Wick Farm has rather more history behind it than most farm venues can claim. The farmstead dates from 1372 and was built for the monks of nearby Hinton Priory; the buildings are Grade II listed, and the beams overhead are 600 years old and look every year of it in the best possible way. It sits in 37 acres just off the A36 on the edge of Bath, which is a rare combination — far enough out to be properly rural, close enough that guests can stay in the city and be back at the venue in a quarter of an hour.
The barns each have a job to do. The upper one, with its high ceiling and ancient timbers, is where ceremonies usually take place; the other, vaulted and floored in oak, takes the wedding breakfast and then the party. Around them sit a courtyard, manicured gardens and a duck pond, and there are several licensed spots for civil ceremonies including an open-fronted barn, so an outdoor ceremony need not be a gamble on the forecast.
Hire is exclusive, so the whole farm is yours for the day. Catering comes from Strawberry Field — anything from a hog roast to a full three-course meal — and you can bring your own wine on a corkage arrangement that is waived on Sundays. For sleeping there is a honeymoon barn suite with a log burner and a tub bath, along with 5 more double bedrooms in an adjacent ancient barn, and plenty more within a few miles. There is parking for 80 cars, and guests can leave them overnight and collect in the morning, which does more for a dancefloor than most people realise.
Where the band plays
Barns like these are a gift to live music. Stone, height and hard old timber make the sound big and lively, and with nothing soft in the room a band does not have to work to fill it. There are no noise restrictions here either, so nothing needs reining in on your behalf. A five- or six-piece with brass is entirely at home, and a smaller act will simply sound bigger than it does elsewhere.
How the evening runs
Nights here tend to go to midnight, which gives a band a proper set either side of a break rather than one rushed appearance, and the licence stretches a little beyond that if you want a DJ to see everybody out. That is the difference between live music being the centre of the evening and live music being an interlude in it. Confirm your own finish time when you book, since it quietly determines when dinner has to end.
Getting in and setting up
Farms sound wonderful and load in awkwardly, and it is worth being straightforward about that. Tracks, gates and gravel are slower going than a tarmac drive and a stage door, and a van full of kit takes longer to get from the parking to the room than anyone expects. Daylight helps enormously, so an early get-in beats a late one every time. Telling the band in advance that it is a farm is a small thing that saves an hour on the day.
Bands available in Somerset and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Somerset.
- Somerset Wedding Bands
- Events Bands in Somerset
- Tribute Acts in Somerset
- Somerset Wedding DJs
- Corporate Entertainment in Somerset
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.