The Brake Wagon at High Barn Heritage

This was our 2nd stay at this property.

We enjoyed it as much as the 1st one. The brake wagon was clean and welcoming with a lovely welcome pack. Visited Colchester castle and also the combined military museum in Colchester. Both good days out. Had a lovely meal in the locomotive pub in Halstead town centre. Found the bed a bit uncomfortable this time. Felt lumpy, but apart from that all was good. A great place to stay for peace and quiet, with lots of wildlife on the doorstep. Thank you. Jan and Paul Baverstock.

Very clean, nice, charming and quiet place to rest, good facilities and accommodation, nice welcoming hamper, good extras e.

g. the barbecue, with a good seated paddock, good fenced off paddock for the dog and good dog walking area, beautiful scenic view especially with the added attraction of wild animals.

Very thoughtfully designed and well-equipped accommodation in a beautiful, peaceful spot, the carriages in effect function as a luxury bird/wildlife hide, with close views of deer, hares, squirrels and red legged partridges.

A wonderful place to return to after a day out, and well-placed to visit many places including the unique Cressing Temple Barns and walled garden, Finchingfield, Layer Marney Tower, Wivenhoe, Maldon (exceptional military museum, sailing barges, Thomas Plume's library) and Beth Chatto's Garden - to name but a few.

Our second visit to the Brake Wagon as loved it the first time.

Beautiful setting and a lot of thought has gone into the accommodation. Everything you need for a relaxing week away. Lovely and peaceful. Accommodation very clean and a lovely welcome pack, very appreciated. Didn't want to leave

The rail carriage we stayed in was exactly as described & was very clean & comfortable & had everything we needed for our holiday & would definitely use the company again We were greeted on arrival by our host who couldn't have been more helpful & made sure we had a lovely start to our holiday which we thoroughly enjoyed

We had a lovely week away.

The break wagon had everything you could wish for. The air conditioning was good for both cooling and heating as we had a mixture of weather. Halstead is a couple of miles away so handy for pubs ,restaurants and general shopping. Nearby are lovely old villages and national trust places to see.

We had a lovely week in this very quirky accommodation & were impressed by the layout of it.

It’s not a huge space but so well thought out, it has everything you need - perfect for 2. Very peaceful, rural location but not far to go to places of interest. Had a fabulous meal in The Locomotive in Halstead, but you need to book as it is only open for evening meals Friday & Saturday, the owner is a chef, really recommend. The Thai was also very good, however The Bull, we thought was awful!! Would not hesitate recommending the Brake Wagon at High Barn Heritage

A lovely peaceful location, situated centrally.

Ideal to explore all of Essex. The accommodation has been thoughtfully laid out and finished to a high standard . The kitchen area is well serviced and has ample crockery and cutlery. The bed may be too soft for some but we slept well every night. Welcome pack was very good and charcoal and fire lighters provided was a nice touch. All in all highly recommended.

Amazing stay at this beautifully restored carriage - it had everything we needed and great instructions on how everything worked.

It was so quiet there with amazing wildlife! Close to great days out at Paycocke’s in Coggeshall, Melford Hall, Kentwell House (amazing scones!), Lavenham (great National Trust circular walk), Colchester Zoo and the East Anglian Railway Museum. Fish and chips from the Riverside Fish Bar in Halstead were yummy - so lucky with the weather all week, we had these outside of the carriage, where we sat most evenings.

We had a wonderful stay in the brake wagon at the end of June/ beginning of July for my husbands Birthday.

The wagon was very clean and comfortable and everything we needed was provided. A lovely welcome pack was left by the owner James. An excellent base for visiting local attractions or for just enjoying the peace and quiet. Plenty of wild life to be enjoyed. Visits from hares, squirrels deer and a hedgehog. Had a surprise visit from a peacock and peahen. Can recommend The bull hotel in Halstead for lovely food. Would love to stay in the wagon again. Thank you. Jan and Paul Baverstock.

What a lovely place to relax and enjoy the countryside.

Air con helped with heat but just seeing the wildlife around was great with a resident Hare and Hedgehog along with the deer too.

Exceptional, comfortable and well equipped accommodation for both rail enthusiasts and everyone else.

Peaceful setting with huge and diverse wildlife population, literally on your doorstep. Easy access to many superb places of interest throughout Essex, Suffolk and beyond. Lots of excellent local pubs and restaurants. A real gem and great value for money.

