announce that we have, again, been rated Four Star Gold Award by VisitEngland. The assessment was carried out on Thursday 19 February 2026. This is a well-deserved reward for Rosemary Boaz, owner of Rhydd Barn, and her local team of housekeeper Sharon, gardener Tim, builder Tom and, of course, Rosemary’s sister Andrea who prepares a welcome basket and is on site to help our guests during their stay.
This comes after we won a prestigious VisitEngland ROSE Award in September last year in recognition of the high standard of accommodation we offer.
Here is an extract from VisitEngland’s assessment summary. The whole summary page and highlights page is available on our downloads page for reference.
Rhydd Barn continues to offer comfortable very well maintained accommodation for its market. Ms Boaz, the Proprietor and her team continue to clearly take great pride in the barn, this being very much reflected in the high standards achieved and maintained and for which all are to be congratulated. A real credit to you all. Well done! This continues to also be reflected in the number of return guests, a real testament to the commitment to the business of the owners and team.
It is therefore a pleasure to once again reconfirm the Four Star Self-catering rating along with Gold Award for another year reflecting this, and fully deserving. Congratulations to you all!!
Links:
Rhydd Barn has won one of the rare VisitEngland ROSE Awards 2025 given to outstanding accommodation providers. Only 100 accommodation providers are selected to win a ROSE Award each year. Rosemary Boaz, owner of Rhydd Barn, and Sharon Yelding, housekeeper of the Barn, were presented with the award at an event on Wednesday 10 September at The Post Barn, near Newbury, Berkshire.
The ROSE (Recognition Of Service Excellence) Awards showcase the accommodation providers who deliver the warmest of welcomes and where the staff provide incredible experiences for their customers irrespective of star rating, style or type of accommodation.
See our special page celebrating our ROSE Award
Official press release: Winners of VisitEngland’s 2025 ROSE Award announced
We have installed some extra USB charging points to fit the more recent smaller USB-C standard (as well as the older USB-A type). Also a new water butt at the end of the pigsty to replace the old one which was leaking. And there is a new electric kettle in the kitchen — which is supposed to be quieter after it was pointed out that the old kettle was very noisy.
The lovely pheasant who frequently visited the barn was, one late afternoon, sadly, found dead on the road. Possibly the same pheasant who proudly strutted around the Barn that I photographed in an earlier news item around a year ago? My great niece and I wrote the poems below inspired by our memories of the pheasant’s natural beauty and charm.
MY POEM
Late Sunday afternoon you were in my field
Pecking the grass
Relaxed and content
Coming up close to the barn.
Now you are dead on the road,
Your beautiful plumage can be seen.
Why would you try to cross the road?
You were safe in our fields.
We are all sad Our lives are emptier without you.
MY GREAT NIECE’S POEM
The pheasant was nice
Although I don’t like birds.
The bird was magnificent, beautiful, strong.
Although you’re gone You’ll still be in our hearts.
We are pleased to announce that that Rhydd Barn has, yet again, achieved a 4-star Gold Award rating from VisitEngland in an its annual inspection carried out on 20 March 2025. Our Walkers Welcome and Cyclists Welcome accreditations were also confirmed for another year. We are grateful to Sharon, our cleaner (who helped the Barn achieve a 100% rating for cleanliness), and our team who maintain the buildings and grounds as well as Andrea who provides a ‘welcome pack’ for our visitors.
We have just received the full report. Here is the summary:
Rhydd Barn continues to offer comfortable very well well maintained accommodation for its market. Mrs Boaz, the Proprietor, and her team clearly take great pride in the barn, this being very much reflected in the high standards achieved and maintained and for which all are to be congratulated. A real credit to you all. Well done! This continues to also be reflected in the number of return guests, a real testament to the commitment to the business of the owners and team.
It is therefore a pleasure to once again reconfirm the Four Star Self catering rating along with Gold Award for another year reflecting this, and fully deserving. Congratulations to you all!!
It is also understood that the Proprietors feel the current rating and award meets well with the market expectations and business levels catered for and we wish them all the very best for a successful coming 2025 Season, and stay safe and well one and all.
Walkers Accreditation also confirmed for another year.
Cyclists Accreditation also confirmed for the coming year.
15 January, 2025
I am at the Barn. My great nieces call in to see me, late afternoon. My sister had collected them from school. One of my nieces has always been interested in writing poetry. It was a very atmospheric afternoon with the mist coming down. We sat in front of the downstairs picture window in the barn, so we had the same view at the same time, and wrote our poems…
This is my poem:
Western View through Barn Window
Cold January afternoon
towards close of day.
Bright chaffinch flies onto fence
mown green grass by sheep beyond.
Distant silhouettes of winter trees
fading into the mist,
pattern of branches against grey sky
soon to disappear.
Grandma arrives calling
children for tea, gymnastics.
Father impatient to go
sounds horn of car.
All is silent again.
Little dog relaxes once more and sleeps.
Outside a thick mist has
covered the trees.
No one would know they are there.
The grass colour fades,
the dark fence remains.
And here is my niece’s poem:
I look up.
I look at the birds
the trees and the view.
I look at the beautiful oak tree,
the old gate
and multicolour stones.
And I see a beautiful
World
I thought my niece’s poem was such a contrast to mine—a young child’s view of the world beyond the weather outside.
—Rosemary Boaz
At the moment our field below the Barn is hosting eight sheep and one ram from our local farmer. They are doing a good job of keeping the grass down.
We have installed a grab handle in the shower for safety.
