** Read our complete list of our favourite holiday homes to rent all over Britain and Ireland
Location: The Garden Cottage, Walmer Castle, Kent Accommodation: sleeps 4: 1 double, 1 twin Contact: 0870 333 1187; www.english-heritage.org.uk/holidaycottages
Sitting adjacent to the Greenhouse Apartment at Walmer Castle, the Garden Cottage looks onto the kitchen garden, which has supplied the castle with vegetables, fruit and flowers for more than three centuries. The cottage is perfectly located within strolling distance of the castle, and has the added bonus of an expanse of secluded shoreline a few minutes' walk away.
Location: The Shingle House, Dungeness, Kent Accommodation: sleeps 8: 4 doubles or 3 doubles and 1 twin Contact: www.living-architecture.co.uk (online only)
Designed by the Scottish firm NORD Architecture, this is an incredibly dramatic black barn-like structure set on the shingle beach of Dungeness. Built with tarred timber shingles and wooden boards, the monumental architecture reflects the natural drama of the vast beach that stretches before it. Concrete and timber dominate the interior with striking features like a large concrete fireplace and a black polished concrete bath sunken within a timber floor. Walls of glass offer amazing views of the beach and its plentiful birdlife and there are big, sturdy shutters to keep out the weather on cold winter nights. This is a house that will offer a unique holiday experience.
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Location: Hare Farm Oast, Brede, near Rye, East Sussex Accommodation: 12: 2 king-size doubles, 2 twins and 2 double sofa beds. Contact: Mulberry Cottages; Emma Reynolds - 01233 813087; www.mulberrycottages.com
Hare Farm Oast is a beautifully restored Oast house on a working sheep farm in rolling Sussex, looking out to sea. Dating from 1860, it was originally used for drying and storing hops and now has circular 'roundel' bedrooms where the hop drying kilns were housed.
Location: Pickersdane House, Brook, Ashford, Kent Accommodation: 8: 2 doubles and 2 twins Contact: Mulberry Cottages; Emma Reynolds - 01233 813087; www.mulberrycottages.com
Pickersdane is a grade II-listed 16th-century house in the timber-framed Kent vernacular, with tile-hung and weatherboarded elevations and mullioned windows. Inside are carved beams and timbers, a brick inglenook fireplace and an antique four-poster bed. Situated in the pretty village of village of Brook, Pickersdane has a lovely garden backing onto the Wye Downs Nature Reserve, with a meandering stream and weatherboarded granary.
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A well-connected rural playground with 23 acres on the edge of the South Downs National ParkOld House Farm is an impressive family home with a wealth of amenities that would inspire any rural passion.
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The UK gets its first ‘European stork village’ — and it's in West SussexAlthough the mortality rate among white storks can be up to 90%, the future looks rosy for breeding pairs in southern England.