The Brake Wagon was a quirky place to stay and we were impressed with the way it had been fitted out with all mod cons.

It was spotlessly clean and very comfortable. The location was quiet with woods behind so from our windows we could enjoy the fallow and muntjac deer, hares, pheasants and partridge that came into the fields. It's well placed for visiting the surrounding area, such as historic Colchester or down to Maldon etc. James also left us a lovely welcome pack, thank you.

We had a wonderful relaxing holiday in the Brake Wagon and will definitely be coming back for a return visit.

The location was so peaceful and tranquil and just 'what the doctor ordered'. Plenty to do in the surrounding area and nice to sit outside and watch the wildlife.

We enjoyed our stay.

The property was clean cosy and warm. Had all we needed to make our stay feel at home. The welcome pack was great.

The Brake Wagon is gorgeous.

Beautifully converted from a pair of vintage train wagons, it has everything you’d want for a lovely break away from it all. The location is SO peaceful that it’s ideal for a break away from the chaos of daily life.

What a fantastic and quirky property the Brake Wagon is, surrounded by farmland and woods.

We saw Deer, Munt Jacks, Hares, Pheasants and 2 friendly Squirrels every day. The Wagon had been restored perfectly, plenty of room for 2 people. Equipped with everything you could want, just wished we had took a pair of binoculars. James, the owner was a very nice and friendly young man, would like to thank him for the lovely welcome pack. Plus tea, coffee, sugar, milk and a pack of crumpets, just what we were ready for when we arrived. Would definitely recommend this property. Carol & Derek 30th September

Lovely spot, very relaxing holiday.

The extra touches such as providing charcoal, the welcome pack made it just that bit more special

Lovely setting,all facilities perfect cannot say I could find anything that would put me off recommending it to anyone else,the only thing was bed was soft compared to ours at home but it is something you perhaps could not get correct for everyone as people have different preferences.

We had an excellent stay in the Brake Wagon.

The location was very peaceful, surrounded by fields and woodland, and we saw lots of birds, squirrels, deer and hare from our windows. We were made welcome by the owner, James, and the Brake Wagon had been expertly restored to make a special place to stay for a relaxing holiday. We will certainly be back to stay!

This was a really lovely place to stay.

All facilties were as described. Met the owner, who was really nice and informative. Very quiet relaxing environment. Had visit most evenings from pheasant, hares. Also could see plenty of deer too. Would love to stay again in future.

Delightful, quirky property.

highly recommended and would definitely consider staying here again. Thanks for the welcome hamper too.

Quirky, peaceful, everything has been thoughtfully put together.

Thank you.

No WiFi as promised.

Wouldn't have booked had we known this. Signing of health & safety form seemed of paramount importance which we did not do, our contract was with Sykes. No visitors book which was very unusual. No regular oven which would have preferred to a dishwasher. Bed far to soft. Good hamper and countryside gorgeous but would not book again.

Absolutely fantastic restoration.

Beautifully equipped. Lovely location. Loads of wildlife just outside the door. Hares, Munt Jacks. Fallow deer. Squirrels. Pheasants. Several NT EH properties within easy distance. 3 Pigeons pub 2 miles away best in village. We took a MiFi unit and Firestick as no smart TV in property, This worked perfectly for us. Please be aware there is a dog kennels 500 yards away and the dogs start barking at 5am. until they are fed and walked at 10am Also unfortunately the noise from Stansted flight path I found extremely disturbing. Others may not find this a problem. but do think this should be in listing, had it been we would not have booked.

An absolute gem.

Quirky and fantastic. Extremely well kitted out and very comfortable. A wonderfully peaceful location where you can relax completely.

The Brake Wagon we stayed in was really lovely.

Very comfortable and all the amenities you need. Really warm too as the weather was a bit cool. The owners have converted this railway carriage to a very high spec and would definitely recommend staying in it. The goodie box that was left for us was a lovely surprise.

Beautiful constructed accommodation in a beautiful setting even in November.

Comfortable seating and comfortable bed. Fully equipped kitchen. Plenty of outside space whether on the attached balcony or front seating area to observe local wildlife as well as the many windows to give almost 360 degree raised viewing of surrounding countryside.