About Us
We are Peter and Irene Willson from Butlers Farmhouse and we have been in business as a B&B since June 2009. Irene is a professional gardener and has opened our garden every year for the Yellow Book (National Garden Scheme) for the last 10 years, and I am a full time musician - pianist and organist running a band and an a cappella choir.
Butlers Farmhouse dates back to around 1590, when it was a typical Wealden 3 bay building with a mezzanine floor in the main room, where the farmers slept, kept warm in winter by the animals in the room below. The house has now been thoroughly modernised with the only animals being the three residents cats! Owners in the 20th century included a Lady Patricia, and the English film star Peggy Cummins (a friend of Roger Moore, who has swum in the swimming pool in the late sixties!).
We now have three very special double rooms that have been designed to appeal to the luxury end of the market and we have built up a reputation of providing very extensive and delicious breakfasts. We have a system that enables guests to choose exactly what they want for breakfast, not everybody wants the full English! A lot of our foreign guest really appreciate that. We are very lucky to have Herstmonceux village on our doorstep as there are 2 pubs (The Brewer’s Arms and the Woolpack) which both serve food, together with a top rated gourmet restaurant (The Sundial) an Indian restaurant and a bistro, our guests can also find good pubs at Cowbeech and Boreham Street nearby. There is also a full range of Italian, Chinese, pubs and coffee and tea shops in the town of Hailsham only 3 miles away. There is a superb view of the South Downs - which is great walking and cycling country - and on a clear day the Long Man of Wilmington can be seen from our house and garden.