Ashley Wood Farm lies at Fonthill Gifford, a mile or two from Tisbury, in the folded country of Cranborne Chase. 4 acres of landscaped gardens and rear lawns look down over Fonthill Lake, which is the sort of view that does the heavy lifting in photographs and, more importantly, keeps guests outside with a drink in hand for hours. It is run by the family who own it, which shows in the details: fire pits with logs stacked ready, hay bales to sit on, milk churns and long wooden tables about the courtyard.
There are 3 buildings to play with. The oak barn is the main event, seating 140 on trestle tables or 110 on rounds and keeping a dance floor besides. The old milking barn takes 40 around a wood burner and makes a perfect second room as the night goes on — somewhere to sit and talk when the music gets loud. The studio barn seats 110, is heated and licensed, and exists partly so that an English summer can do its worst without anybody panicking; on a fine day you marry outdoors instead, under the pagoda in the barn garden or in one of the other spots around the grounds.
Hire is exclusive and long: the farm is yours from Friday morning until Sunday lunchtime, with a midweek option too, which gives you a full day to dress the barns and a gentle morning afterwards to take it all down. It is dry hire, so you bring your own caterers and your own drink with no corkage, working out of the site’s equipped kitchen. There is a big parking field with room for a few campers, a 2-bedroom lodge overlooking the lake for the family, and dogs are welcome so long as they stay on a lead — the chickens here are free to roam and rather sure of themselves.
Where the band plays
The oak barn is where a band belongs. It already has a dance floor, the roof is high enough to give drums and brass somewhere to go, and the trestle layout clears easily so the room turns from dinner to dance without a long awkward gap. Having the milking barn next door is a real asset on a live music night, because it gives grandparents and small children a warm corner to retreat to rather than an early taxi. Talk to the farm about power and where to park a van, since the barns sit around a courtyard and load-in is easiest before guests arrive.
How the evening runs
Expect a long, outdoorsy day that gathers itself into the barn as the light fades. Music has to be switched off at 11.30pm and the site cleared by 12.30am, a condition of being in a protected landscape where sound travels for miles, so the sensible plan is a band on shortly after the speeches and a final set that peaks at around 11.30pm. Told about it in advance, any decent band will shape the night around that finish rather than being caught mid-song.
Bands available in Wiltshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Wiltshire.
- Wedding Bands in Wiltshire
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- Wiltshire Tribute Acts
- Wiltshire Wedding DJs
- Wiltshire Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.