Facilities Available inside AbbeyCroft

Abbey Croft is a typical stone built Lakeland barn on the edge of Shap village in the gorgeous Eden Valley; it was converted into a substantial four bedroom family home by the previous owners. The accommodation is split over two floors with the main living space being on the upper floor, bedrooms are on the ground floor.

Abbey Croft is very much a rural home from home, we look to give our guests a comfortable place to relax and return to after a day of exploring the great outdoors either of our 'local' National Parks (we are sandwiched between the Lakes and the Dales so make a great base for exploring either). The house is an ‘upside down’ property with all the bedrooms being on the ground floor, leaving the upstairs for open plan family living. 

AbbeyCroft is a very welcoming house whether you are a Couple looking to kick back and relax for a romantic mini break - or for those who plan a big family get together! Dogs are also welcome to join their human companions!

Bedrooms 

On entering the front door you are in a small tiled lobby/cloakroom with lots of space to take off those muddy boots and hang up outdoor clothing, through the door is the hall with a double height window and access to all four bedrooms and family bathroom. 

The Master Bedroom has a king-sized bed and its own private en-suite shower room - there is also a compact cot in here- waiting for any tiny guests to use.

Bedroom 2 is a double room, Bedroom 3 is a further double room and is directly opposite Bedroom 4 which is a twin bedded room. 

All the bedrooms have views over  the garden towards the fells

Lounge and Games area

Upstairs you enter the open plan lounge and games area, a place where all the family can get together. 

A large sofa is sited in front of the inglenook with a multifuel stove to create a cosy zone for curling up and the smart TV gives you various viewing options so log in to your favourite streaming service or iplayer. A second tv at the other end of the space is connected to the DVD player and there is a small family friendly library of films and quite a few games to enjoy as well as our full size airhockey table.

Kitchen

 Well what can you say, its got the things you would expect (Fridge, freezer, microwave, dishwasher, range cooker) as well as other bits and bobs such as toaster, coffee machine, stick blender and slow cooker – there are cooking pans, pots and accessories – enough to get together a Sunday roast or easy evening meal!

Next to our kitchen is the utility room where our guests have use of the washing machine and tumble dryer (and even an iron if you feel the need!)

Outside

The outside space has off road parking for up to four cars (most important as our lane is very narrow and we do ask guests not to park or unload in the lane itself as it does restrict our neighbours). The garden faces out across fields towards the sunning landscape of the Eastern Lake District. The garden is fully enclosed and gated making it secure for children or dogs. There is a traditional BBQ (charcoal) and an outdoor sofa and dining table area with built in gas fire pit.

Baby and Toddler facilities

Just a quick note about our facilities for babies, - we have one compact cot and high chair available for use on request, and a ‘pull out’ toddler bed,  which there is room for in two of the bedrooms if required. We do not charge extra for these but please let us know in advance if you would be wanting to make use of them. (Note- please bring your own bed linen for the cot)

Dogs

Well behaved dogs are also welcome (just let me know a bit about them) - we do ask though that you bring plenty of throws to go on furniture if your doggos are snugglers as well as towels for their paws and fur. If your four legged friends come back from a walk a little on the damp and muddy side – you can bring them straight into the house by the kitchen door which leads directly into the utility and kitchen areas – where the flooring is easy to mop down and they can be made comfortable until they dry off!  We also have a medium sized (lockable) dog flap in the kitchen door so once you are confident your furry friends cant escape they can go into the garden when they wish. (our border collie fits through!)

So there you are , hopefully you will find AbbeyCroft a comfortable retreat a home from home, the sort of self-catering accommodation that we would hope to find.

 But please do remember that this is a self-catering home, we provide a few basic essentials for our guests but hope that if guests use something up they might replenish it - thank you

Shap is ideally suited for those who enjoy the great outdoors – lying in the beautiful Eden Valley area it is bounded by the Lake District to the West and the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the East and provides a fantastic base for the exploration of the whole region.

The village has many useful facilities including a health centre, post office general store with proper old fashioned jars of sweets served in paper bags. The very well stocked Co-Op can provide you with just about all the groceries you could need  - including hot sausage rolls and pies, but the area is also well served with good local food producers and farm gate shops (some of which sell their high quality products through the famous Teebay Services farm shop which is a few miles down the road – useful for stocking up en-route!)

There are a few eateries in the village to note – Shap Chippy is the place if you fancy the great British 'classic' as well as pizza. There are also several bars/pubs that serve food through the day and into the evening that are within walking distance of the house.

Entertainment wise its worth bearing in mind this is a small village, and for many guests the great outdoors is all that they need, be it fells, peaks or dales. There are easy access points to various national cycle network routes as well as being only a stumbling distance to the route of Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk. 

Shap offers easy driving to many other attractions – we are only quarter of an hour from Penrith with its nearby Centreparks (if you fancied a sneaky spa day) or Rheged Arts and Cinema centre, within half an hour you can discover castles, gardens, the coast and more ancient history than you could shake a stick at!

For families Shap has a special feature during the summer months as it opens its heated open air swimming pool – the highest heated outdoor pool in Britain!