This stunning Cotswold country house has long been at the forefront of sustainability within the wedding industry, and their efforts are something that we like to keep a close (and inspired) eye on! This year’s newness comes in the form of eco-friendly treehouses, nestled within their newly rewilded woodland. Perfect for wedding guest accommodation, returning couples, and the general public alike. We’re poised to confirm our next staycation…how do we book?!
The year is new, a fresh sheet of 12 months laid out in front of us to do whatever we fancy… So, what’s new at Elmore Court? Well, quite a bit actually! But, before we get on to the very exciting new projects we have in the pipeline, let’s give you a little backstory of how we got here shall we?
The Story of Elmore
Up until 2013 (when we first opened for weddings and events) Elmore Court was a traditional country manor owned and enjoyed by the Guise family for 750 years, but evolution rumbles on, and change eventually blows through, and it turned out Anselm Guise was the Guy (ise) to bring about those changes… In his case inheriting an estate came with the weighty responsibility of keeping 750 years of family history alive, and it quickly became apparent that the money needed to keep the old house from falling in on itself was not growing on any of the trees in the grounds.
So, coming at it from another world entirely (Anselm was happily DJing in fields and starting world renowned parties before this), a vision was born for a sustainably-run and consciously-led wedding and party venue, and a £1.5 million refurbishment ensued.
As well as lovingly restoring the house and bedrooms for guest accommodation, a biomass boiler for entirely carbon neutral heating was installed, and once planning was secured The Gillyflower rose-up; crafted from the very earth it stands on today.
With a RIBA award-winning rammed earth reception venue complete, and happy couples’ and their guests enjoying the space, the next unfolding’s of sustainability could be realised…
Since then, we have:
- Fully revived the Victorian kitchen gardens and built a large greenhouse to grow much of the ingredients for our wedding menus in-house (really upping our field-to-fork ideals.)
- All menus are now seasonal and locally sourced
- Given 250 acres of the estate back to nature for our rewilding project
- Introduced long horn cattle into the wilding land
- Increased our vegan wedding menu
- Swapped all single use plastic for refillable water systems
Sustainability + Rewilding
With both feet back in the present our focus on sustainability continues, and we are currently working on calculating the carbon footprint of all people travelling to and from Elmore Court for work and events, and offsetting this by using the land differently and also through our rewilding efforts.
Our hope and very real ambition is to be fully carbon zero by 2025.
Treehouses are coming!
One of the most exciting developments for us beginning in 2022 is the building work of treehouses to hire within the rewilding land. These beautiful and luxurious lofty cabins will provide breathing space to retreat amongst the trees; to rewild yourself in totally natural surroundings… and the best bit? Treehouse stays will be available to all; wedding parties, the public and best of all to our lovely Elmore couples to come back and celebrate future anniversaries! We are so overjoyed about this as we’ve not yet been able to welcome you ‘home’ like this and have always longed to.
They will be located in a beautiful patch of woodland, opposite The Gillyflower. So although within walking distance, they will still be a comfortable stretch from the house. They’ll each have their own separate entrance and be very secluded for retreats amongst the trees.
We were made up to kick off 2022 with the planning permission being granted so it’s now full steam ahead! Yes, it may look like a muddy field at the moment but we’ve started digging and over the next 12 months we’ll be working hard to bring our treehouse retreat plans to life.
The six luxury treehouses are a clear extension of the wider, ongoing rewilding project. As such we’ve thought extremely carefully about how to construct these sustainably, including all of the materials used, and the proposal is projected to be net carbon zero in its construction; highly insulated, solar powered etc.
We are all super excited to get cracking and will keep you in the loop regarding the treehouse progress, by unveiling key milestones with Coco Weddings Venues as we meet them. Keep your eyes peeled for more on that soon!
In the meantime, we hope your new year brings all the magic and love and happiness you deserve.
Happy 2022!
Based on a weekday wedding in November. Includes accommodation.