The Shippon

The Shippon is a converted farmhouse annexe in the North Devon countryside outside Barnstaple, sized for a couple or a small family and let as a whole property. Its dog credentials are structural rather than incidental: there is a back entrance intended for wet dogs coming in off a walk, a garden behind the house, and a field at the rear that gives you a short loop without setting foot on a road.

The policy is simple and firm, and it is one well-behaved dog. That is a genuine constraint rather than a soft preference, so a two-dog household should look elsewhere rather than ask. Nothing else about pet charges is published, so settle that with the owners at the time of booking.

Guests travelling with dogs single out the arrival welcome, which runs to a cream tea and hot drinks laid on for the humans, and the practicality of the back-entrance arrangement, which keeps mud out of the living space entirely. The house reads homely rather than designed, and the owners are described as friendly and quick to help.

The location cuts both ways. This is deep countryside reached along narrow lanes, which is a real consideration for a first arrival after dark. Barnstaple is a drive rather than a walk, and the walking straight from the door is more limited than the address suggests: the back field handles short loops, but a proper outing means driving to the Tarka Trail or the coast. Guests have called the dog walking restrictive, and that is a fair description if you arrived expecting footpaths from the gate.

Best suited to a couple with one steady dog who want a quiet rural farmhouse base and are content to drive to their walks and their supplies. Less suited to anyone bringing two dogs, wanting a town on foot, or uneasy on single-track lanes in the dark.